putterings 051 < 052 > 053 index
all bound up in the use of the hands
Manipulation as Applied to Household Utensils and Toys.
A little child, apart from training, pulls, pokes, and touches all objects within reach. This original tendency is of the utmost importance in understanding house-plays. Such objects as dolls, dishes, beds, chairs, washtubs, and stoves are much enjoyed by children before put to their real uses in dramatic play. This puttering of the fingers with objects and toys is noticeable in several of the records presented. Babies will sit for long periods fitting lids on pans, covers on jelly glasses, and small boxes into larger ones. It is difficult to discover how much of form, size, and dimension they learn from puttering with the hands, but of this we may be sure, the end of finger play is knowledge. It is through puttering with the hands that children experiment with the things and forces of nature. The skill of the craftsman, the technique of the artist, and the training of the scientist are all bound up in the use of the hands...
— Alice Corbin Sies (1878-1959), Spontaneous and Supervised Play in Childhood (1922) : 55-56
55 (one of several scans at hathitrust)