This digest discusses factors associated with the acceptance and rejection of preschool children by their peers and offers a number of strategies that teachers and other adults can use in their attempts to help children achieve social acceptance. Behaviors and characteristics associated with peer rejection include aggression and misinterpretation of peers' emotions. Those associated with peer acceptance include cooperation and good communication skills. A child's social reputation may influence the way other children perceive his or her behavior. In order to help a rejected child gain social acceptance, an adult must first identify the child's areas of difficulty through careful, informed observations of peer interactions. Strategies for helping children achieve social acceptance include: (1) grouping children who lack social skills with those who are socially competent; (2) planning special play sessions between a socially isolated child and younger children; (3) for aggressive children, planning activities that present hypothetical situations, and as a result, encourage a wide range of ideas for potential solutions; (4) steering a child who has difficulty entering ongoing play toward smaller or more accepting groups; (5) translating for the peer group the unpopular child's behavior and apparent intentions; and (6) involving the child's family, either directly or indirectly. A list of eight publications is appended. (GLR)