During middle childhood, from six to nine, the interest in dramatic play continues to be strong. But the comparative meagerness of the imagination during this period makes the playmate more of a necessity than in preceding years. In early childhood the tendency to create playmates is so strong that the child enjoys playing alone. During the self-assertive years between six and nine, however, the child plays, more or less quarrelsomely, with others, taking them in as characters of his mimic world and enriching his own play by their conjunct imaginativeness. This explains why the leader of the gang is usually the most resourceful individual in the group, since he is the one who is depended upon to successfully conduct their imaginative play. The welcome occasionally extended to adult leadership in youthful gangs has this same explanation: the adult keeps thinking of something new to do when the resourcefulness of his juniors runs dry. But adult supervision should not prevent the child from using his constructive instinct which is fast developing during this period. It can aid the expression of the dramatic impulse in the creation of costumes, properties, etc., for the representations of characters and scenes from myths and stories. The reading should now be made wide enough to include many models for the child’s dramatic play. A certain amount of dependence upon himself for the construction of his playthings assists in calling forth ingenuity. Some years ago, in Chicago, an Italian boy is said to have invented the “pushmobile” or “autoped,” as it is variously called, which, though repressed then by the city authorities, is to-day such a delight to our boys and girls. This invention has been described as follows: “He took a board, about four feet long, and fastened half a roller skate to each end. To one end of the upper side he fastened a soap box. Then steadying himself by means of the box and putting one foot on the board and propelling himself with the other he went zip! The speed attained was almost incredible. The boy next door caught sight of him in his flight and looked about for a board, a roller skate and a soap box. Then the boy across the street caught the idea, and before many days there were 10,000 pushmobiles in the city of Chicago. The advantage of the pushmobile was (we are obliged to use the past tense for it has been suppressed) that it was invented, manufactured, and perfected by the boys themselves. It was distinctly the creation of the city boy, the offspring of cement walks and asphalt pavements. It could not have come into being in the country. It represented ingenuity, resourcefulness, industry, and progress.”