PTA 2510 SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT 1

Eccles Early Childhood Lab School Observation

Lauren Moulton, Jade Clawson, Emily Peterson, Brittnee Webster

March 13, 2019

Salt Lake Community College

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Background

There are various motor development theories that clinicians use to assess child

development. They are specific to assess locomotion, postural control, and reach and grasp. The

overall theme of development is refinement in motor skills and increased complexity of

movement. Children continue to develop a variety of motor plans in response to the task and

environmental requirements. Development still follows a natural progression, but there is

increased variation in motor skills as children age (Campbell, Linden, & Palisano, 2006).

Typical four year old gross motor skills consist of walking down four steps without

support, jumping forward six inches with one foot, running and stopping without falling,

standing on tiptoes, and standing on one foot with exceptional balance. When throwing, they use

an overhand toss, upper trunk rotation, and moves arms and legs in opposition. Development of a

mature kick with hip extension and knee flexion also begins at four years of age (PDMS, 2000).

Fine motor skills at this age include beginning to draw recognizable pictures, coloring

inside lines, putting on clothing with buttons and zippers, learning to write capital letters, and

manipulating scissors when cutting simple shapes. They should also be able to feed themselves

and manipulate utensils (Preschool Developmental Milestones, 2011).

Play is an important role in child development. Four year olds enjoy rough and tumble

play with friends, role playing, and manipulation of smaller toys like Legos and beads. The

purpose of this study is to observe specific skills four year olds develop during play.
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Methods

Participants

Four children were observed out of a class of nine students from the Salt Lake

Community College Eccles Early Childhood Education Lab School. There were four females

and five males. Everyone in the class was either four or five years old. The children were

participating in different center activities.

Procedures

A group of four physical therapist assistant students from Salt Lake Community College

went to the Eccles Early Childhood Education Lab School to observe a classroom of four and

five year old children. The group of PTA students observed and recorded locomotion, reactive

and anticipatory postural control, object manipulation, attention span, toy preference, and

feedback and instruction for thirty minutes at the Taylorsville Salt Lake Community College

Campus.

Environment

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The center activities took place in a classroom that was child friendly. It consisted of

brightly colored walls and a variety of children's toys. Some of these toys included blocks,

Playdough, kitchen toys, coloring paper and markers, Legos, key and locks, dolls, stuffed

animals, and a box of little toys. They had age appropriate artwork on the walls. The tables,

chairs, sinks, and toy cubbies were all easily accessible for the four year olds. There were two

female teachers watching and playing with the children. There was plenty of room for each of

them to play individually or in a group.

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SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

During the observation, all the four year olds got along and played well with each other.

The boys had a tendency to play with the boys and the girls had a tendency to play with the girls.

They communicated with each other and the teachers well. The teachers demonstrated age

appropriate language when talking to the children and stooped down to eye level.

ATTITUDINAL ENVIRONMENT

The teachers were friendly, kind, and made the children feel safe. They all seemed to be

happy while playing and learning. At one point, one of the girls seemed upset and started hitting

herself. The teacher used the strategy of planned ignoring to decrease the challenge behavior. As

the behavior persisted, the teacher led the child out of the room to go for a walk to calm her. The

child responded positively and came back to play.

Results

Locomotion & Object manipulation & Preferred toys & Feedback &
reactive postural anticipatory postural attention span instruction
control control

Locomotion: Object Manipulation: Toys: Instructions given

-Easily moved about -Inferior pinch and three jaw -Coloring from teachers:
the classroom chuck grip on markers -Blocks -“Sit down on the
-Jumped -Outlined a picture by -Keys and locks mat”
-Hopped on one foot drawing a square -Legos -“Put the beads
-Kicked and swung -Grips paper and marker in -Playdough toys back into the
at blocks one hand -Play kitchen bucket”
-Ran -Easily reached for paper -Scavenger hunt -“Wash your
-Rough and tumble towel to dry hands and arms -Baby dolls hands”
play after washing
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-Quickly and easily -Held marker and traced a Attention span: Feedback given
transitioned from sit house shape and then -Varied depending from teachers:
to stand colored in the house on the child -“Good job”
-Boys built and -“Thank you for
Reactive Postural Anticipatory postural knocked over working together”
control: control: blocks for 15 - Teachers
-Able to stop quickly -Marker rolled away, so minutes. answered questions
and not run into child anticipated where the -Some girls did a - Teachers
another child. marker would roll and scavenger hunt for responded and
-Able to catch reached for it to keep it from numbers around corrected children
themselves after rolling off of the table the classroom for on names of
tripping -While sitting and coloring, 10 minutes objects Example:
-Placed bucket on child stuck left foot out to -Another girl and “That’s not a
the table before the side while reaching to boy moved crystal you have
falling to prevent the right side with the right between toys found, that’s just a
items from spilling hand for a marker to every 3 minutes colored disc”
out of the bucket maintain balance
-Anticipates force needed to Feedback obtained
kick blocks over from playing with
toys:
-Playdough
challenges different
grasp forces
- Key and lock
facilitates hand eye
coordination
- Kicking over the
blocks gives
feedback on force
needed to knock
over target

Discussion/Clinical Implications

The students observed that the children enjoyed imaginative play and playing in groups.

One example is that some of the girls were in the play kitchen, pretending to feed their baby.
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Another example is that a couple of the boys acted like monsters, building and destroying block

towers. Other four year olds enjoyed more of a cognitive activity like searching around the

classroom for numbers on their list. The classroom offered multiple options for play and

interaction. The children were able to transition easily to the different centers according to their

interests. The children were focused on their individual activities and did not seem to mind that

they were being observed. They were respectful to the teachers and demonstrated good listening

skills.

All children develop differently and within their own time frames. Most of the children

that were observed were developing at a normal rate according to the Peabody Motor

Development Chart. They were able to do tasks listed on PDMS including, stacking four to six

blocks to build a tower, drawing squares with markers, and running and stopping. One of the

children had a very short attention span compared to her peers. She also had some behavioral and

cognitive difficulties that were not observed in the other children, but her fine and gross motor

skills were normal.

It is important as physical therapist assistants to understand developmental milestones

and signs of delay. PTA’s are expected to observe and treat patients through age appropriate

interventions according to their motor development. The observation is an example of drawing

upon and applying knowledge in a practical setting. The information learned in this observation

can be applied in many different settings that physical therapist assistants will experience within

the workplace.
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REFERENCES

Campbell, S.K. The Child’s Development of Functional Movement. In: Campbell, S.K.; Vander

Linden, D.W. & Palisano, R. J. Physical Therapy for Children. Third Edition. St. Louis:

Saunders Elsevier; 2006: 33-76.

Folio, M.R. & Fewell, R. R. (2000). PDMS-2: Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (2nd ed.).

Austin: Pro-Ed.

Preschool Developmental Milestones. (2011). Retrieved March 4, 2019, from

http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/fine-motor-skills-preschool-milestones

Children's Therapy and Family Resource Centre

WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. (2006). WHO Motor Development Study:

Windows of achievement for six gross motor development milestones. Acta Paediactrica,

450, 86-95.