Until it is possible to carry out programing, planning, and design to foster children's play, activity measures may provide a useful evaluative format for design paradigms concerned with facilitating children's motor, social, and explorative behaviors. (Author)

Describes an experimental parent education program designed to enhance the role of mother as educator and primary influence on young children. Adult-child conversation is encouraged through play skills, such as the 'toy talk' game used in the program. (CS)

Investigated the separate and interactive effects of a model's affective response and anticipated consequences of third and fourth grade children's imitative and nonimitative play behaviors. (ED)

This paper analyzes the play language of Tzeltal children and their extensive use of metaphor. The ability to use figurative language early is significant for a child's ability to extend command of language and expression. (CHK)

Leisure is examined as a normal and potentially vital component in the contemporary family. Consideration is given to the interplay between work and leisure and the means by which leisure facilitates companionship and family interaction. (Author)

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.…