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While the play of young children has been recognized as a facilitator and a manifestation of cognitive change from egocentric to de-centered interpretations of reality, play activities for the young, profoundly deaf child have been viewed as a frivolity with little educational merit. Empirical evidence suggests that the play of deaf children develops through stages in the same order as the play of hearing children, although language, environment, and education restrict the play of young deaf children. Since research exists that indicates that the play of deaf and hearing children differs only in the number of minutes spent in different categories of play, it would seem logical to provide the young deaf child an environment designed to facilitate play development. Four basic, necessary environmental components for facilitating play development among these children are (1) adults to play with, (2) materials and equipment to use in play, (3) ample time to play, and (4) a place to play. (To help teachers shift from a teacher-directed to a child-centered classroom, concluding sections of the paper suggest ways of implementing each of the environmental components.) (Author/RH)