Abstract: In the present study 61 mothers’ attitudes and behaviors to their child in family free play and intelligence-task-oriented play had been observed by using videotaped observation. Mothers’ behaviors were coded through four dimensions: control behaviors, warmth, speech communication, and involvement. Results showed that when the child’s play transmitted from free play to intelligence-task-oriented play, the mothers’ attitudes and behaviors changed significantly: high control behaviors increased, low control behaviors decreased; more rejection behaviors and fewer acceptance behaviors appeared; speech communication and involvement behaviors also decreased. There were individual differences in the mothers in the two play-sessions: there were 42.6% of permitted mothers, 32.8% of warmth mothers and 24.6% communication mothers in the free play session, and there were 54% of permitted mothers, 23% of communication mothers and 23% of high control mothers in the intelligence-task-oriented play session

Key words: home observation, free-play, intelligence-task-oriented play, mothers’ attitudes to child