This paper reports an exploratory study in nonverbal communication, which had two objectives: (1) to look closely at touching as a communicative behavior and to describe the categories of behaviors; and (2) to evaluate the "Form for Observation of Physical Contact," developed in a previous study. A total of 47 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds, grouped in pairs, were observed watching the 3-1/2 minute film "Dinosaurs." All touching behaviors between the paired subjects were recorded in diary fashion from behind a one-way screen. Findings demonstrated that touching as a communicative behavior can be observed and categorized. The quantitative aspects of the behaviors exhibited, comparisons between age groups in the number of touching contacts, the differences in rank orderings of categories, and the development of a selected sample of individual children's touching behavior are described. In the evaluation of the "Form for Observation of Physical Contact," the seven original categories of behavior were found useful, but six more categories were defined and added to more adequately cover the range of observed behaviors. Seven areas of possible questions arising from this study are discussed and operational definitions for the 13 behavior categories are given. Four appendices are included. (SDH)