Infant Toddler Observation

Corinna Ring
11/26/2013


Hope
Born 06/28/2012
Age 17 Months

















Part I. My observation was done on November 5th, at 10 in the morning. I did my
observation at the Grossmont Child Development Center. I observed a 17 month old girl named
Hope. While observing Hope, her peers were present, as well as the caregivers. When I arrived
and began the observation Hope was coming inside the room after she was done playing outside.
When entering the room, Hope grabbed a string attached to a toy xylophone. The toy xylophone
was by the door, and while grabbing the string, Hope dragged the xylophone as she walked
across the room, coming inside the classroom.
Part II. The environment in the infant toddler room at the Grossmont center is very safe,
friendly, and colorful. There are pictures hanging on the walls around the room of the children
doing different activities. There are different areas of which the children can play, and everything
is at child level. The sink is lowered for the children, the tables and chairs are smaller for the
children as well. There is a dramatic play area, with baby dolls and a pretend kitchen, as well as
dress up. There is also a reading area with baskets of books, and cushions for the kids to sit on,
with a rocking chair too. There is also an indoor slide where the children can climb up the stairs
and slide down and land on a safe mat. The way the room is set up, the caregivers can see the
children wherever they are, which is good for safety.

Part III. Hope has a small, thin amount of hair laying on the top of her head. Her hair is
a very light shade of blonde. She has big, light blue eyes. She is wearing a purple and silver
colored striped shirt. She has on light blue sweatpants, that seem to perfectly match her light blue
eyes. She is running around with dark brown velcro tennis shoes strapped on her feet. Hope has
very light, pale skin, that helps her pink colored lips stand out. When compared to other children
her age, at 17 months, Hope seems to be an average size for height and weight in physical
growth development.
Part IV.
1. a. Emotional/social development- temperament style- A set of biological
characteristics that influence how a child will react to the environment.
b. Hope walks towards her caregiver while trying hard to keep her balance. The
caregiver has a large, brown, open cardboard box. Hope crawls into the box on her hands and
knees to sit in the box with a male peer. Hope attempts to grab a toy from her peer with both of
her hands. She tugs on the toy towards her, but the peer will not let go. Hope lets go of the toy,
and crawls out of the box as more children approach. Hope and her peers all begin to laugh while
playing with the box. Hope stands back with the teacher as the teacher begins to hide one child at
a time in the box. One by one, each child pops out of the box. Hope lightly giggles every time
the child pops out.
c. From what I have observed, Hope has a flexible temperament style. According
to the text Infant and Toddler Development and Responsive Program Planning: A Relationship-
Based Approach by Donna Wittmer and Sandra Petersen, pg. 118, A flexible temperament style
is defined as regular biological rhythms, a positive mood, easy adaptation to new experiences,
moderate emotional reactions, and low sensitivity to sensory stimulation. I can come to this
conclusion based on the 9 different temperament traits identified by Thomas, Chess, Birch,
Hertzig, and Korn (1963). Hope has a good amount of physical movement, and also spends more
of her time in a pleasant, cheerful mood opposed to crying and resisting others. Both of those
traits lean towards a flexible temperament. As well as the fact that Hope was so fast to approach
the box, and her peers, and that she did not withdrawal.
2. a. emotional/social development- same gender play- Patterns in which girls play
with girls and boys play with boys.
b. Hope walks away from the xylophone after playing with it, and walks towards
the pretend play area, where another little girl is playing in the toy kitchen. Hope begins babbling
to herself and her fellow female peer as she begins grabbing the toy dishes with both hands.
Hope attempts to stack the dishes on top of each other, and then drops all the toy dishes into the
sink. Her fellow peer also drops dishes into the sink. Hope begins to smile and laugh, and then
walks away from the pretend play area.
c. According to Moller and Serbin (1996), there are two different theories that can
explain and support Hopes desire to play with someone who is the same gender. The first theory
would be the Gender-Types Toy Preference Theory, which is defined as, Children segregate
according to their toy and activity preferences, and the activities chosen bring children into
contact with other peers who also prefer that activity. Hope was approaching the pretend play
area to play with the dishes and the toy kitchen, her fellow peer was also playing in the pretend
kitchen and preferred the pretend play area. Hope and her fellow female gendered peer could
have been in contact due to the fact that they both preferred the same activity. Another theory
that supports Hopes desire to play with someone who is the same gender is the Behavior
Compatibility Theory. This theory states that gender segregation develops out of toddlers
attraction to peers who exhibit play styles that are compatible. This is also supported by the fact
that what brought Hope and her fellow female peer together is that they were both exhibiting
dramatic play and pretend play, which makes both of their play styles compatible.
Part V.
1. a. cognitive development- Hearing- Hearing milestones are observed in relation
to the babys attention to language.
b. Hope walks around the room while dragging the xylophone by its attached
string, which she is holding with her left hand. Hope then sits down on the ground with her feet
towards her like a butterfly. Hope begins to drag the stick attached to the string, along the
xylophone causing the xylophone to make noise. She continues to drag the stick across the
xylophone and then starts banging the stick onto the keys. She babbles as the sounds come out.
c. Between 12-18 months toddlers should have the hearing ability of the
following, enjoys playing with sounds, uses a few words, points to body parts when asked, and
follows directions without being shown. The source of those hearing abilities are milestones
compiled from Spectrum Health (2009). Throughout my observation I also observed Hope
following directions when told and not being shown, along with playing the xylophone to make
noise. This would put Hope in the normal range for her age group according to the Spectrum
Health milestones.
2. a. cognitive development- Imitation- The childs attempt to learn from the adult
by repeating the action or sound that the adult performed.
b. A caregiver attempts to distract Hope from doing something she wasnt
suppose to by dropping toy cars down the plastic tube attached to the side of the wall. The
caregiver continues to drop the cars down the tube, as Hope watches as the cars slide down and
land in a basket on the ground at the end. Hope then walks over to the basket filled with cars and
picks one car up at a time with her right hand. Hope continues to walk it to the other end and
drop it down the tube. Hope begins to drop bigger cars down the tube. The cars get stuck in the
tube and begin to pile up towards the bottom. Hope continues to drop cars in the tube as she
watched the caregiver too, until the cars all fell out.
c. According to the textbook infants and toddlers learn through relationship.
Adults model, which is defined as the adults demonstration of actions for the child, and the child
does the imitation. According to Hanna and Meltzoff (1993), by 14 months, toddlers can repeat
actions of peers and adults in different settings. Seeing as how Hope is a 17 month old toddler,
this does put her in the normal range for her age group. She is able to imitate others after seeing
what they do, and also can repeat after a 1-week delay according to Meltzoff (2005).
Part VI.
1. a. Language development- infant directed speech- an adult (or older child)
directing speech at infants or toddlers that is on or slightly above the young childs level of
language use.
b. Hope crawls up on the stairs of the slide. She goes up the stairs on her hands
and knees, one stair at a time. She sits at the top of the stairs and says wee, Hope slides down
the slide and continues to say wee, she crawls back up the stairs as she had done before and
says wee as she sits on the top of the stairs. The caregiver approaches Hope and says to her I
see you. Hope continues to say wee as the caregiver reaches out for Hopes hand, I see you
Hope, she said. The caregiver then leads Hope down the stairs, while saying Do you want to
walk down the stairs?.
c. Using infant directed speech is a strategy to encourage language learning.
Using a simplified language to talk to an infant and toddler makes it easier for them to imitate the
caregiver that is using the language. When the caregiver talks to Hope and says she sees her,
encourages Hope to talk back to her. Hope continued to babble to the caregiver when the
caregiver continued her communication to Hope. Encouraging speech and language development
is critical to a 17 month old like Hope, and to her development.
2. a. Language development- receptive language- the developing ability to
understand words and increasingly complex utterances.
b. The caregiver asks Hope Would you like to go play outside? as she
approaches Hope. Hope begins to stand up off of the ground, and the caregiver says to Hope
Lets go play outside with our friends. After hearing the caregiver Hope begins to walk towards
the door. Hope reaches for the door handle as she waits for the caregiver to open the door for her
to go outside. After the caregiver opens the door, Hope rushes and walks outside to go play.
c. According to the language development hand out, at around 18 months of age,
children show understanding of one-step requests that have to do with the current situation. Hope
understanding that it is time to go outside, so she begins to walk to the door, shows that Hope is
at the normal stage in the receptive language development, seeing as how Hope is a 17 month old
infant.
Part VII.
1. a. Motor development- fine motor skills- fine motor skill is the coordination of
small muscle movements that occur in body parts such as the fingers.
b. Hope is sitting with her feet together like a butterfly next to a container filled
with blocks. Hope grabs each block individually with her fingers, as if pinching them, while
bringing the block closer to her face and looking thoroughly at them. She does this individually
with multiple blocks, and after looking at the blocks she scatters them around the floor.
c. The pinching movement that Hope uses to pick up the block is known as the
pincer grasp. The textbook on page 243, defines the pincer grasp as a childs more refined grasp
of index finger and thumb to pick up an object. According to the motor developmental trends on
page 244, the pincer grasp begins in the age group of 8-12 months. Hope showing that she can
thoroughly use the pincer grasp shows that she is at a good normal stage for a 17 month old, and
that she can in fact use the pincer grasp. In the 12-18 months old developmental stage for motor
development, Hope should start beginning to use the pincer grasp to stack and line up blocks.
2. a. Motor development- gross motor skills- tasks that utilize the gross or large
muscles of the body like those in the arms, legs, and core.
b. Hope hurries to walk to the sand, she then steps up onto the curb, standing on
the curb with both feet, she then balances herself on the curb and slowly starts to walk on the
curb around the sand, step by step. Hope steps off the curb into the teepee and begins to laugh
and babble as she pulls the teepee fabric. Hope then attempts to walk out of the teepee but trips
over the curb as she attempts to leave.She uses both hands to push herself up off the ground, and
then stables herself as she walks over towards the caregiver.
c. According to the motor developmental trends listed in the textbook on page
244, mobile infants between the ages of 12-18 months should be able to walk, and climb stairs as
well. Hope displays both of those motor skills throughout my development. To promote Hopes
gross motor development during this time teacher and parents should be interacting by imitating
Hopes variety of body movements, as well as introducing new movements. The environment
should have stable, low-to-the-ground riding and rocking toys as well. Being 17 months old,
Hope is in the normal range for her age group when it comes to gross motor skills. The next
developmental stage includes but is not limited to, running, sitting up on chairs alone, as well as
throwing and kicking a ball.
Part VIII.
1. My first suggestion based on my observation for a parent or caregiver to optimize
Hopes development would be in the emotional/social developmental stage. One of my
suggestions would be that when Hope is playing with her peers, which she demonstrated
multiple times, such as playing in the cardboard box with her peers, and when she was playing in
the pretend kitchen with her fellow female peer, is that the caregiver talks to Hope and help her
learn the other childrens names. For example, Hope was outside playing with her peers, as they
all took turns hiding in a large cardboard box, then they would pop out of the box and start
laughing. The caregiver can take that opportunity to announce each child when they pop out of
the box, for example, when it is Hopes turn and she pops out of the box, the caregiver could say
Oh! There is Hope! or I see Hope!, and take turns to do that with each child individually.
Doing that will allow the children to repeatedly hear each others names and become more
sociable with each other.
2. My second suggestion on how a parent or caregiver might optimize Hopes
development, based on my observation would be in the cognitive developmental stage. My
suggestion is to help Hope start acting more autonomously. I would suggest that caregivers and
parents do keep a regular routine, so that Hope can begin to think about what is happening next,
and know what to expect. The caregiver could ask questions such as Are you ready to go
outside? or Do you have a jacket on?, instead of telling Hope, Put a jacket on, and then we
will go outside. This helps Hope to think about what she is doing, and then act upon it on her
own.
3. My third suggestion based on my observation falls into language development. I
observed the caregiver using infant directed speech with Hope as she was playing on the slide.
The caregiver was telling Hope, I see you. I would suggest that the caregiver continues the
infant directed speech with Hope, and possibly take it up to the next step, such as saying Hope,
I see you. Do you see me? Do you see me Hope?. This will engage Hope into conversation, and
will influence her to reply to the caregiver with some form of communication. This supports
Hope in language development, which is very crucial at her age.
4. A fourth suggestion I would have for Hopes caregivers and parents would fall into the
category of gross motor skills. I observed Hope play outside, and I watched her as she pushed
around a tricycle with both of her hands as she walked it around on the cement. I would suggest
that the caregivers help and assist Hope, and encourage her to ride on the tricycle. If the tricycle
seems to hard for Hope to understand and ride, I would suggest a low-to-the-ground rocking toy,
such as a rocking horse. These types of toys would encourage Hope to use gross motor skills,
and ultimately optimize her motor development skills.
5. A final suggestion that I would have to help optimize Hopes development, is a
suggestion for her fine motor skills. I would suggest that when a caregiver sees Hope playing
with the blocks, just as I observed earlier, that they sit with Hope and show her to stack the
blocks. I observed Hope play with the blocks and scatter them across the floor. I would suggest
that caregivers show Hope to use the pincer grasp she was demonstrating earlier to stack the
blocks on top of one another. If Hope tries to stack the blocks using her pincer grasp, then she
will be working on hand-eye coordination, and that will optimize her development of fine motor
skills.