The intent of this study was to examine the effectiveness of elements of the thematic-fantasy play training paradigm in facilitating children's immediate and maintained story comprehension. Thematic-fantasy play was defined as play in which children enact themes and events not related to their everyday experience, as when they act out a fairy tale. A total of 192 children in kindergarten and first grade (balanced for sex) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: adult-directed play, peer-directed play, accommodation questions, or control. Children were read different books on three occasions and exposed to their respective treatments after each reading. Following the third session, story comprehension was measured by a 10-item criterion referenced test, a story recall task, and a sequential memory task. Maintenance effects were measured 1 week later for the first two measures. Results generally indicated that adult tuition was not an important element for players. In terms of immediate comprehension, fantasy re-enactment was generally more effective than were accommodation questions. For maintained comprehension, accommodation questions were generally as effective as the play conditions. The point is made in conclusion that results should be interpreted cautiously. (Author/RH)