Child development observations - Research Paper Example

Observation of –G (6 year old girl) Place- restaurant Running s- 5:01 (pm) - G is sittingon the chair with her legs dangling above the ground and she swings her feet in a to-and-fro manner. G’s hands are placed firmly on the chair.5:02- G continues to swing her feet and looks around at other customers in the restaurant. Her eyes are constantly moving but stops for a few seconds on a table where a woman is eating an ice-cream sundae.5:03- She looks in front of her trying to see everything that is present on the table.

She reaches for the menu card and picks it up. She brings the card in front of her and looks at the condiment stand as well.5:04- She opens the menu card and says “I will eat.” she begins to flip through the pages barely trying to read. Her face has a look of amazement at the sight of some of the food images printed on the card.5:05- She is still looking and stops at one particular page and tries to read- she makes a very serious face and points out to a picture of MASHED POTATO but says “ICE-CREAM”.

“With chocolate sauce and chocolate-chips” she adds after deciding what she wanted to have.5:06- She looks completely satisfied with the order and looks again at the table where the woman with the ice-cream sundae was seated.5:07- the restaurant door opens and G looks towards the door and watches other people walk in. The people pass her table and her eyes follow them until they are seated at another table nearby.5:08- G drinks from the glass of water placed in front and reach for the condiment stand.

The stand is a bit heavy for her to lift so she puts in all her strength which is visible on her face.5:09- She looks at each of the sachets present and reads them out “SUGAR” “SALT” and so on. She then counts the number of sachets and says “there are 8 packets, 8.” and smiles.5:10- She places them all together and puts back the stand from where she picked it up. “When will my food be ready?” she enquired. Her face looks a bit impatient now as she stares at the waiters carrying trays to other tables.

5:11- She starts scratching her legs with her right hand. As soon as the waiter approaches her table, G looks up at the tray he was carrying. Her eyes beam up when she sees the large bowl of sundae. She smiles and looks at the bowl with awe filled eyes.5:12- G picks up the spoon with her right hand and looks around. She then looks leans forward on her chair and digs into the ice-cream with the spoon. She is unable to get a proper scoop which falls back as soon as she picks it. With her left hand she reaches for the cherry placed on the top of the sundae.

5:13- G put the cherry into her mouth with her left hand and then used both her hands to hold the spoon and scoop a bit of the sundae. She has a look of determination on her face. She finally manages to accomplish her task and put the spoon into her mouth and eats the sundae off it. “Its cold!!!” she exclaims and shakes her head left to right four times.5:14- G happily continues to eat now. Her lips are painted brown with the chocolate sundae. She looks around at the other plates as well but soon returns back to her own food and continues to eat.

5:15- She drops a bit of the melted dessert on her frock and looks down with a look of disgust. G then smiles and tries to pick the fallen bits of dessert with her spoon. She fails since the ice-cream melts and runs down her clothes.5:17- G licks her lips and returns back to finishing off the rest of the ice-cream. She is eating with her right hand and touching her lips with her left hand fingers.5:18- “I am done can I have the cheese?” she asks. She is now looking at the sandwich kept right across her.

G is given a bit of the cheese slice. G happily takes it with her right hand and puts it into her mouth at once. She chews on it happily.5:19- She again picks up the spoon and starts to scrape the remaining of the ice-cream from the bowl and occasionally eats whatever she managed to scrape.5:20- G drinks water from the glass holding the glass with both her hands and smacking her lips once she is done.5:21- She takes two napkins from the napkin stand kept on the table with her right hand. She places one on the table and sues the others to wipe her face and palms.

5:22- G places her used napkin on a plate and says “I ‘m sticky” and wrinkles her face.5:23- She is taken to the washroom basin to wash her hands properly. She uses her hands to take soap, rubs her palms together and washed them under the tap water.5:24- G uses the towel to rub her hands, she opens the door with both her hands and runs back to her table.5:25- She climbs back onto the chair with difficulty and starts humming a soft tune.5:26- She continues humming and looks around and notices a man smiling at her.

She puts both her hands on her mouth and giggles.5:27- G starts to flap her hands like a bird and laughs continuously.5:28- G yawns and with a dazed look looks at the walls were hundreds of pictures are hung. She slowly climbs down from the chair and begins to walk towards the walls on the left side.5:29- G is looking at the wall and her hands are on her hips. She walks from left to right looking at the wall full of pictures.5:30- She begins to walk back to the table and hold the table cloth and starts to play with the edge of the table cloth.

Observation Summary:The observation on G is made in a restaurant to see G’s behavior in public settings. G is a normal 6 year old. She is a bit chubby and has blond hair. She is wearing a blue and green frock. G seems really happy to be at the restaurant. Her curiosity is visible since she looks at everything with and tries to understand. G likes to decide things for herself. This is evident from the fact that she takes the menu card and flips through it.The manner in which G as enjoying her dessert made me think about my own childhood days.

While eating, G really did not care about anything else.G like a normal 6 year old is easily distracted and loves whatever she sees. G has even learnt the need for hygiene and knows when and how to wash her hands.Observation 2- B (boy, 5 years)Place- RestaurantRunning notes-5:43- B has a cranky look on the face and sits angrily on the chair. His body looks stiff and his face has a serious expression. B’s wrinkles his eye brows and looks towards the ceiling tilting his head upwards. He looks all around the ceiling and then looks at the aquarium present near the wash room.

5:44- He focuses on the aquarium and his facial expression changes gradually. He now peers hard with his eyes trying to look and starts bending his body as well.5:45- He suddenly climbs down from the chair. The napkin placed on his laps falls down and he looks at the fallen piece of cloth but does not care about it any further. He puts his right forefinger in his mouth. He moves towards the aquarium5:46- He takes his right finger out of his mouth and reaches the aquarium. The aquarium is placed at a higher level and once B reaches it he look back towards his table.

He again focuses on the aquarium and looks at the glass and the fishes inside.5:47- He looks back towards his table and starts walking back. He reaches his table and picks up the napkin that had fallen on the floor and says “ fell down”. He climbs back on the chair and adjusts himself.5:48- He holds on to the arms of the chair with both his hands and again turns his head towards the wash room side where the aquarium is placed.5:49- He looks at the table and sees a glass of water in front of him and says “ I am hungry”..he stops for a few seconds and adds “I WANNA eat burger.

”5:50- He opens the folded napkin and places it on his lap. He looks at others around and looks at his laps again.5:51- He tries to bend down and touch his feet and looks up at the ceiling again.5:52- He is sitting quietly now without much activity but looks tired. He yawns and looks towards the windows of the restaurant.5:53- B ‘s burger soon arrives and he looks at it at first and tilts his head to look at it from a different angle.5:54- He pulls the plate towards him with his left hand and with his right hand he takes French fries and eats them.

5:55- B is chewing on his fries with opened mouth. B uses both his hand to hold the burger. He holds it tightly and leans forward. He takes a small bite of the bun only and places it back.5:56- He licks his right fingers and tastes the cheese. 5:57- He reaches for the top bun and lifts. He keeps the top bun on the side of the plate and pulls out the lettuce with his right hand and drags it on the bun. 5:58- He now pulls out the cheese slices and starts eating them one by one. He now breaks the patty and puts a bit of it into his mouth.

“Its spicy but I love” he says.5:59- He chews on the patty and takes time to chew. 6:00- He puts a bit of the bun into his mouth and then returns back to his patty. He continues to eat the patty till the very end.6:01- B now eats French fries and looks around.6:02- He takes a napkin and wipes his hands and jumps down from the chair. He runs to the aquarium and runs back to the table.6:03- He runs to the aquarium again and stands there.6:04- the washroom door opens and he peers in. He looks towards his table and walks slowly back to his table.

6:05-B bends down and looks under the table and then climbs up back on the chair.6:06- “I want dessert please” he says. He points towards a child in the restaurant eating a cone of ice-cream. B tries to reach for the desserts menu and opens it.6:07- He sits back in his chair with the menu card and slowly turns each page of the menu card examining every detail minutely.6:08- “Theres no Ice-cream!!!” he says after looking through the 4 pages of desserts. B looks at the card again with a confused expression.

6:09- He places back the menu card on the table and sits with his hands folded. He looks again at the aquarium and asks “can we get fish?”6:10- He begins to climb back down again. He places his hands on his back and walks towards the aquarium.6:11- He reaches out and touches the glass and points out at some things. B makes faces at the aquarium.6:12- He then turns towards the washroom door and tries to open it with both his hands.Observation Summary:B is a 5 year old boy. The observation settings were at the restaurant.

B looks really smart and seems to have a love for aquariums and fishes.During the entire period of observation B visited the aquarium a number of times which shows that he likes it and also wants to get one which he obviously reveals in the end.B is a picky eater and even though he knew what he wanted to eat he also knew which certain part of the burger he wanted to eat. He kept aside the bun and the vegetable and only ate the cheese and the patty. It is normal for him to be a picky eater at this stage.

B is a curious child which si evident from the fact that he kept looking at the washroom door whenever he looked that way and finally decided to go through the door.