This project is an observation report where I observed a video of children playing and recorded my observations while connecting it to course content and theories learned in class.

1. Observation Template
As your understanding of theory increases during this semester, I want to see your increased understanding reflected in your observations. For
the first observation, I expect to see at least 6 theories applied. For the second observation, I expect to see at least 8 theories applied. For the
third observation, I expect to see at least 10 theories applied. For more guidance, please review the example observation report in eLC. If you
continue to have questions, reach out to Chesney.
Name __Allie Carter____________
Date_____4/4/21___________
Observation #__3______
Video Description: This is a video of pre-school age children sitting around a table with an adult caregiver. The children and the caregiver play
together with toys, specifically toys that are modeled after things you would find in a doctor’s office. The children pretend to be in a doctor’s
office as they use make-believe play. There are three children present, two boys and a girl. All these children appear to be between the ages of
4-5, because they are playing correctly with toys, speaking in sentences, answering questions, and thinking cognitively and imaginatively. This
video follows the evolution of cooperative play between the children. The materials they use are pretend doctor’s office toys and stuffed
animals.
Theory Concept/Stage Description of Event Discussion
Piaget Preoperational
Claire, one of the children seen in the
video, is playing the role of the doctor
while pretending to check the
caregiver’s ears with a plastic toy. She
holds the toy to the caregiver’s ear and
says, “You have peas in your ears!”
In Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development, children ages 2-7 begin to
think symbolically and use their
imagination in play. In the video, Claire
uses her imagination while playing doctor,
pretending to see peas in the caregiver’s
ears. This shows her ability to use her
imagination, while her line of thinking still
lacks the logic of later stages of cognitive
development.

2. Erickson Initiative vs. Guilt
Through make-believe play, the three
children in the video are pretending to
be a doctor and nurse. They are using
toys to act out the role of a doctor and
nurse. The children are taking initiative
and feel a sense of responsibility to
care for their patient, even if it is
pretend play.
In the initiative vs. guilt stage of Erickson’s
theory of Psychosocial development,
children around the ages of 3-6 begin to
develop initiative. Through make believe
play, they gain insight into the person they
can become. In this stage, children
develop a sense of responsibility and
ambition. In this video, we can see the
children’s desire to take care of their
“patients” by pretending to check their
blood pressure, listen to their heartbeat,
and prescribe medicine. This is make-
believe play of a doctor’s office is
developing a sense of responsibility in
these children and helping them gain
insight into the real world and what they
can become. This make-believe play
teaches them that one day, they can
become a real doctor.
Erickson Industry vs. Inferiority
At the beginning of the video, two of
the children are pretending to be the
doctor and the nurse. Claire and Ryder
work together to help their patient,
which is their caregiver. They use the
same toys and share the scissors toy to
pretend to pull “peas” and “monkey
eyes” out of their caregiver’s ears.
In the industry vs. inferiority stage of
Erickson’s Psychosocial development
theory, children learn to work together
and cooperate with others. In the video,
we see Claire and Ryder learning to
cooperate with each other, working
together to accomplish the task of
pretending to remove objects from their
caregiver’s ears in their doctor game.
Physical Fine Motor Skills
Each of the children at various parts of
the video show fine motor skills
development. They each play with the
doctor’s office toys, using the blood
These children in the video are using
different toys appropriately and practicing
using hand-eye coordination. In fine
motor skills development, children ages 4-

3. pressure cuff, shot, tweezers, and
stethoscope in their play. They grasp
these different toys and use them
correctly with their hands.
5 years are able to use scissors and knifes,
which we see these children use these
objects, even though they are plastic toys.
Even with toys, the children are practicing
hand muscle movements and grasping
certain objects.
Stages of Play Cooperative play
In the video, all three children play
together cooperatively. They are using
make-believe play, pretending they are
in a doctor’s office where they are
doctors, nurses, and veterinarians
taking care of patients.
One stage of play is cooperative play. In
this stage, children learn to play together
and share their ideas, games, and toys.
Cooperative play is a more advanced type
of interaction, where children orient
toward a common goal, such as acting out
a make-believe theme. In the video, the
children work together to act out scenes
from a doctor’s office and pretend they
are doctors and nurses.
Bandura Social Learning Theory
In the video, one child, Logan, sees the
caregiver pretend to take the stuffed
animal’s temperature with the toy
thermometer. She explains what the
thermometer does as she
demonstrates how to use it, and then
gives it to Logan, who then uses it to
take the other stuffed animal’s
temperature.
According to Bandura’s Social Learning
Theory, children learn by observation and
will copy behavior that they see. After
watching the caregiver pretend to take
the temperature of the stuffed animal, the
child learns how to use the toy
thermometer himself and copies her
behavior by taking the temperature of his
stuffed animal.
Piaget
Animism
(preoperational
thought)
The children are playing with stuffed
animals and using them as their
patients while they are pretending to
be veterinarians. Claire is holding a
stuffed animal cat, and says, “my kitty
only like cherries and cupcakes!”
A part of the preoperational stage of
Piaget’s cognitive development theory is
animism. This is the belief that innate
objects have lifelike qualities such as
thoughts, emotion, wishes, and
intentions. In the video, Claire gives her
stuffed animal cat lifelike qualities,

4. pretending that the toy has emotions,
feelings, and likes and dislikes.
Vygotsky
Zone of Proximal
Development
At the beginning of the video, the
caregiver points to a picture on the wall
and asks the children, “what is this a
picture of?” The children answer, “a
doctor.” The caregiver explains to them
that this is not the right answer and
tries to guide them to the correct
answer by saying things like, “they also
work at a hospital” or “it starts with the
letter n” to help them determine that
the picture is of a nurse.
Vygotsky’s concept of ZPD, zone of
proximal development, is a range of tasks
that the child cannot yet handle alone but
can do with the help of a more skilled
partner. In ZPD, the adult guides and
supports, adjusting the level of support
offered to fit the child’s current level of
performance. This is what the caregiver
does in the video; she guides the children
to the correct answer giving them just
enough support to determine the correct
answer on their own, whereas they would
not be able to figure out the correct
answer without the help of the caregiver.
Language
Development
Private Speech
Throughout the video, we see several
instances where the children use
private speech. As they play with the
doctor’s toys, we see the children
whispering to themselves things like
“ok now I’m going to do this…” A
specific example is when Ryder is
playing with the toy scissors while
saying, “cut, cut, cut…” quietly to
himself.
Private speech is a part of language
development where children use self-
directed speech to plan and guide their
behavior. According to Vygotsky, children
speak to themselves for self-guidance. We
see the children in the video talking
themselves through their behavior in their
play, like how Ryder tells himself, “cut,
cut, cut…” while playing with the toy
scissors.