The purpose of this book is to help parents and teachers recognize and understand dramatic play in childhood as a process whereby the child acts out human experience in an attempt to order, clarify, and understand it. Written by a person experienced in theatre and drama, the book considers the following aspects of dramatic play: the importance of play to the child, dramatic play as imitation of life, imagination and transformation, mastering reality and the planes of reality, flow and form, the seriousness of play, playing with both grown-ups and God, the heritage of play, and the play of words. Each chapter opens with a brief introduction followed by a number of short observations of children's play that were chosen from the responses of nearly 3,000 children over a 14 year period. Samples were chosen either because they were characteristic of certain forms of children's play or because they were unique and represented the vast individuality of children. (MAI)