To document the frequency of sharing in the context of classroom activities, a total of 116 preschool children 3 to 5 years of age were observed for half-hour periods in 17 classrooms of 4 preschools. Sharing was defined as interchanges in which the original holder grants to another child the partial use, or possession of a thing. All observations were taken during periods of unstructured activities, or free play. During the 30-minute interval, observers waited for interchanges to occur and then recorded the age and sex of the participants, along with the type of initiation, response, and outcome. Initiations and responses were recorded as being either verbal, physical, or a combination of these, and outcomes were categorized as either sharing, unwilling transfer, or no sharing. Results indicate that the predominant exchange was physical grabbing followed by a physical refusal to share. Refusals to share were largely ineffective since initiators frequently managed to obtain by force the object they wanted. However, when sharing did occur it was usually in response to a verbal request. While subjects showed a strong tendency to interact with same-sex partners, same-sex and cross-sex partners were found to be similar in their overwhelming tendency to not share. (RH)