Creative Toys

Toys—The Baby's Tools

Tool use is one of the hallmarks of our humanity. By developing and using tools—levers, hammers, axes, computers—we have greatly extended our abilities. Some of the other primates have been observed to utilize something like a tool to achieve a goal, such as a chimpanzee that sticks a straw down into a termite nest and draws a snack out with it. That straw is a tool in every sense of the word, as the tasty insect could not have been reached without it. But humans have produced far more sophisticated tools. Furthermore, our ancestors and we have made most of them, rather than simply taking advantage of a straw or club that might be lying around.

We have been able to do this because of that remarkable organ, the human hand. In a brilliant book titled simply, The Hand, neurologist Frank Wilson presents a powerful argument for the importance of the hand in human development. This remarkable structure, to which we give little conscious thought unless we injure it, is as vital a component of our humanity as is the brain itself. Our ability to rotate the thumb, allowing it to meet the forefinger and thereby achieve a tight grip on a small object, in and of itself puts humans out of the reach of the other primates. Wilson suggests that perhaps the best thing parents and teachers can do to facilitate a child's learning is to 'head for the hands.'





To demonstrate the importance of this recommendation, all we have to do is observe a young baby closely. The hands go into motion at a very early age, and, as soon as they are able, begin to grab at, hold, shake, taste, move from hand to hand, or release objects that come within range. The earliest movements might be achieved by the hand almost alone, but soon seemingly random hand movements become coordinated with eye movements, which in turn become associated with sounds and the feel of different textures. The hand itself is a tool for brain development, as it plays a vital role in the coordination of all these sensations and actions and forces connections to be established between different parts of the brain. But the hand itself needs tools.

Fortunately, the young infant doesn't have to go through the process of devising and making all its own tools. Loving parents for centuries have observed this hunger of the hands for