Playroom Observation

Observation 1

I observed a group of six children roughly between the ages of five and ten. The observation occurred at a semi-formal wedding reception at an art museum in Minneapolis MS. The children were not included in the ceremony, but came to the reception immediately following. They had been introduced to one another in the playroom and had all become fast friends. The reception was relatively unstructured. There was no assigned seating, or a sit down meal served. Instead guests and their children mingled around an indoor/outdoor terrace. The youngest girl was about five or six years old. She seemed to be the shyest of the group. She stayed next to her parents for the majority of the night. Occasionally she would venture off and join

They formed a group of group together, and seemed to really enjoy the freedom their parents were allowing them. They were more rambunctious than the little girl I’d observed earlier. They frequently had to be told by their parents or the hired staff to calm down and not run. The biggest temptation they had was a six foot tall modern art sculpture of a bunch of cubes. Although it wasn’t designed to be a playground, they found a way. Their play seemed to be more about competition. Throughout the night they had different types of races, jumping contests, breath holding contests, and many more. A few of the children knew each other before the wedding and would say things like “I’m a better jumper than Eddie, but Eddie can swim way faster than

The little girl was most likely still experiencing her initiative versus guilt phase. She wasn’t very interested in getting to know the new children. She didn’t really seem to play much with anyone, including her parents. She was more content to experience things in a one-on-one context. I think she was really interested in how the paper lantern could grow to be so large and spherical, but then almost immediately forced to be flat with no ill effect. Her doll race car combination is most interesting to me. I think she probably had an imaginary narrative about the race in her head, but at the same time she was learning the different effects of the world. She learned that the slope, and the wheels would make the car roll down. She also learned that the doll could sit on the car for a little bit of the ride, but would ultimately fall down before the