I've seen several videos of young kids, usually in rural areas in other parts of the world, being very adept at making foods or other complex tasks that seem very complex for their age; Google "3 year old boy making dumplings" as an example. This makes me wonder if teaching toddlers refined motor skills like this could be good for their mental development, self esteem and have ripple effects throughout their lives.

I would assume that people in the rural areas where the kids are from grew up learning these skills as survival necessities. I expect that these simple skills improve other skills such as:

• How to listen, learn, and take direction.
• How to contribute to being part of a team, and, by extension, society.
• I'm sure there are more, but I'm just an architect; ask a behavioral scientist.

Have there been any studies done on the self esteem of people raised in these areas? Maybe even compare that to the people of similar age groups across the U.S.? I would be willing to bet 2 things are true: they are much more confident and generally happy people, and these kids can communicate with their parents much better than we do here in the States.

If so, could this become the next step in designing an education system? For example, could motor skills like this be a part of the push for expanded preschool programs?

Thank you!

J. Cameron McCormick