Funny story with "moral": Late last night I came across my son, inexplicably awake, sitting on the living room floor with a flashlight. I decided to watch for a minute to see what he was doing. He had a [THING] spread out in about 15 pieces on the floor in front of him. As I watched, he reassembled the [THING], took it apart again, reassembled it, then switched it on. It worked and he made a small sound of satisfaction. Then he switched it off and trotted back to bed just radiating happiness.
I thought I'd have a miserable time getting him up this morning. Nope. He popped right out of bed.
Moral-of-the-story: Sometimes the best thing for kids to take apart is something they can do all by themselves, with no grownup "helping."
Caveat - DS is 7, not 4. But the [THING] would have been safe for him to take apart at 4. It just required unscrewing and pulling apart. For all I know he has been doing this for years!
Sue
P.S. It was a battery-operated combination flashlight/led lantern thing.
