The selection of play materials has long been of concern to parents and educators. Many play materials simply do not engage children. In this study toys were openly displayed for free selection and play within a children's recreation center. Data were collected on the subject population, toy selection and toy usage. The results indicated that…

Observed rough-and-tumble play in young adolescent boys on the playground. Found that sociometrically defined average and rejected boys spent a greater portion of their time in rough play compared to popular boys and did so with children who were less dominant than they, suggesting that some children exploit play bouts for their own…

A study of 22 children with autism and 19 children with mental retardation found that, when prompted, school-age and adolescent subjects with autism did not differ from children with mental retardation in production of functional play acts and situationally appropriate object substitution, but did produce fewer novel pretend play acts. (CR)

Reports two studies of adolescent perceptions of playful and aggressive fighting. Results suggest that some bouts of playful fighting are used during adolescence to settle disputes about dominance and that aggression may be introduced into playful fighting to settle dominance disputes. (LB)