Homo habilis--Our Little Tool Maker

Today I laid out and cut my latest children's pattern: a romper. To do so I have to take over the dining room for a day (or two), getting in there to work in snatches of time as I can manage with John. I brought some toys with me and John played well beneath my feet while I worked, as seen here:

He was quiet as a mouse when his bead roller coaster fell over on top of him. John was simply working on extricating himself. Mr. Independent!
The baby was fascinated by trying to get into a small chest that sits on the dining room floor. It was interesting to me that he continually fiddled with the latch and nothing else. How does a six-month-old know that the latch is integral to opening the chest?
I was even more impressed at the infantile mind when John grabbed the orange plastic ring from his stacking toy and appeared to be using it as a tool. Repeatedly he would fiddle with the latch with his hands, then pick up the plastic ring and align it with the circle of the latch, then bang with the ring. Set the ring down, work with his hands, pick up the ring, align, bang. Repeat. I felt like I was an anthropologist watching chimpanzees make tools out of sticks to eat termites.