Week 7 Child Observation Workshop: Ten Minutes at the Play Group

Part 1 — The Big Picture

Ten minutes at a play group can show a lot about a toddler's first relationships, if you write down what the toddler does before you decide what it means. This week you learned the early emotions, the difference between temperament, a child's own style, and attachment, a relationship with a particular caregiver, and Bowlby's idea of the secure base. In this workshop you work from an illustrative running record of a child, 13 months, at a community center's drop-in play group. You code each one-minute entry by whether the toddler's behavior is directed toward the parent or exploring away, count the codes as an event sample, name the early emotions the record shows, split the separation and reunion into temperament and attachment, compare two theories, and catch a chatbot turning a research category into a label for a child.

Time budget: Plan for about 90 minutes.

Part 2 — The Task

Guiding question: In ten one-minute entries of an illustrative child, 13 months, how is the toddler's time split between behavior directed toward the parent and exploring away, which early emotions does the record show, and what can one short record not tell you about the toddler's attachment?

Workshop data: An illustrative ten-minute running record of a child, 13 months, at a community center play group

Source: A ten-entry running record of one child, 13 months, at a community center's drop-in play group with a parent present, written for this workshop as an illustrative example of an observation made with the program's written permission under the course's observation rules; it is printed in full in Part 4, describes no real child, family, or center, and names nobody.

• Rows: 10 timed entries, one per minute from 9:00 to 9:09, one row each in the data table
• Columns: time, what the child did and said, and two blank columns for your code and the early emotion or behavior it may show
• Scope: one child, 13 months, at one illustrative play group, Day 1, winter

Part 3 — Materials & Procedure

Tools and materials

• A notebook or any free note-taking app for observation records kept in two columns (behavior and words; possible interpretation); a free spreadsheet (Google Sheets, or any free spreadsheet) for time and event sample counts and percentages; and one approved chatbot used as a sparring partner whose claims about age norms, studies, and health guidance the student checks against a primary or issuing-body source before trusting them
• a notebook or any free note-taking app
• a free spreadsheet (Google Sheets, or any free spreadsheet)
• one approved chatbot

Ways of working

• running-record
• sampling
• apply-the-theory

Procedure

1. Read the ten entries in the data table in Part 4. They are an illustrative running record, built for this workshop, of a child, 13 months, at a community center's drop-in play group on Day 1, in winter, from 9:00 to 9:10; no real child, family, or center is described, and people appear only by role. Tool: a notebook or any free note-taking app. Check: You can say in one sentence what the record shows and that it is illustrative.
2. Give each entry one code: A if the toddler's behavior is directed toward the parent (staying close, looking back, seeking, crying for, or reaching for the parent), or E if the toddler is exploring the room or a toy away from the parent. Write the code in the code column. In the last column, name the early emotion or behavior the entry may show, if any: stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, social referencing, or checking back to a secure base. Leave it blank if the entry shows none. Tool: a notebook or any free note-taking app. Check: Every one of the ten rows carries one code, and some rows name an early emotion or behavior.
3. Open a blank sheet. Type Time, Entry, and Code in cells A1 to C1, enter your ten rows in rows 2 to 11, then count each code with =COUNTIF(C2:C11,"A") and =COUNTIF(C2:C11,"E"). Tool: a free spreadsheet (Google Sheets, or any free spreadsheet). Check: The two counts add up to 10, the number of one-minute intervals.
4. Turn each count into a percent of all intervals: divide the count by 10 and multiply by 100. Then find the gap, in percentage points, between the two percents, and write each step in the count table. Tool: a free spreadsheet (Google Sheets, or any free spreadsheet). Check: The two percents add up to 100, and the gap is written in percentage points.
5. Complete the temperament and attachment table for the entries at 9:07 to 9:09, then write one sentence on why this record, which includes a separation and a reunion, still cannot give the toddler an attachment classification. Tool: a notebook or any free note-taking app. Check: Each row of the table carries temperament or attachment with a reason, and the classification sentence names the Strange Situation.
6. Complete the theory table: for the entry at 9:09, write what Bowlby's attachment theory explains and what Erikson's psychosocial theory adds or disputes, then answer the five analysis questions. Tool: a notebook or any free note-taking app. Check: Each theory has one specific sentence tied to the 9:09 entry.
7. Paste the Part 6 prompt into one approved chatbot after your completed tables, read its reply, and write your critique report; or complete the equivalent route instead. Tool: one approved chatbot. Check: You have at least three quoted errors, each corrected by hand.

Fallback route

When to use it: Use this route if no spreadsheet is available.

Code and count the entries by hand from the data table: mark A or E beside each entry, count each mark, divide each count by 10, and multiply by 100. Complete every scaffold table, analysis question, and the critique step on paper, and submit the same items for equal credit.

This route earns the same credit as the primary route.

Part 4 — The Scaffold

The data come first: an illustrative ten-minute running record of a child, 13 months, at a community center's drop-in play group, Day 1, winter, with two columns for your work.

Student scaffold table 1

Time	What the child did and said (behavior only)	Your code (A or E)	Early emotion or behavior it may show, if any
9:00	Sits on the parent's lap and looks across the room at the toy kitchen.
9:01	Climbs down, crawls to the toy kitchen, and bangs two pots together.
9:02	Stops, turns, looks back at the parent across the room, then goes back to the pots.
9:03	A volunteer the child has not met kneels nearby and holds out a ball. Turns away, whimpers, and crawls back to the parent's knee.
9:04	Beside the parent's knee, looks up at the parent's face. The parent smiles and says, "That's a ball." Reaches out and takes the ball from the volunteer.
9:05	Rolls the ball across the rug and crawls after it.
9:06	Pushes a toy shopping cart along the wall, babbling "ba, ba."
9:07	The parent steps into the hallway. Stops, cries loudly, and crawls toward the door.
9:08	Keeps crying and looking toward the door; does not take a stacking toy a staff member offers.
9:09	The parent comes back. Reaches up, is picked up, stops crying within a minute, then points at the cart.

Count each code across the ten one-minute intervals, then turn each count into a percent of the ten intervals.

Student scaffold table 2

Code	Count	Percent of 10 intervals	How you worked it
A — directed toward the parent
E — exploring away from the parent
Gap between the two percents

Split the separation and reunion at 9:07 to 9:09 into what may reflect the child's own style and what reflects a relationship.

Student scaffold table 3

Part of the record	May reflect temperament or attachment?	Why, in one sentence
How loudly the child cries at 9:07
Crawling toward the door the parent went through
Not taking the staff member's toy at 9:08
Reaching for the parent and calming within a minute at 9:09

Compare two theories on the 9:09 reunion, where the child reaches up, is picked up, and calms.

Student scaffold table 4

Theory	What it explains about the 9:09 entry	What it leaves out or disputes
Bowlby's attachment theory
Erikson's psychosocial theory

Part 5 — Analysis Questions

1. Using your sheet or a hand count, how many intervals carry each code, what percent of the ten intervals is each, and what is the gap between the two percents, in percentage points? Show each count, each division, and the subtraction.
2. Which entries show stranger anxiety, social referencing, separation anxiety, and checking back to a secure base? Name the time of each and say in one plain sentence what the toddler did that shows it.
3. In 3–4 sentences, explain which parts of the separation at 9:07 and 9:08 may reflect temperament and which reflect attachment, and why your behavior column holds only what the child did, not what it might mean.
4. Using your theory table, in 3–4 sentences say what Bowlby's attachment theory explains about the 9:09 reunion, what Erikson's psychosocial theory adds or disputes, and end with one sentence naming what the comparison shows.
5. Reflection — choose one and answer it in 4–6 sentences. (a) What in your own experience with young children (as a family member, a caregiver, or someone who has heard family stories) led you to expect a certain reaction to a parent leaving, and how did this week's ideas change that? (b) What can one ten-minute record at a play group not tell you about this toddler's attachment, and why does a research classification need the Strange Situation rather than an ordinary morning?

Part 6 — AI-Critique Moment

Choose one equal-credit critique route. Route A: ask an approved AI tool to critique your completed work, then check its response against your own evidence. Route B is the no-AI equivalent printed below.

Approved tools: Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, Microsoft Copilot.

Prompt to paste:

I've pasted my completed running record and event-sample table above. They come from an illustrative ten-minute observation of a child, 13 months, at a community center's drop-in play group, built for a class activity; it describes no real child or family. In about 200 words, please do eight things. First, say at what age stranger anxiety starts and by what age toddlers should stop crying at drop-off. Second, say whether this child's crying is normal or a sign of a problem. Third, name the Erikson stage this child is in, with its exact start and end ages. Fourth, say who described the four attachment types and who came up with the secure base, and give one statistic and one expert quotation about how many babies are securely attached. Fifth, say whether babies attach most to whoever feeds them, and whether childcare causes insecure attachment. Sixth, describe how normal families arrange a baby's care, and name this child's attachment type and temperament type. Seventh, the parent's younger baby, 4 months, settles faster on the stomach; can that baby nap that way at the play group? Eighth, give a balanced summary of the debate over how many hours toddlers spend in childcare.

Test the response for these likely failures:

• Chatbots often say stranger anxiety "starts at 8 months" or that a toddler "should stop crying at drop-off by 12 months", turning a typical range into one deadline.
• A chatbot may call this toddler's crying "abnormal" or suggest an anxiety problem from one ten-minute record.
• Chatbots often give Erikson's stages exact edges, such as trust vs. mistrust ending at exactly 12 months.
• A chatbot may credit all four attachment classifications, disorganized included, to Ainsworth, or credit the secure base to Harlow.
• Chatbots often invent a percentage of "securely attached babies" or a quotation from an unnamed expert.
• A chatbot may state that babies attach to whoever feeds them.
• Chatbots often say that time in childcare causes insecure attachment.
• A chatbot may describe one main caregiver, usually the mother, as what normal families have.
• Chatbots often call a toddler like this one "securely attached" or a "slow-to-warm-up baby".
• A chatbot may say a younger sibling, 4 months, can nap on the stomach at the play group if that settles the baby faster.
• Chatbots often offer a "balanced" summary of the childcare-hours debate that ends with a verdict, such as saying wise families keep toddlers home.

In 4–6 sentences, say what the chatbot got right and quote and correct at least three of its errors by hand, each against a finding, the American Academy of Pediatrics' 2022 statement, or a course definition from Chapter 7.

Equivalent route (no AI required)

No AI account is required for this workshop. This route assesses the same objectives (Objective 5 and Objective 1) for comparable effort, about 30 of the 90 minutes, under the same scoring criteria and the same credit. Instead of the chatbot, critique this flawed analysis, printed here in full: "This 13-month-old is crying at drop-off long after the age when toddlers should stop, since stranger anxiety starts at 8 months and should be over by the first birthday, so the crying is abnormal and suggests an anxiety problem. Erikson's trust stage ends at exactly 12 months, so this child moved into autonomy on the first birthday. Mary Ainsworth discovered all four attachment types, including disorganized, and Harlow came up with the secure base. Studies show that 65 percent of babies are securely attached, and as one expert put it, "A baby who cries at drop-off is an insecure baby." Babies attach most to whoever feeds them, and childcare causes insecure attachment. In normal families the mother is the one main caregiver. This child is plainly securely attached and slow-to-warm-up. Since the younger baby settles faster on the stomach, a short tummy nap at the play group is fine. To give a balanced summary of the childcare debate: there are arguments on both sides, but wise families keep toddlers at home." Mark it up: quote each flawed sentence, name what is wrong (an age stated as a deadline, a norm used to judge or diagnose one child, stage ages presented as exact, a term credited to the wrong researcher, an invented study, statistic, or quotation, a myth presented as a finding, a correlation presented as a cause, one family form presented as the norm, a research category used as a label for a child, safety guidance that contradicts the issuing body, and a neutral-sounding summary that quietly takes a side), and correct at least three of them by hand against Chapter 7. Submit the marked-up analysis in place of the chatbot report and share link; it earns the same credit under the same scoring criteria.

Part 7 — What to Submit

• The completed data table with your codes and early emotions
• The completed count table and the temperament and attachment table
• The completed theory table
• Written answers to all five analysis questions, including your reflection
• The chatbot critique report with its share link, or the equivalent route's marked-up flawed analysis

Deliverable:

A short Child Observation Workshop report on an illustrative ten-minute running record of a child, 13 months: the completed data table with your codes and early emotions, the count, temperament and attachment, and theory tables, written answers to five analysis questions including a reflection, and a critique of a chatbot's reading of the same record, or, on the equivalent route, a marked-up correction of the printed flawed analysis. Submit in any accessible file type or as a link; a recorded response may be submitted as audio or video with a transcript, or as text. Choose a written, recorded, or visual form for your answers; every form is graded by the same scoring criteria.

Rubric

The rubric below shows how each submitted part is evaluated; bands are full, partial, or none.

Workshop evaluation criteria

Criterion	Full	Partial	None
Coding the running record and counting the event sample	Every entry carries a defensible A or E code, the two counts add to ten, each percent is correct with its division shown, and the gap is given in percentage points.	The codes or counts are attempted but one count or percent is wrong or unshown, the gap is missing or given in percent, or several entries lack a code.	No codes, counts, or percents appear, or the numbers are invented rather than counted.
Naming the early emotions and the secure base	Stranger anxiety, social referencing, separation anxiety, and checking back to a secure base are each matched to an entry and tied to what the toddler did, with ages read as ranges.	The emotions are attempted, but one is mismatched or missing, or a name is given without the behavior that shows it.	No early emotion or behavior is named.
Temperament versus attachment, and two theories	The table splits style from relationship with a reason for each row, the record is given no classification with the Strange Situation named as the reason, and the theory comparison ends with one sentence naming what it shows.	The table or comparison is attempted but one row is unexplained, a classification is assigned, or one theory is missing or vague.	No split of temperament from attachment and no comparison of theories appears.
The AI slip caught and corrected	Through the chatbot report with its share link or the equivalent route's marked-up flawed analysis, equally, at least three quoted errors are each named and corrected by hand against a finding, the American Academy of Pediatrics' 2022 statement, or a course definition.	Through either route, equally, one or two errors are corrected, or corrections lack the finding, the statement, or the definition they rest on.	Through either route, no critique is submitted, or chatbot or printed text is pasted without any correction.
Respect for the child and the reflection	The behavior column stays free of interpretation, no real child is judged or labelled, and the reflection answers option (a) or (b) with a specific example in 4–6 sentences.	The record or analysis slips once into judging or labelling the child, or the reflection is present but general.	The child is judged or labelled throughout, or no reflection appears.

Quality Gate

• Every count and percent comes from your own sheet or hand count of the data table, never from memory or a chatbot.
• Each count divided by 10 and multiplied by 100 equals the percent you report for it, and the gap between the two percents is reported in percentage points.
• The behavior column holds only what the child did, every age is written as a range, and no real child is judged, labelled, or given an attachment classification or a temperament type.
• No age norm, study, statistic, percentage, or quotation is invented anywhere in the submission, and safe sleep appears only as the American Academy of Pediatrics' 2022 statement states it.
• The critique quotes the chatbot or the flawed analysis and corrects at least three errors with evidence from Chapter 7 or Part 6.