ABSTRACT
Free play is as important for the development of a handicapped child as it is for the development of other children, and obstacles to free play are as significant for general development as obstacles which interfere with learning processes. Education would be pointless if the skills learned at school failed to generalize in other situations, such as play. Obstacles to the development of free play exist when the effects of a handicap are such that the child cannot combine his skills in any new ways, and only uses them according to the pattern which he has been taught. The preparation for free play should enable children to combine two or more skills together for purposes which cannot be attained by the application of only one of them. Free play continues most successfully when children are flexible in their approach and when they can adapt their responses to the outcome of their actions.
