| A new methodology for the documentation and analysis of the sand tray play process was developed utilizing a phenomenological observational design to study 21 normal 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children's play with the Lowenfeld World Apparatus during three separate sessions.;The World building process is defined as an idiosyncratic, preverbal thinking-feeling-experiencing-reflecting process that follows a definable logical pattern. The spiral, atemporal process of creative, integrative conceptualization of images lends itself, when properly approached, to translation into secondary process language, providing visual evidence accompanies the text.;Three separate studies were conducted. The evolution and the results of each study are reported. The first pilot study was conducted to determine whether normal preschool children could make full use of the sand tray, the type of sand tray facility most conducive to their use of the apparatus, the most appropriate methods of documentation, and the number of sessions to be conducted with each child.;The second study was designed to study the play-think process of each child utilizing time-lapse photography and audio recordings and resulted in final environmental set-up and documentation changes.;Clinical and research uses of the Lowenfeld World Apparatus are interfaced with Lowenfeld's, Piaget's, Klein's, and Kalff's theories of the meaning of children's spontaneous, creative play. The sand tray's unique effectiveness as a psychotherapeutic tool for communication and healing is presented.;The third study preserved entire World building processes by using video recordings, which were then used to develop a method of analyzing sand tray play. The resultant analytic-interpretive method is demonstrated. Utilizing multiple time-lapse photographs, accompanied by both descriptive and analytic statements, one entire three-session sequence of a child's World building communication is presented.;Epistemological issues that arise when such a clinical-theoretical orientation is used to research and interpret children's play language are discussed. Theoretical and practical concerns related to the validation of such observations, descriptions, and interpretations of subjective psychological experiences are addressed in a validation study.;Finally, secondary findings and conclusions are highlighted, especially as they point toward application in both research and clinical sand tray practice. |
