Illustrates the content, process, and group dynamics of Activity Group Guidance. Describes and evaluates a comprehensive Activity Group Guidance program. Gives specific suggestions to counselors who wish to start Activity Groups. (Author)

To examine the nature of sex differences in children's speech during play, 10 boys and 10 girls in kindergarten were videotaped continuously during 10 minute dyadic play sessions involving non-sex-typed toys. Each child participated twice -- once with a same-sex peer and once with an opposite-sex peer. The videotapes were coded according to whom…

This paper discusses playfulness and creativity and draws educational implications. The suggestions in the paper are intended to provide a rationale for incorporating foolish interludes, humor, flexibility, and the playful side of human nature into classrooms to stimulate creative thinking in young people today. Play is described as a mode of…

Using play constructions as a projective technique of investigation, Erik Erikson (1951) concluded from his observation of preadolescents that, during this developmental period, play constructions are largely determined by psychosexual differences. Erikson suggested that only observation of subjects in a younger and older developmental period…

The influence of age, sex, representational detail of objects (prototypicality) and adult play suggestions on children's progression of pretend behaviors was studied. A checklist was developed and utilized for coding the responses of 20 children (10 males, 10 females), to objects judged to be high and low prototypical by 12 adults. Children ranged…

A total of 141 children, aged 6 to 10 years, were read eight illustrated attribution problems involving play and non-play behaviors and were asked to infer information concerning the story character's intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for the behaviors. Children were grouped into three age levels (mean ages 5.9, 8.8 and 10.3 years) for analysis of…

The purpose of this 2-year study was to examine the relationship of choice of play-style and sex of child to the type of feedback (positive or negative) children receive from teachers and peer groups for their behavior. A list of 33 child behaviors and 15 teacher and peer reactions was used to observe the behavior of 67 children (32 boys and 35…

This study examined the various ways in which children transform reality into fantasy during free play through the verbalized attribution of properties to objects, materials and situations which they do not actually possess. The dyadic social interactions of 36 black, low-income, preschool children aged 3-1/2 - 5 years old were observed and…

The interactional competence of 12 kindergarten children was studied through naturalistic research of their sociodramatic play in a classroom context. Data were collected by both videotape and trained observers. Contextual and interactional information was analyzed according to an Interactional Competency Checklist (ICC) designed by the author.…

The purpose of this module is to present a training experience for child care workers which focuses on the therapeutic aspect of their work--that aspect involving growth-stimulating experiences for the children. Programming is discussed in three ways: analysis of activities, therapeutic activity programming, and cottage programming. All three ways…

Medical play can be used as a tool to aid children in coping with stress related to hospitalization, surgery, medical care, and illness. Providing children with adequate guidance and appropriate supplies necessary for medical play, prepares children for medical experiences by enabling them to express their thoughts and feelings. Before attempting…