A HORRIFIED mum has told how she pulled her two-year-old son out of playgroup after finding kids playing with a real hammer and metal nails.
Michelle Walker had taken son Ethan to the pre-school for a "taster" day in order to help him get used to his new surroundings.
But she was shocked when she discovered tots practising woodwork skills with the metal tools.
The hairdresser said she watched in horror as one three-year-old boy wandered a round the playgroup brandishing a hammer.
But council bosses of the Pitcorthi e PreSchool Playgroup in Dunfermline, Fife, said yesterday woodwork was an "acceptable" part of the pre-school curriculum.
Michelle, 32, who has now found a new nursery for Ethan, said: "I was completely gobsmacked when I saw what was going on.
"The nails were real, about an inch long, and the hammer was a real metal one.
"I saw one little boy walk the length and breadth of the playgroup with the hammer in his hand. The person in the room in charge did not even bat an eyelid.
"The nursery worker said the benefits of teaching woodwork outweighed the risks but I would say it is the other way around."
Yesterday, Fife Council's pre-school education coordinator Chris Miles defended the nursery.
He said: "While we appreciate the concerns which the parent had on this occasion, I am reassured that the playgroup is more than adequately supervised and the staff and parent volunteers have the utmost concern for the health and well-being of the children.
"This appears to have been an isolated incident where a child walked away from the woodwork bench holding a hammer.
"Supervision levels are high. The ratio of adults to children is no more than one to 10 and often a great deal more favourable in the playgroup."
Comment: I laughed when I read this because some three year olds would do fine with a hammer and some would have most of the children out cold. Children love to play grown up and tools are a real way of learning.
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