Notes that dramatic play is an important outlet for toddlers and small children, and that prop boxes allow children to know their world, role play, and enhance their imaginations. Provides lists for 20 different prop boxes, and information on getting started, collecting, organizing, and using prop boxes. (SD)

Reinforces the value of drama and theater for young children. Recommends dramatic play, creative drama, theater, and television, a form of drama, as opportunities for children to learn social interaction skills and person-to-person critical thinking. Urges recognition of drama as an educational tool in the development of young children. (DLH)

Describes children's dramatic play behavior as a structured, recognizable phenomenon that is the result of careful nurturing by caregivers and a future tool to make vivid the actualities and potentialities of human experience. (CRH)

The processes involved in drama and the dramatic play of children are essentially the same in that they rely on an imitation of nature, involve a transformation of reality through imagination, connect seemingly irrelevant elements creatively, and bring a temporary, limited order to an emotional experience. When child's play is used as a basis for…

Details four developmentally appropriate dramatic play experiences for integration into the classroom curriculum to extend dramatic play into a classroom play experience. Provides guidance in turning dramatic play into a project, launching the play process, readying the performance, problem solving, playing the play, and enjoying the outcome.…

Presents a sample lesson (on the Middle Ages) using movement, verbalization, and role playing to introduce students to drama and creative expression. Provides teachers with an in-depth look at a creative process through which they can stimulate learning across the curriculum. (ARH)

Notes that teacher education programs have a blind spot where drama is concerned. Comments on Paideia Proposal suggestions regarding drama teaching and student participation. Discusses role of imaginative play in child development and role of drama in integration of knowledge, integration of emotions, and release of expression in all arts. (MH)