Noting that while laboratory investigations of recordings of children's spontaneous verbal creations or repetitions of traditional forms in their natural play habitats have indicated that they do engage in systematic explorations of language structures in their play, this paper points out that there have been no investigations of whether such play, when it occurs in the classroom, follows similar age/stage patterns. The paper then reports the findings of a study that (1) correlated strategies of language play in the classroom with the age/stage patterns of play identified in the literature; (2) explored methods of introducing classroom play, specifically ambiguity and parody; and (3) examined potential problems related to the issues of "spontaneity" and "hostility." The paper concludes that the eight to eleven-year-old children could easily and successfuly detect literal interpretations of figurative expressions and incorporate them in their own language play. (Appendixes contain materials used in the study.) (FL)