A naturalistic study of 112 families in two parks examined proximity and touching between family members as a function of age and sex of child, sex of parent, and family composition variables. Mothers and fathers were strikingly similar in their behavior. Distance from parent increased and touching decreased as age of child increased from the infant years to older age ranges. This age trend was clearer among girls, who were closer to parents as infants but farther away as school-age children than were boys. In addition, second-order effects were found, such that both the presence of the other parent and the presence of other siblings increased distance and decreased touching between a given parent and child, subject to certain interaction effects. Finally, analysis of correlations within families revealed that some families stayed closer together as a unit than did others and that mothers and fathers tended to divide the labor of child supervision. (Author/RH)