Learning the Lever 2010 01 19

I like this video because it's so interesting to watch Dylan figure out how things work.

Dylan seems to love spinning things. He has a wind spinner above his bed in the shape of a hot air balloon that he has watched spin for hours at a time. He also loves ceiling fans, probably because we have one in almost every room of the house. When we take him somewhere that has no ceiling fans, he searches the ceiling for one, until we leave. If we are somewhere new and there is a ceiling fan, he smiles his beg smile, as if acknowledging a dear old friend.

Dylan got a Learning Table from his grandparents for Christmas. He wasn't quite ready to stand with it, so we left the legs off and let him explore it on the floor. Initially, the only two toys on the table he liked were the clear spinning roller with the small colored pellets in it, and the round spinning "banjo." The first toy reminded him of some other toys that he was familiar with. The second toy had the spinning that Dylan enjoys so much. Dylan would attack the round spinning part and hit it repeatedly with his hands. But it is covered with a clear plastic round cover. The only way to spin the round part is to move a yellow lever handle that looks like the banjo neck. And the lever can only move down. When it is released, it springs back to the top position again. Complex stuff for a little baby. Dylan would hit the round part and yell at it, to try to make it work. He would put his head on it and stare it down, to see if it would turn. He would turn around and kick it with his feet. If I pulled the lever, he would hit my hands to move them away, and yell, as if to say, "No, I wanna do it myself!" A lot of attitude for a little baby, but we can address that when he's bigger.

When he finally figured out the little lever, he pulled it again and again. And again and again and again. He still does it today. And he watches his little banjo toy spin and spin.

Then I turned the table around. Dylan leaned across the table, but the banjo handle was on the opposite side, because from Dylan's point of view, everything was upside down again. Now, the banjo handle could only be pushed UP in order to work. That upset Dylan a lot.

Now he has it all figured out. And the banjo is still one of his favorite toys on the enitre table.