Children use simile and metaphor at an early age in both spontaneous oral language and written language. This study sought (1) to design an instrument to elicit children's spontaneous oral production of simile and metaphor, (2) to elicit such responses and examine the nature of the responses to different tasks and stimuli, (3) and to develop criteria for analysis of children's oral production of simile and metaphor. Sixty children from grades four, six, and eight were presented with stimuli that ranged from concrete to abstract representation. The children participated in five tasks based on the stimuli dealing with knowledge, association, connotation, metalinguistics, and induction. Results indicated that abstract, complex, and unfamiliar stimuli are more effective in evoking children's metaphoric oral language. Likewise, a descriptive task evoked from the children a greater quality and quantity of simile responses. Grade was not a significant factor. Although older children show superior ability over younger children in producing metaphoric language, they do not exercise this ability in spontaneous oral language. A need exists for language arts programs that stress oral metaphoric language. (MAI)