Observe a child between 2 and 6 for 53 and 65 and between 5 and 12 for 97 if possible. If you have to go older
or younger that’s okay.
Write down everything you see: which hand he or she is using, which foot they start walking with when they
stand up, how they handle a pencil, marker, their facial expressions, and everything else that happens in the 3-
5 minutes you are observing. Include so much detail that anyone reading your observation can picture exactly
what the child is doing.
Your observation will have three parts: a heading, the observation, and a summary.
Heading
For the heading list the name and age (years;months) of the child and the date, time and location of the
observation. For example, if Maya is 4 years and 5 months we write Maya (4;5).
Observation
For the observation use the notes you took while observing. You can write a running record which is written in
the present tense (“Maya picks up a green crayon with her right thumb and index finger, adjusts the paper with
her left hand, and using a three-finger hold on the crayon makes a circle on the paper with her right hand”) or
an anecdotal record using the past tense (“Maya picked up a green crayon with her right thumb and index
finger, adjusted the paper with her left hand, and using a three-finger hold on the crayon made a circle on the
paper with her right hand”).
Use the right margin for comments. Comments include things like the time and what’s happening in the space
(“The door opens and three children run in.”) that is not directly connected to the child you are observing.
Summary
After you write up the running record or anecdotal record write a summary of the developmental areas
(physical, cognitive, psychosocial) you observed.