The interactional competence of 12 kindergarten children was studied through naturalistic research of their sociodramatic play in a classroom context. Data were collected by both videotape and trained observers. Contextual and interactional information was analyzed according to an Interactional Competency Checklist (ICC) designed by the author. This analysis indicated that the children demonstrated competency in several areas: (1) The children demonstrated the ability to adapt to changes in the communicative setting; that is, they were able to adjust to the various themes of play and to extend the organization of the plot and character development; (2) The children indicated the ability to use nonverbal behavior (gestures, facial expressions, body movements, and vocal intonation and stress) in appropriate situations; (3) The children demonstrated familiarity with normal constraints and conditions of conversation, that is, knowledge of who can speak first or next, topics that are socially relevant, and how to terminate, repair, recycle or repeat an exchange; and (4) The children demonstrated the ability to sequence; that is, to think back or reflect upon previous experiences from multiple sources including those in the setting and to link past experience with present and possible future informational events, objects and resources within the communicative setting. (Author/SS)