Journal Entry #4

My interview questions were related with the outdoor and indoor play of children. I wanted to know how children feel and understand about play. I interviewed 12 children so far, aged from 2 1/2 yrs to 7yrs. They were very interested in interviews and anxious to give the interviews, and gave very honest answers. Most of the answers from age 2 1/2 till 3 1/2 yrs old i got is "play is fun, i like to play"."I like to play outside". I did show them their pictures playing out doors as well as doing activities indoors and asked them about their experience of that particular activity.It also gave them a chance to recall the event and it did help in developing their memory skills.

Interview responses of children and Chapter 17 of Handbookk

As i have been reading chapter 6 in " Researching Children's experiences" and some articles how to take Interviews for research data,also chapter 17 in Handbook of Research. I learned the best way of interviewing children nd adults through chapter 6 and how to build up my openended questionnaire for parents and children. I kept in mind that i cannot be abstract or too broad in my interviw. Prior to inteview i made children comfortable and confident by explaining them why i need their opinion about play. as i told them "i want to know your opinion about play ,so i can do things as you like". This really encouraged them to talk about play, and give their opinion. Rather made them anxious to give their opinion. It was interesting to know how much they liked their voice to be heard by an adult, and feel confident when they know their voice/opinion has been acknowledged.I did use during my interview sessions, photoelicitation, and stimulus drawing approaches.As i read chapter 7 in Researchin Children, about Art and Photography. i did use children's views on their pictures playing indoors and out doors.I noted the views as well as observed their reactions seeing the pictures of themselves playing outdoors and indoors and recalling the pleasures they had that particular day/time.i mostly interview my day care children and some of my old students who come and visit me also children of my family members.Most of the children's response i got was ,play is for fun, and i like it outside. answer to my second question most children replied, we like to play on trees and sand boxes,some children did like to play on slides and swings. basically every one of them liked to play active play outdoors.Also through their views i noticed all of them loved to play with their friends and it is important for the development of their social/emotional skills as well as their problem solving skills, besides other developmental skills.
My interviews are stillgoing on, as after giving a little time break of a week or two i want to again continue interviewing my children to see the difference in their responses or do they still think the same. As i was reading in Researching Children, usually the researchers keep in touch with the participant group for some longer time period .But as i am not only depending o exclusively on interviews for my project i use different methods such as observations, photoelicitation,drawings,storytelling and pretend play. These participant children are mostly from my day care and know me as well trust me so i did not have to build a rapport with them. They are comfortable enough to talk with me, only i had to give them the confidence of talking about their feelings on certain issues.Which initially they were confused why i am asking, Don't i know?But after knowing my reason for asking them questions, they were very interested and anxious to answer.

PARENT'S VIEWS OF OUTDOOR PLAY.

As i have been reading articles and journals, and especially for the final presentation i did read bunch of articles and was overwhelmed by the information i gained.I was so excited to use all the knowledge i gained, then lot of my children were sick one after another because of weather.so the continuity of my interview work and its proceedings did delayed.Being their care provider as well as supporter to parents it was getting stressful for me. Along with the pressure of getting behind in my work. Ultimately a thought did come to my mind as Dava mentioned it in class that she asked her friends on net to respond to her thoughts and quite a lot responded. so thanks to Dava for thought provoking idea. I used her idea and also asked parents and friends about their idea of play outdoors and indoors. As most of the adults now-a days provide children with electronic toys and think that is very good and healthy for child's brain stimulation. But actually it is the opposite. As i read some of the articles and it is amazing to know that children who are deprived of outdoor play have more cases of ADHD and obesity. they also show more tantrums and mood swings than children who are exposed to outdoor activities. Few of the parents did attend Elizabeth Goodenough's lecture at OU, they were very excited to share their thoughts , when i asked them what do you think of outdoor play? I have used a questionnaire for the parents. compilation of these interviews are still in progress. i have used the following questionnaire:

1. What do you think by term play?
2. why is play important for children?
3 what kind of play you recommend for children?
4. what do you think of outdoor play vs indoor play?
5. What children should play outside?
6.Do you mind if your children play in dirt and explore nature?
7.Do you think out door play enhance social and emotional development of children?
8. what kind of play you play with your child/ren?
9.What does your child play at home with most?
10.What activities do you do together as family and do you go on picnics/camping as weather permitting?

I am getting very good response on this questionnaire.
parents who attended Elizabeth Goodenough 's lecture do go on camping every yr. They also very highly recommend outdoor exploration of nature for children. They think play is what make a child happy and creative. and opens up his mind and body. It is interesting to know parents point of view about play after knowing children's view.

Deer tracks and deer poop

It was interesting to observe children outdoors and how excited they were on finding that deers are coming near house. As we were talking about animals going in hibernation.When spring comes they wake up and come out of their houses and go find food.In our back yard we go on a nature walk and find all nature stuff there.Some times we think it's cold and there are no trees and nothing outside but ,among all this kind of weather and environment children still do see a lot and find lot of material to explore. We adults have to assist them and provide food for their thoughts. As in this video you will notice one child asks me for my camera and wanted to take pictures of his own choice. So i did give him the camera and he took very nice shots and he always enjoys taking pictures from my camera. he is 3 1/2 yrs old.I hope you all enjoy the deer poop exploration.