a living man. He discovers that society has prepared a mockery
for his reception.

That children break their toys is so well known that this act of
destruction of the only things specially manufactured for them is
taken to be a proof of their intelligence. We say: "He destroys it
because he wishes to understand [how things are made];" in reality he
is looking to see if there is anything interesting _inside_ the toys,
because externally they have no interest whatever for him; sometimes
he breaks them up violently, like an angry man. Then, according to us,
he is destroying out of naughtiness.

It is the tendency of the child actually to live by means of the
things around him; he would like to use a washstand of his own, to
dress himself, really to comb the hair on a living head, to sweep the
floor himself; he too would like to have seats, tables, sofas,
clothes-pegs, and cupboards. What he desires is to work himself, to
aim at some intelligent object, to have comfort in his own life. He
has not only to "behave like a man," but to "construct a man;" such is
the dominant tendency of his nature, of his mission.

We have seen him in the _Case dei Bambini_ happy and patient, slow and
precise like the most admirable workman, and the most scrupulous
_conservator_ of things. The smallest trifles suffice to make him
happy; it delights him to hang up his clothes on pegs fixed low down
on the walls, within reach of his hands; to open a light door, the
handle of which is proportioned to the size of his hand; to place a
chair, the weight of which is not too great for his arms, quietly and
gracefully. We offer a very simple suggestion: give the child an
environment in which everything is constructed in proportion to
himself, and let him live therein. Then there will develop within the
child that "active life" which has caused so many to marvel, because
they see in it not only a simple exercise performed with pleasure, but
the revelation of a spiritual life. In such harmonious surroundings
the young child is seen laying hold of the intellectual life like a
seed which has thrown out a root into the soil, and then growing and
developing by one sole means: long practice in each exercise.

When we see little children acting thus, intent on their work, slow in
executing it, because of the immaturity of their structure, just as
they walk slowly because their legs are still short, we feel
intuitively that life is being elaborated within t