An important index used to estimate the Nation__ampersandsignrsquo;s health is, the health status of children in the country. Children are more vulnerable due to their lack of knowledge of procedures, a lack of control, a lack of explanation in child-appropriate terms, and a lack of pain management. Hospitalized children may experience high level of anxiety due to many different factors both physical and psychological factors. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of play intervention on anxiety among children admitted in preoperative wards of selected hospitals at Mangalore. The objectives of the study were to determine the effectiveness of play intervention among experimental group. The study design was two group pre-test post- test design. The sample comprised of 60 preoperative school age children in the age of 6-12 years who were selected by Purposive sampling technique and divided into experimental and control group. Pretest anxiety was assessed and play intervention(video game) was given to the experimental group along with the routine care and only routine care to the control group. The data was collected by using demographic proforma and numerical state anxiety scale. The study result showed that the calculated __ampersandsignlsquo;t__ampersandsignrsquo; value ( t= 4.225) was greater than the table value (t58 = 1.671) at 0.05 level of significance. The pre-test anxiety score was independent of all the demographic variables such as age, gender, religion, type of family, residence, care giver present during hospital stay, past child reactions to any procedures. The finding of the study shows that the play intervention was effective in reducing the anxiety among preoperative children.