Children's Center-Playground

The first observation I did was on the playground on Tuesday, February 10, from 3:00-3:30. There were both genders on the playground, and there was mostly Caucasian students, but there was one child was African American girl. This group consisted of all the children at the center including the 21/2 to 5 year olds. The first observation that I made were the age group differences. The students were separated by 2 and 1/2 year olds were in the playhouse or on the little slide. The only interaction I ever saw between the older children and the younger children was if they were siblings. With this instance, the older sibling was always checking on the younger sibling to see if they were ok. The 3 year olds seemed to play by themselves. They sat at the table observing their friends, played on the tree stumps located throughout the playground, or they tried to play in the sand pile (even though it was off limits). The 4 and 5 year olds seemed to play together on the playground equipment or they were playing tag or hide and seek with one another. Based on gender, the younger girls seemed to come to the teacher with all of their problems and always tattle on their friends even if they were not involved in the incident. The older girls would not go tattle on the others unless something truly did need to be brought up to a teachers attention. What I noticed that they do is go towards the gate or get away from any adult, and it looks as if they are gossiping. The younger boys would cry in place if they were upset, and don't have many ways to express their emotions. It seemed like they were trying to express what they were feeling or if they were upset, but they did not have the developmental status to understand what they were feeling. The older boys did not talk out their feelings, but instead, they hit, kick, and threw things at one another.

While looking at their plays, the playground equipment or the playhouse turned into so many different titles and ideas for this equipment. The playground equipment was a different idea for each group of kids that were playing together. The girls were just using it as a playground, but the boys told me it was a spaceship and they had to slide off of it to get saved. Throughout the whole time of observation, the students did not seem to interact with the different age groups, but instead they played with only their age group. The "little" kids were playing house, but the boys and girls were mom's, dad's, brother's, sister's, and animals. The children all played like they observe at home. One child told me that is what Mommy and Daddy do at home, so it shows they are expressing what they do from what they observe in their own home. When I was talking to the older boys, one boy who is 4, told me that it was the spaceship from Star Wars and another boy told me he was Bob the Builder.

These connections really show the incorporations that students are making into their play from their home lives. The younger children are only playing what they are modeled at home, but the older children take what they know from home, and also the media attention that they can get from home. Depending on what they see from the tv or the computer, it will impact the way that they play on the playground.