ABSTRACT
Children possess the capacity for experiencing emotions with great feeling and intensity. When they hurt, they hurt all over. When they are happy, they are completely happy. Children are not able, however, to use a verbal language to adequately express the depth or range of these feelings. Their natural language of communication is play and it is through this medium that they express their emotional reactions. Play is a form of self-expression and symbolic play is a vehicle for expressing feelings; humor also plays an important role in play. These expressions occur within the important limits and boundaries of play relationships. In many ways, therefore, the various dimensions of play also facilitate children’s emotional growth and development.
