A Vygotskyan review of children's language examines language samples of a 7-year-old boy at home, at a birthday party, and at play in a sandbox. The language samples indicate common patterns, including his use of tools and symbol together in play. A common thread in the samples is his involvement with high tech tools of futuristic toys. Vygotsky believed the use of tools and signs shared important properties (they both involve mediating activity). He claimed a child's speech was as important as action in attaining goals, and the more complex the action demanded by the situation, the greater the importance of speech in the total operation. Vygotsky emphasized the historically shaped, culturally transmitted psychology of humans. He considered play the primary means of children's cultural development, noting that every function in the child's cultural development appeared on a social, then later, psychological level. Observation of children at a day care center, showed that the child's play involved futuristic adventures that evolved from television, the toy market, and Halloween. It was observed that boys and girls used similar language related to special occasions, but that girls focused on the domestic scene, and boys focused on the external environment. Girls' language emphasized appearances and relationships, and boys' language emphasized territory, defense, movement, power, and control. Girls monitored boys' aggressive behavior, and boys monitored girls' capabilities. An appendix includes the language samples. (SM)