Gibson's theory of affordance talks about how children learn by interacting with their environment and learning that to cause a reaction there has to be an action done.  Take for example a ball.  A child will learn very quickly that it affords to be rolled with a push (video: http://youtu.be/9X8CHkY2dew). To where if you pick the ball up it can be thrown (video: http://youtu.be/TVLmOiAdMDk) and find these activities very amusing.  I have watched many of my little cousins go through stages where they learn how to throw and catch a ball or push a toy car around or even to learn that something like a chair you sit in can also be used to stand on to get something off the counter.  They also learn that you can use some objects in multiple situations and in different ways.  Children learn these things by constantly interacting with the environment around them plus by seeing how others interact in the environments too.