Observing Children Play

Case Study # 102362

Education > Development Studies
Psychology > Child and Adolescent
Psychology > Piaget

This paper applies Piaget's theory of stages of play in the observation of a young child.

1,334 words () | 5 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses Piaget's theories about what we can learn from formal play observation. The writer observes a young child at play and comments on her play, using Piaget's developmental theories of stages of play, namely functional play at a younger age followed by symbolic play at a later age.

From the Paper:

"Piaget believes that children's play is very important, because as they play, they develop cognition (Wyly, 1997). When we talk about cognition, we mean the mental process in which people gain knowledge by looking at things, or reasoning about them, etc. Children do a lot of this when they are playing. This is why observing play is an important way to learn about child development. For in play, the child interacts with the environment and learns how to control and understand the environment. For example, the child learns to throw objects, and from this the child learns about the weight and feeling of objects, and about gravity. The child also learns about cause and effect - for example, when the child shakes its rattle, a sound comes out. From this, the child learns that the rattle sound is caused by shaking the rattle (Wyly, 1997)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Kelley, M. F., & Surbeck, E. (2004). History of Preschool Assessment. The Psychoeducational Assessment of Preschool Children, Ed. B.A. Bracken, 1-14. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kopp, Claire B. (2003). Baby steps. 2nd ed. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Pellegrini, A., & Galda, L. (1998). The Development of School-Based Literacy: A Social Ecological Perspective. London: Routledge.
Wyly, M. Virginia. (1997). Infant assessment. Boulder, CO.: Westview Press.
Yussen, Steven R. and John W. Santrock. (1978). Child development: An introduction. Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Company.