In several brief sections, this pamphlet defines play, discusses how play helps a child develop, and how play changes as a child grows older, indicates the role of toys and certain play activities in promoting sex stereotypes, and identifies the role of fantasy and imagination in children's play. A discussion of the role of parents in fostering…

The newsletter offers guidelines for conducting playdays or large group activities for handicapped students. Among the factors to consider when planning activities are total number participating, levels of physical and mental abilities, age span, sex, and assistance needs. Activities should meet the needs and interest of the students, include a…

Activities, patterns and approaches for using ropes in physical education are discussed, and emphasis is placed on varying the activities in order to focus on quantity of movement for fitness purposes, quality of movement for perfection of patterns, and personal interaction and working together for social goals. The objective is to provide ways…

The purpose of the study was to observe the extent to which preschool children's actions were guided by private speech utterances in free play and puzzle solving conditions. A second purpose was to examine how the structure of private speech utterances varied according to the context in which they were uttered. Fifteen preschoolers were videotaped…

This study investigates communication and play behaviors of a deaf preschooler and his younger brother. Observations of four free play sessions suggests that to some extent the normal pattern of sibling interaction was altered. Videotape analysis of the play sessions revealed that a substantial number of the hearing child's communications were not…

An intensive, naturalistic, observational study was conducted of a preschool class which integrated eight handicapped and five nonhandicapped children. An attempt was made to identify social and physical settings which maximized interaction among members of the two groups. Observations (N=2,306) of the social and play behaviors were recorded over…

The first phase of an ongoing study of communication in a naturalistic situation in which children talked to familiar children is described in this paper. The situation was one that encouraged pretend (or dramatic) play. Research was focused on (1) the amount of pretend play; (2) the amount of speech used for planning or managing the play; and (3)…

Behaviors that characterize play with convergent and divergent materials and the effects of play on convergent and divergent problem solving were examined in this study. Seventy-two 3- and 4-year-old children were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) play with convergent materials; (2) play with divergent materials; and (3) non-play control.…

This presentation underscores the importance of play and outlines a theory of play in terms of ego-psychology and a broadly defined concept of culture. Play is described as the royal road to the collective ego called "culture." At the same time play also enables aspects and parts of culture to be changed. While children should be encouraged to…

The purpose of this book is to provide an opportunity for investigating drama by a series of units, each of which examines an aspect of drama or theater. The 20 units discuss such topics as the definition of drama, dialogue in a poem by W. H. Auden, various aspects of the stage, improvisation, the visual impact of plays, "The Death of Grass" by…

Properly planned outdoor play areas can be an important aid in the rehabilitation and learning experiences of handicapped children. For a handicapped child the playground becomes a major training and treatment facility as well as a play experience. This bibliography is intended to assist designers in collecting the necessary data and information…

Although there are exceptions to the rules, research has shown a relationship of certain body types to given sports. Recent research has also shown a correlation between body build and personality traits, and it appears that particular athletic activities attract certain types of individuals. For instance, two researchers in separate studies…

Playfulness, a trait previously identified in kindergarten and high school pupils and found related to divergent thinking, was investigated in an exploratory study as a possible teacher characteristic. Sixteen teachers completed an open-ended questionnaire aimed at defining playfulness in teachers. A content analysis produced eight component…

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…