Toddlers’ Supersize Mistakes: At times, children play with the impossible

Given the opportunity, about half of 18-to-30-month-old children will sometimes try mightily to climb into a toy car no bigger than a toaster, to sit in a dollhouse chair, or to glide down a teeny plastic slide, a new study of child behavior has found. This flair for treating small objects as if they’re much larger betrays the toddlers’ incomplete ability to integrate perceptions with appropriate actions, say psychologist Judy S.