The Sally Ann Experiment

My husband saw something on television recently and decided to test my children.  It was called the, "Sally Ann Experiment".   Here's how it goes...

You have little drawings of Sally, Ann, Sally's box and Ann's basket.   There is also a little drawing of a cookie.   You bring these drawings to a child and visually demonstrate the following verbal example:

Sally and Ann are in the same room.   Sally has a box and Ann has a basket.   Sally has a cookie and puts it in her box (hide cookie drawing under the box drawing).    Sally then leaves the room.  (Hide Sally.)

While Sally is away, Ann takes the cookie from the box and puts it in her basket.  (Move the cookie from under the box drawing to under the basket drawing.)   Sally comes back (bring Sally back.)

Ask the child, "where do you think Sally will look to find her cookie?"   A child that's close to the four-year-old age has gained an understanding that other people have their own thoughts and will likely show you that Sally expects to find the cookie in her box, where she left it.   A younger child doesn't understand this yet and will tell you that Sally will look for the cookie in the new location, not realizing that Sally has no knowledge that the cookie has been moved.

My two children are at the perfect ages to test out the Sally Ann Experiment.   My son, who will be four in December, got the answer correct, pointing to the prior location of the cookie (Sally's box) even though he knew the cookie was hidden under the basket drawing.

My daughter, eleven months younger, believed Sally would look in her friend's basket (the new location of the cookie) because to my daughter,  that's where the cookie was.

The Big Boy Update:  My son did his first photobomb today.  We were at a popular park in town and there was a nice stone turtle two children were playing on.  Only, those two children weren't playing on the turtle, they were posing for a family picture.  My son hopped on behind them and joined in the picture, grinning all the way.  When we realized it, I pulled him off and we apologized to the family.   They wanted to know his name, since he was the newest member of the family.  We asked what their last name was, (Town) and called my son by that last name for the rest of the park trip.  Coincidentally, as we left the park, the Town family was also leaving and we all laughed again and waved goodbye.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter got a small doll as a kids meal toy today.  She was looking at it and playing with it in the car on the way home and suddenly said, "guys, look at this:  it's a pretty girl...just like me."