Case Study of a Child Age 3

Ashley Corl
EDU 220
 Brief Overview of a 3-Year-Old Child’s Development in
Developmental Areas
Physical Development Emotional Development Cognitive Development

● Extremely active ● Frequent anger ● Many children of

● Hand-eye outbursts preschool or
coordination may be ● Tend to express their kindergarten age do
imperfect. emotions freely and not accurately assess
openly their competence for
particular tasks.
○ Typically think of
themselves as being
much more
competent than they
are.
 Brief Overview of a 3-Year-Old Child’s Development in
Developmental Areas
Psychosocial (Social) Development Moral (Character or Philosophy)
Development
● Quite flexible socially
○ Usually willing and able to play with ● The child does not actively
most of the other children in the class.
understand wrong or right.
● Play activities are an essential part
● No real ability to intentionally
of young children’s development.
● Show definite preferences for hurt others
gender of play peers and pair
versus group play.
 Typical Physical Characteristics of a 3-Year-Old
● Motor control increases; the use of the whole body is common.
○ Ellsworth, (1998)
● Can feed self with utensils
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Eating what is in the meal or when a meal is served may be resisted.
○ Ellsworth, (1998)
● Walking, running with hands swinging, stair walking is likely to be accomplished.
○ Ellsworth, (1998)

● Becoming more skilled at running, jumping, early throwing, and kicking; pedaling
a tricycle
○ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2020)
Typical Physical Development Level According to Snowman
● “Large muscles are more developed than those that control fingers and hands.
Therefore, preschoolers may be quite clumsy at, or physically incapable of, such
skills as tying shoes and buttoning coats.”
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 77
● Difficult to focus eyes on small objects, affecting hand-eye coordination
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 77
● Bones that protect the brain are still small.
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 77
● Gender differences and motor skill ability between the genders are fairly small.
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2015), Pg. 77
 Physical Characteristic Observations of 3-Year-Old
● Meets development milestones:
○ The child I observed can throw a ball reasonably well for a child her age and recently learned how
to pedal a tricycle. She tends to use her whole body when participating in physical activities, i.e.,
jumping when she throws a ball.
○ She cannot yet tie a shoe, but she can put on and fasten Velcro shoes. This is typical for a child her
age as the muscles that control her hands and fingers are not yet developed.
○ She does tend to resist certain foods that are on her plate but will eat the rest. She can easily use a
fork or spoon and prefers to feed herself.
○ She doesn't like vegetables when fed to her on a plate but will drink them in a smoothie.
○ She loves to dance and does so often, even if there is no music playing.
 Recommendations for Continued Physical Development
● “Provide activities that use fingers: clay, blocks, finger-paint, pick-up objects,
stacking objects, large crayons for scribbling, dressing activities.”
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● “Provide lots of room and many experiences in which child can use his/her arms
and legs.”
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Provide materials and activities to develop coordination, i.e., paint, puzzles,
crayons
○ University of Washington, (1993)
 Typical Emotional Characteristics of a 3-Year-Old
● “Meltdowns” are common.
○ Ages and Stages of Childhood Development, (2020)
● “Shows lots of emotion, laughs, squeals, throws temper tantrums.”
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Says "No." often
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● “Needs to develop a sense of self. Needs to do some things for self; enjoys praise.”
○ University of Washington, (1993)
 Typical Emotional Development According to Snowman
● Frequent anger outbursts
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 80
● “Jealousy among classmates is likely to be fairly common.”
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 80
 Emotional Characteristic Observations of 3-Year-Old
● Meets developmental milestones:
○ The child that I observed likes to dress and feed herself and does not ask for help when going to the
bathroom except to wipe.
○ When she is offered help, she will typically say no at first. She tends to get frustrated when she can’t
complete a task independently, but at that point, she will accept help if it is offered.
○ She does express many emotions and tends to get jealous when another child is receiving attention
from her mother. She has the occasional “meltdown,” common in children her age.
○ She is beginning to vocalize what is upsetting her when she is crying and can identify when other
people (on TV or in real life) are happy, sad, or angry.
○ She responds excitedly to praise after accomplishing a task; she will even dance around if she feels
celebrated enough.
 Recommendations for Continued Emotional Development
● “...let children at this age level express their feelings openly, at least within broad
limits, so that they can recognize and face their emotions.”
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 80
● “Try to spread your attention around as equitably as possible, and when you praise
particular children, do it in a private or casual way.”
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 81
● Do not punish the child for expressing feelings or showing independence; they
cannot control emotions until they have expressed them.
○ University of Washington, (1993)
 Typical Cognitive Characteristics of a 3-Year-Old
● Short attention span
○ Ellsworth, (1998)
● Vocabulary increases rapidly
○ Ellsworth, (1998)
● Continue to learn through senses.
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Uses imagination a lot; starts dramatic play and role-playing; likes to play
grown-up roles.
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Uses pronouns and prepositions appropriately; three-word sentences and plural
words.
○ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2020)
 Typical Cognitive Development According to Piaget and
Vygotsky
● Piaget
○ Preoperational Stage
■ Centers on mastery of symbols; permits them to benefit more from past experiences.
■ Preschool children are more egocentric; have difficulties seeing things from other people’s
perspectives.
● Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 42
● Vygotsky
○ Children, at this age, acquire what is called “spontaneous concepts.”
○ “They learn various facts and concepts and rules, but they do so for the most part as a by-product of
such other activities as engaging in play and communicating with parents and playmates.”
■ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 53
 Cognitive Characteristic Observations of 3-Year-Old
● Meets developmental milestones:
○ The child that I observed can form sentences of three words or more. She is beginning to
understand and utilize past, present, and future terms. She is also learning to use plural words and
gendered pronouns.
○ She is beginning to utilize her memories in conversation and her daily actions/play. According to
Piaget, this can be applied to the Preoperational Stage, which states that children benefit more from
past experiences at this age.
○ Her play is growing to be much more imaginative and creative. She enjoys role-playing as a
chef/waitress in a restaurant.
○ She can identify colors easily and can also identify most of the letters in the alphabet.
○ She is beginning to be very independent when it comes to certain tasks like putting on clothes,
feeding herself, or picking up her toys.
 Recommendations for Continued Cognitive Development
● Provide many sensory experiences, i.e., sand, water, pictures
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Explain things to the child, answer questions honestly, and help the child put
feelings and ideas into words.
○ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2020)

● Read to the child often.

○ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2020)

● Have a daily routine

○ Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2020)
Typical Moral/Philosophical Characteristics of a 3-Year-Old
● “Usually appears self-reliant and wants to be good, but is not yet mature enough
to be able to carry out most promises.”
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Begins to understand right from wrong
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Find others’ opinions of themselves to be important.
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● More self-controlled, less aggressive
○ University of Washington, (1993)
 Typical Moral/Philosophical Development According to
Kohlberg
● Preconventional Morality
○ Young children do not understand the convention or rules of society.
○ Stage 1 of Preconventional Morality (Punishment Obedience Orientation):
■ Authority figures have superior powers and should be obeyed.
■ “Punishment should be avoided by staying out of trouble.”
○ Stage 2 of Preconventional Morality (Instrumental Relativist Orientation):
■ “Obeying rules should bring some sort of benefit in return.”
○ Snowman, J. & McCown, R., (2015), Pg. 61
 Moral/Philosophical Characteristic Observations of
3-Year-Old
● Meets developmental milestones:
○ At the beginning of her second year, the child I observed would react aggressively to being told
“No.” She would slap people often. She is much less aggressive at her current age and understands
that it is not okay to hit people. She shows much more restraint when she is angry and does not
seem to react with violence anymore.
○ She seems to think very highly of others’ opinions of her. When she accomplishes something, she
wants everyone around to see what she’s done, in search of praise.
○ She does not quite understand rules yet, but when she is told “No.,” she understands that she is
doing something that she shouldn’t.
○ She shows great signs of empathy. She can identify certain emotions and gently comfort and ask
someone if they’re okay if she notices that they are upset.
 Recommendations for Continued Moral/Philosophical
Development
● Praise the child whenever you honestly can; focus on behavior and be explicit, i.e.,
"That drawing has such beautiful colors."
○ University of Washington, (1993)
● Recognize that noncompliance is not deliberate but just the child's way of
expressing independence.
○ University of Washington, (1993)
 References
Know Your Child Better By Learning The Ages & Stages Of Child Development. Child
Development Institute. (2020, May 10). [Link]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, March 5). Child Development Basics. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. [Link]

Ellsworth, J. A. (1998). Online Lesson: PEPSI as a Screening Tool. PEPSI - 3rd Year.
[Link]

Snowman, J., & McCownCen, R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching, 14th ed. Cengage
Learning.

University of Washington. (1993). Child Development: Using the Child Development Guide.
[Link]