Child Observation Videos

View and discuss child observation videos showing child behaviour in setting to give you a deeper understanding of what to expect in practice.

 

Pushing Prams

Two 2 year-old girls push prams around an outside area. There is a minor dispute when a boy wants to play with one of the prams too. A practitioner explains the girls were playing with the pram first. The clip illustrates role play and control.

Baking Bread

A 2 year-old boy makes a mud pie. He uses a ladle to fill up a cake tin with dirt. He then goes to show his teacher the cake.  "Is that a cake?  What kind of cake?" she asks.  He puts the cake down. "Has it been in the oven?" his teacher askes. "Yes," he says.  They pretend to eat the cake. The boy explains he is going to go sell the cake in the doll house. He takes the cake to a play house and puts it down on the table. He picks at the cake a little bit and sings to himself. A little girl enters the play house and sees the cake. "Is that bread for me?" she asks. "No," says the boy.

Picking Grass for Baby

This is an example of schema. A two year-old girl picks grass and places it in a bucket. She then takes the grass and the baby and gets in a toy car. Later she pretends to feed the baby tea and grass. Is she rein acting her parent’s behaviour (Doing food shopping and loading  it into the car, then getting home and feeding the groceries to baby.)

Playing in the Sand Tray 

A two to three year-old boy and girl share a tray of sand. They draw in the sand together. The boy uses a tiny shovel to pick up the sand and pour it out into the tray. He moves the sand back in the same way. He is distracted by what the other children around him are playing with but continues his activity.

Playing with Blocks

A girl is playing with lego blocks in a busy class room. She arranges lego figurines on the blocks. She sneezes and stands up to get a tissue. Her teacher reminds her where the tissues are.

Bug Hunting

A group of children check under the stumps for bugs. The practitioner lifts the stump so they can look under. The children huddle round and say what they see. Two boys go to the next stump and bang on the top like it is a drum to get their teacher to lift the stump. They look under all the stumps and other children join in.

Swinging on a Rope

A boy takes a crate and uses it to jump off of when swinging from a rope. He is engaging in risky play. He jumps, swings, but lands badly and hits his knee. He looks at his knee. Then continues to swing. He takes turns swinging with the girl opposite him. His teacher comes and asks if he would like to sit on the rope. He climbs on the rope and she pushes him.

Called for Lunch

Children engaging in various outdoor play activities. A practitioner announces it is time for lunch. All the children beginning lining up. One child lags behind. The teachers call for him.  They wait for him to join the group, then head inside.

Getting Ready for Lunch

Older children sit at tables getting ready for lunch. One child saves a seat for his friend. Other children pour water into cups for themselves and pass the water around.

The Roundabout

A boy is playing by himself. He throws a ball, puts in a basket and goes to sit with his teacher. A few moments later another child whizzes by on a bicycle and two other boys on bikes come to race after him. They all bike in a circle around a tree stump. One of the children falls of his bike, and his teachers and friends come to make sure he is okay.  The boys continue to race around in a circle until it becomes a game to fall of the bicycle. The child who was playing with the ball attempts to join the fun and pulls on one of the boys bikes.  A practitioner watches whilst hugging another child.

Child development video focusing on aspects of exploratory and pretend play

This film was made in a private day nursery in a rural location, which focuses on outdoor experiences for children aged 0.6 months to 4 years.

This video illustrates how an individual child’s play has evolved over one year. The first clip recorded in June 2013 shows a girl playing indoors. The second clip filmed in June 2014 features the same girl engaging in outdoor play.  The final clip shows the girl participating in outdoor group play where the children are engaged in imaginative play – possibly inspired by a recent ‘pirate day’ at the nursery.

To watch video click here. 

What might these three clips reveal about the girl’s changing play preferences? What does the role of the imaginary in these three clips reveal?

How does the outdoor environment seen here afford different types of play?

(see Chapter 7 Play and Creativity and Chapter 8 Outdoor Play and Learning)

Bug hunting

This video shows footage of a group of children exploring bugs hidden under stumps. The first clip was filmed in June 2013 and in this clip we see the children being supported by a practitioner to discover the minibeasts. The second clip made in 2014 shows a group including one of the same children observing some minibeasts under a log.

To watch video click here. 

How has the way the children investigate the insects changed?

What does this clip reveal about their disposition, cognition, language, social and physical development from 2013 to 2014?

How do young children contribute to and learn from experiences like this in a small group.

What is the role of the practitioner in these two scenarios?

(see Chapter 2 Modern Childhoods, Chapter 11 Well-being and Chapter 18 Reflective Practice)