Hikaru the Hammer

Hikaru might be pretty good at pounding mochi, even at 16 months old. My parents sent Hikaru a "hammer and peg" toy. He's enjoying it quite a bit. The box, though, indicated that it was for children ages "2+ years", so don't believe everything you read.



When we first took the toy out of the box, Hikaru was very excited. You would think he would he would just grab the hammer and start hammering away, but that's not quite what happened.

At first, he liked the box a great deal. He also didn't know what to make of the "hammer". The "pounding end" of the tool made a convenient handle to grasp the "stick". He walked around and carried the hammer (or rather the "stick") to poke at things.

Then he pushed in the pegs in with his hands. Is that considered cheating? He also uses the "stick" vertically to push out the pegs. Oh well... It goes to show our preconceived adult notions on how to use this toy. There's always more than one way to do something.



However, now that we've showed him the "right way" to hold and use a hammer, he's pretty good at pounding in the pegs. He pounds away with enthusiasm, and maybe a good release for any baby frustrations. He even knows how to flip the toy over, and pound the other side.