The French philosopher Roland Barthes has a lovely description of the value and import of wooden toys, written in his seminal collection of essays, Mythologies.
“Current toys are made of a graceless material, the product of chemistry, not of nature. Many are now moulded from complicated mixtures; the plastic material of which they are made has an appearance at once gross and hygienic, it destroys all the pleasure, the sweetness, the humanity of touch.’
Barthes continues,
[quote] Wood removes, from all the forms which it supports, the wounding quality of angles which are too sharp, the chemical coldness of metal. When the child handles it and knocks it, it neither vibrates nor grates, it has a sound at once muffled and sharp. [/quote]And here’s the part that directly relates to Montessori, “(Wood) is a familiar and poetic substance, which does not sever the child from the close contact with the tree, the table, the floor. Wood does not wound or breakdown; it does not shatter, it wears out, it can last a long time, live with the child, alter little by little the relations between the object and the hand.”
The joy of wooden activities…
Baan Dek
An incredible Montessori foundation for children and an inspirational resource for teachers and parents.