e scientific
procedure followed in testing hypotheses and discovering the laws of
nature. Inventive or manipulative activity runs a similar gamut from
the child's play with his toys to the creation of a work of art, the
designing of a work of engineering, the invention of a new machine, or
the organization of a new government. The distinction between the two
lines of activity is that exploration seeks what is there, and
manipulation changes it to something else. Exploration seeks the facts
as they exist, while invention modifies or rearranges the facts. The
two enterprises go hand in hand, however, since facts must be known to
be manipulated, while on the other hand manipulation of an object
brings to light facts about it that could never be discovered by
simple examination. Invention is based on science and also contributes
to the advance of science.

Manipulation and exploration certainly go hand in hand in the little
child's behavior. The baby picks up his new toy, turns it about and
examines it on all sides, shakes it and is pleased if it makes a
noise, drops it and is pleased {482} with its bang on the floor. This
is manipulation, certainly; but it is also a way of exploring the
properties of the toy.

Beginnings of Imagination in the Child

Beginning with grasping, turning, pushing, pulling, shaking and
dropping of objects, the child's manipulation develops in several
directions. One line of development leads to _manual skill_. The child
learns to manage his toys better.

A second line of development is in the direction of
_constructiveness_. Taking things apart and putting them together,
building blocks, assembling dolls and toy animals into "families" or
"parties" setting table or arranging toy chairs in a room, are
examples of this style of manipulation, which calls less for manual
dexterity than for seeing ways in which objects can be rearranged.

_Make-believe_ is a third direction followed in the development of
manipulation. The little boy puts together a row of blocks and pushes
it along the floor, asserting that it is a train of cars. The little
girl lays her doll carefully in its bed, saying "My baby's sick; that
big dog did bite him". This might be spoken of as "manipulating things
according to the meanings attached to them", the blocks being treated
as cars, and the doll as a sick baby.

Perhaps a little later than make-believe to make its appearance in the
child is _story-telling_ the fourth