Play Observation Checklist
Observer:_______________ Play Setting:_______________________ Date:_____________
Approximate Child Age:___ Child Gender: M F Hand Preference: L R
Initiation of Play Observed Yes No Comments / Questions Behavior
Child quickly engages in play
Child requires help in getting started Child needs encouragement
Child directs his/her own play
Child shows initiative or curiosity Child appears impulsive
Child initiates but appears unable to stay with task
Energy Expanded in Play Observed Yes No Comments / Questions Behavior
Child works at an even pace
Child pursues activites to the point of tiring out
Child gains
• After your observation, you should have some handwritten notes describing the observation. Use these notes and your own memory of the observation as the "raw material" of your report. • You will probably see many different "episodes" during your ½-hour observation. (Remember that many of Piaget's "observations" are quite brief.) I don’t want you to simply write down everything that happened during the ½ hour; rather, I would like you to "step back" and think analytically about what you observed. • Here are two suggestions for how to focus this analysis: (1) identify some overall patterns, or themes, that you observed in all of the episodes (the "breadth" approach); (2) focus on one or two particularly interesting episodes and describe what happened (the "depth" approach). • If you choose a "breadth" approach, try to pick one, two, or three themes that you saw repeatedly in different episodes. What was it about the child or the context that resulted in these similarities (e.g., the toys, or the gender of the child/group)? What do these common themes tell you about play? • If you choose a "depth" approach, you will focus closely on one or two episodes, and they will probably involve the same child/children. You should probably have a fairly detailed description of these episodes in your report. In