hild Observation Worksheet
Child Observation Worksheet
| Infancy | Toddler | Pre School | School Age | Adolescent | Observation Data for [insert age, gender, and any other relevent information]. Example: Female, Age 4, Autistic.
*only fill out this column for the age group you observed. |
|
| Erikson’s Theory | Stage 1: Trust vs. mistrust (Saracho & Evans, 2021)
The infant bases their relationships on the consistency of affection and care. |
Stage 2: Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (Saracho & Evans, 2021).
The toddlers at this stage have become more aware of themselves and may feel ashamed of their mistakes. |
Stage 3: Initiative vs. guilt
As the preschool child gains more autonomy, they understand the responsibility for their behavior and feel guilt for bad behavior. |
Stage 4: Puberty industry vs. inferiority
As a school-age child, the child recognizes rewards and motivation to become industrious and feel superior. |
Stage 5: Identity vs. role confusion
The child at the adolescent stage have become more aware of their self can make reasonable decisions for their future. |
6-year-old female.
She talks confidently with everyone in the office. Her speech is intelligible. |
| Cognitive Development
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Sensorimotor Stage:
Recognizes familiar faces and has the urge to put everything in the mouth.
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Preoperational Stage:
The child is able to symbolize objects and events. |
Intuitive thinker:
The child can engage in small conversations and can imagine things. |
Concrete operational stage:
The child’s thinking is reasonable, and can easily understand the perspectives of others. |
Formal operational stage
The child understands and solves conflicts through deductive reasoning. |
The 6-year-old was given morally conflicting choices and easily could choose between right and wrong. |
| Language Development
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Communication mostly involves non-verbal cues like cooing and crying. | The child is able to say single recognizable words and responds accordingly when instructed. | At the preschool stage, the child is able to combine two or more words to form simple sentences. | The child has a better understanding of terms, phrases, and tenses and easily maintains a conversation. | Language has developed significantly, and conservations are intelligible. | She is able to hold on conversations and even solve complex grammar and Maths problems for her age. |
| Psych-Social Development | The child is attracted to those who provide her with constant care and affection.
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The child starts growing awareness of their environment, including what can harm them. | The child can independently move around and can avoid getting hurt and trouble. | The child considers several factors for making friendships, including trust (Maunder & Monks, 2019). | Self-identification has been well developed, and the child is more concerned about the outcomes of their actions. | The 6-year-old, when asked if she has friends, takes time to answer and provides reasons why each friend is her friend. |
| Moral Development | The child has no sense of morality at this stage.
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At this stage, the child understands punishment and avoids whatever causes punishment. | Moral behavior is based on ego and is beneficial to the child. | The child understands and appreciates the perspectives of others and seeks to develop relationships. | The child has a full understanding of society and morals and acts in a way that is socially accepted. | She always gave way and did not talk over people older than her. |
| Discipline
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The child in infancy has no sense of discipline.
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At this stage, the toddler has a sense of action and punishment. | At preschool, she reflects on what she has done, which leads to punishment, and makes the right amends. | At school age, the child may get into more trouble and indiscipline, and she explores her environment. | Although the adolescent develops a sense of autonomy and accountability, discipline is usually negotiated instead of direct punishment. | She lied about eating candy and was grounded as punishment. She later said sorry. |
| Physical Development | Growth in height and weight gain is double from birth weight in a few months.
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The child has grown in height and weight and developed better eye-hand coordination. | There is a notable growth in height and weight. | Notable growth in height and weight is observed. | There are notable growth differences between boys and girls, with girls gaining more weight and height than boys. | She is currently 47 inches and 44lbs |
| Injury Prevention | Injury prevention is the role of the caregiver. Focus on ensuring the infant is well attended to.
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Injuries can be prevented by supervision and by allowing the child to learn independently. | Injury prevention goes beyond the house to the outside environment. Supervision and autonomy in learning are encouraged. | The use of safety gear such as helmets, knee pads, and gloves is encouraged during play. | As risky behaviors develop during adolescence, directly addressing them is encouraged as an intervention (Champion et al., 2019). | Although she was encouraged to wear a helmet and knee guards while practicing her bike riding, she usually took it off. |
| Nutritional needs | Breast milk is encouraged. Solid foods are advised to be provided for 6 months. | Eating mashed solid foods is encouraged in pea-sized parts. | As dietary needs grow, the child is expected to take foods from all 5 major food groups. | A healthy breakfast is encouraged. The caregiver needs to promote healthy eating habits. | As poor eating behaviors tend to develop during adolescence, healthy eating habits need to be pushed and encouraged. | When given a choice between a sweet cake and vegetables, she went for the cake. However, she was denied. Repeatedly, she seemed to enjoy the greens. |
| Dental Care | Dental care is the caregiver’s responsibility. Ensure no hard objects are mouthed, which may hurt the developing soft gum.
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As the milk teeth emerge, avoid sweets, ensure regular brushing, and avoid mouthing hard things and thumb-sucking. | Supervise and encourage autonomy and dental care, including brushing and flossing. | Encourage brushing after eating with fluoridated toothpaste and soft bristle toothbrush. | Continue with independent brushing after eating with fluoridated toothpaste. | She enjoys brushing, and we sometimes had to take the toothbrush from her. |
| Sleep | Longer sleeping time of up to 17hrs is encouraged.
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Sleeping up to 14 hours. | Sleeping up to 12 hours. | Sleeping up to 10 hours. | Sleeping up to 12 hours. | The 6-year-old sleeps between 8 to 12 hours at a time. |
| Activity and Play types | The child usually plays with her hands and watches the caregiver’s movements.
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She usually plays with toys and other objects in her environment. | She has developed a bit of interest in music and other arts. | She has developed a better understanding of relationships and can play alone or in a team. | As an adolescent, she better understands her identity and has a personal selection of activities based on personal interests. | She spent most of her time playing alone but took time to play with others in the room. |
| Vital Signs
Including the type of Pain assessment
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Loud crying and a show of discomfort on the face. | The child usually cries and has rapid body movements as well as discomfort. | Physical pain assessment can be done by observing how the child cries and acts. | The child can say how much they are hurt and where the pain is. | The child may not cry but may curse in pain. | The 6-year-old got hurt on her finger and cried a little bit while flipping her hand and sucking on her finger. |
References
Champion, K. E., Parmenter, B., McGowan, C., Spring, B., Wafford, Q. E., Gardner, L. A., Thornton, L., McBride, N., Barrett, E. L., Teesson, M., Newton, N. C., Chapman, C., Slade, T., Sunderland, M., Bauer, J., Allsop, S., Hides, L., Stapinksi, L., Birrell, L., & Mewton, L. (2019). Effectiveness of school-based eHealth interventions to prevent multiple lifestyle risk behaviors among adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Digital Health, 1(5), e206–e221. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30088-3
Maunder, R., & Monks, C. P. (2019). Friendships in middle childhood: Links to peer and school identification, and general self-worth. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 37(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12268