This study investigates the relationship between children's ideas about how to be helpful to peers and peer acceptance. Third- and fifth-grade children responded to three sociometric measures and were later individually interviewed under four conditions on two occasions in response to different cartoon situations. Children were asked to suggest helpful strategies in response to cartoons showing a child being teased, yelled at, and having a schoolwork problem. Children's strategies generated 13 different categories (e.g., consoles-comforts, instructs). The number of responses suggested by each child that were different from those given by peers yielded a uniqueness score. The number of categories indicated by a child's responses yielded a flexibility score. Four separate multiple regression analyses were performed in which four sociometric dependent variables were regressed on grade, sex, uniqueness, and flexibility. For each of the dependent measures, grade and sex accounted for the majority of the variance. Findings for uniqueness were also consistent for each measure. Children's unique or deviant ideas about helpfulness were found to be predictive of low sociometric ratings. Significant findings differed for males and females on uniqueness and flexibility measures across the four conditions. Results and their implications are discussed in some detail. (Author/MS)