The Effect on Behavior of Variation in the Amount of Play Equipment1

ONSIDERABLE information on childhood play is now available. Investigations have afforded data as to types of occupations in which children engage, kinds of play materials used, time spent in different activities, types of social participation and sex and age differences. More than a hundred such studies have recently been classified by Hurlock (3). Similar tendencies in play behavior have been noted in situations that are somewhat alike. Few direct comparisons, however, have as yet been attempted with experimental variations in play equipment in the same or comparable groups of subjects. There is need for more specific information as to the advantages and disadvantages of different types of play situations. Are children, for example,