Option B: Early Childhood – The Development of Play Read the section in your text that describes the development of play in early childhood. Observe children ages 2-5 in play. You must select a setting where children of varying age groups are gathered, such as a day care or public park. Write up a description of your experience in a word document. First, respond to the following questions about the actual experience: Describe the setting where your observation is taking place. Describe the physical and social characteristics of the children. Are the children engaging in unoccupied play, solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, or cooperative play? Do they participate in only one type of play during your observation, or do they transition to others? Explain the type(s) of play you have identified. Describe in detail what the children are doing and/or saying that assisted you in categorizing their type(s) of play. Describe any differences you notice between the age groups in terms of play. Next, prepare a critical reflection of the experience: Discuss your assumptions prior to observing the children at play and explain why you had these assumptions. Indicate how the actual experience of observing the children was similar to or different from what you expected based on your original assumptions. Indicate how this experience confirmed or altered your original assumptions. Be sure to describe this experience in detail. Write about what you observed using terms, concepts and theories that were covered in the text and online lessons to date.