In this experiment, we used realistic pictures of animals to present information to children. Although pretend play can use realistic props, it often makes use of less iconic materials. Likewise, non-generic language can be directed at materials that are not highly iconic. For this reason, we used less iconic materials in the next experiment. In the Pretend condition, we used felt puppets to represent the target animals and used other objects to represent the target objects (e.g., large beads were used to represent toy cars). We did not use these materials in the Non-Generic Language condition to avoid the possibility of children interpreting it as involving pretense. Instead, children in the Non-Generic Language condition were shown clip-art pictures of the animals on a laptop computer. These pictures are less iconic than photographs but are typical of the kinds of pictures that might appear on a website or in a book directed at children. It should also be noted that using these different materials across the conditions was conservative; when children and parents converse about physical objects (and particularly objects that are manipulable), they typically talk about the properties of those particular objects, suggesting that manipulable objects (e.g., puppets) might afford a non-generic interpretation . In contrast, children’s talk about pictures typically concerns kinds, suggesting that our clip-art pictures might afford a generic interpretation.