Chisels and saws

Ili was very involved in her 'craft work' when I collected her from Spielgruppe today. In the background the tool set the children are able to play with is visible. Not plastic Fisher Price, but the real thing — chisels and hacksaws. There has been a tad of discussion about this in Switzerland of late, including an article (see here) about the difference in US attitudes to Swiss (questions such as: "should three-year-olds be able to play with such 'toys'", and "should children be walking to school on their own from four years of age?") The Swiss are very proud of their attitude towards fostering children's sense of responsibility—and I'd be interested to know where the UK stands.