Observations of Play

During the past 8 weeks, I have focused a lot on observation.  Observation is one of THE greatest tools we have as educators.  It tells us way more than words, which with infants that are pre-verbal, that is very helpful!  It gives us a window into the minds of young children and enables us to see what they are learning.  Here is a series of photos I took in my own classroom.  The actual series was about 40 pictures long, but I chose a set of eight to allow you to see the interaction that I saw. 

This is Eli (left, 6 months) and Kellan (right, 8 months). 

They are engaging in a form of play known as rough and tumble play.  It is not violent.  It is not agressive.  It is merely a give and take exploration of each other.  It is instinctual for a teacher to see interactions like this and stop them.  I decided to step back, not interfere, and observe the interactions.  I was standing nearby while taking pictures, ready to step in if I needed to.  I was very please that I did not need to step in.  This type of play teaches children social awareness, cooperation, fairness and altruism.  Lack of experience with this pattern of play hinders the normal give and take necessary for social mastery, and has been linked to poor control of violent impulses in later life (National Institute for Play).  I observed this first hand through these two boys that demonstrated this social give and take.

I truly hope everyone got as much out of this course as I did.  I have always known the importance of good observational skills, but this course in child development truly reinforced this knowledge.