While several developmental models of aesthetic understanding, experience, and appreciation exist in the realms of visual art and music education, few examples have been proposed in regard to theatre, particularly for child audiences. This author argues that children gaze upon theatre in differential ways by including age as a variable factor--their perceived interpretations of theatre differ from that of adults based in part on their shorter life experiences with this medium. This study presents an integrated literature review of multiple models of information processing as applied to theatre spectatorship before, during and after performances. This proposed model seeks to explain: (1) what kinds of meanings spectators make of scripted plays in performance; (2) how they derive individualized meanings by virtue of the "nature and nurture" principles of cognitive, affective, social, and moral development; and (3) the conditions under which theatre may have minimum-to-maximum aesthetic "effects" or personally rewarding gratifications. This aesthetic model offers a way of explicating in categorical detail what many artists and educators may take for granted, while focusing upon middle childhood (ages six to twelve). (Contains 47 Endnotes.)