Identifies metacommunication strategies with which preschool children negotiate meanings during dramatic play. Finds behaviors ranging from those which overtly expose the play frame to those which operate within the play frame. Proposes a system of implicit rules, indigenous to the child culture, which guide choice of strategy. (SR)

Describes children's participating in dramatic play activities that are teacher or peer governed. Illustrates children's use of cultural symbols as material for story construction and social affiliation. Argues for a literacy curriculum in which cultural symbols are open to critical examination. (Author/SK)

Reports a study which compared the play of nine four-year-old girls with baby dolls and with Barbie dolls. Nonfacilitative play behavior was observed much more frequently in the baby doll sessions than in the Barbie sessions. Suggests that Barbie dolls could be used as an alternative doll activity in preschool classrooms. (CB)

Describes an exploratory study in which alternative dramatic play areas are compared among older preschoolers. Twelve children, grouped into same-sex pairs (55 to 67 months old), were observed in various playroom environments. Results indicate that theme specific settings stimulated dramatic play while neutral areas encouraged personal fantasy…

Examined effects on target children's sociodramatic role play of sociodramatic script training in combination with an intervention package consisting of peer role prompting, a group-oriented reinforcement contingency, and visual feedback. Found support for use, with a minimum of teacher involvement, of the peer-mediated intervention package in…

Documented differences in the quality of play in thematic and housekeeping organizational patterns of the sociodramatic play center in a preschool classroom. Found the thematic organization resulted in higher quality sociodramatic play in which the children enacted more roles outside the home, utilized more aspects of their roles, demonstrated…

Examined the influence of curriculum preparation on children's content knowledge of dramatic play centers' themes, dramatic play behavior, and theme-relevant conversation during play. Found that theme familiarity may have been a critical factor. Posttest content knowledge was positively related to frequency of dramatic play. Teacher effects on…

This study assessed effects of teaching sociodramatic play skills to three children (ages five to nine) with autism. Positive changes were observed in play, language, and social skills. These changes generalized across toys and settings, although little generalization to other play partners occurred. (Author/DB)

Ways that molecular and molar semiotic analysis of children's sociodramatic play can lead to new insight into children's interpersonal relations and social development is demonstrated. The method is illustrated through analysis of play transcripts of 2 girls aged 4.5 and 5.5 years. (Author/LB)

This study investigated the effects of prop realism on the play of 24 preschoolers. Observations of play sessions revealed that highly realistic props and low-realism props elicited equal amounts of group dramatic play. However, low- realism props generated greater diversity of play themes, more fantasy role enactments, and more nonintended use of…

Examines connections between children's social pretend play and their improvised classroom drama. Describes similarities and differences between language used to frame social pretend play and language used by teachers and students to frame the imaginary worlds of drama. (MM)

Twenty-six precocious preschoolers exhibited high frequencies of dramatic and associative play. Girls engaged in more cooperative and less solitary play than boys. Elder children participated in more solitary, parallel, and less cooperative and less dramatic play than younger peers. The higher intelligence quotient group undertook less…

Describes how narratives can stimulate children's play and how it is possible to create playworlds. Shows how cultural context has a positive influence on children's quest for meaningful action. Asserts that a child's imagination is captured by the narrative, which gives objects and actions their meaning. Maintains that when adults play roles and…

Used traditional housekeeping and novel dramatic play centers to compare the effects of theme, novelty, and duration on the social and cognitive play of two- to five-year olds. More dramatic play was observed in centers that used familiar rather than unfamiliar themes. Girls preferred traditional to novel centers; boys preferred novel to…

Observed Anglo- and Korean-American preschoolers during free play and experimental toy play. Found that Korean-Americans' play included everyday activity and family role themes, whereas Anglo-Americans' play enacted danger and fantastic themes. Anglo-Americans described their own actions and used directives, whereas Korean Americans described…