UP IN THE ATTIC (MALE 101 4 and one half years old: April 18, 1997)

Observation of the taped activity. Observations conducted by Tracy Amerman

Up In The Attic: April 18, 1997; The female leader told 101, a 4 1/2 - 5 year old boy that a wizard left a magic box to play with and they had to find it. 101 responded "I know where it is" and ran to get it when the leader asked him to. He recalled seeing another child playing with it. He immediately started pulling out helmets and hats. He took off his own hat and put on the racecar driver helmet. The leader asked what kind of hat it was, and he responded "racecar" She helped him put it on and told him he had to be a race car driver now. She put on the police helmet. He then took out the princess hat for the leader to put on. As he pulled out the construction worker helmet she asked him what people who wear that do. He said they built and told about workers building a new gym. He took off the racecar helmet and picked up the fireman's helmet exclaiming "I know what this is -- a fireman." The leader asked him if he remembered paying fireman and he did. 101 reminded the leader that he played it with her even though she had forgotten. He next pulled out the Dr. Seuss hat and referred to it as the Cat-in-the-Hat hat. He put it over the fireman helmet and took it off. He did the same with the construction and police helmet. She asked him if he wanted to put the crown on and she put it on him. She asked him what he was, but he said, "I don't know." He pulled out another hat and said, "I know what this is--a clown." The leader said, "you'd be a good clown because you're so silly." He then related a story about how he and a friend put pillows in a pile and jump on them. He then put on the clown hat. The leader asked 101 if he could be a clown. He continued to pull items out of the box. He took out goggles which he said were for the helicopter, but then said it was for scuba diving. He placed the crown over the clown hat. The leader told him he looked silly. He pulled out a beaded necklace and said he had one at his house. He said it was Indian and he had made one for his grandpa. He then took out bells and said, "I made these at my party." The leader put the bells on 101's wrist. She then found the Indian headdress which he put on. He found more bells and tried to put then around his ankle, but they didn't fit, so the leader put then on his other wrist. He played with a wand for a while until he found "something else Indian." He took out an axe and started beating his own hat with it. He gave the leader the wand. She said, "abracadabra- I turn you into and Indian." He resonded "moo." She asked him if that's what Indians did, and he said, "no." He took the axe and hit it against the box. He took his hats off and jput on the wizard hat. He said, "This is what I was looking for." The following exchange ensued: Leader: Turn this boy into a goon. You're a goon. 101: No, I'm mot. I'm a frog. You didn't say the magic word Leader: Teach me it. 101: No. It's a secret. I'll give you a hint- it's on a farm The leader asked him if it was a piggy, cow, moo moo, sheep, or horse. But he answered no to each one. 101 said I'll tell you what it is: Stinky. It's a skunk. She asked him if skunks were on a farm and he said "No, I was just tricking you." The leader said, "Skunk, you're a wizard." 101 told her she was a sheep. Then he told her she was a pig. The two bantered back and forth about whether she was a pig or not. She tehn told him she turned him into Dr. Seuss and put the appropriate hat on his head. He pulled it off. He played with both wands and said he could make his hat disappear. He did this by obviously throwing it over his shoulder. He then said magic words, "zippety, bippety, boo" and turned the leader into a pig. She asked what else they can be and he put the box upside down on his head. He dumped out the rest of the things and put some on top of the leader. She asked if he would have his picture taken. She helped him put the Indian stuff back on and he posed for two pictures. The second one was at his request. He then took everything off. The activity took approximately 20 minutes.

Commentary::101 is a very willing participant. He seemed comfortable and enjoyed working with the leader. The leader could have modeled some role playing a little more; he probably would have joined in easily. Also, she needed to review the activity or at least provide some closure to it. It was interesting to see how some of the items stimulated 101 memory of past experiences.