CHAPTER XI
KINDERGARTEN MATERIALS
The Kindergarten Gifts
Friedrich Froebel, after observing and studying thoughtfully the play and playthings of little children, selected from among these, and arranged in logical order, a certain series which should help develop the little one in mind, body, and spirit through childlike play. This series of related playthings is known as the kindergarten "gifts."
All children of all races play ball, and the first kindergarten gift to be given, even to a very little child, consists of six soft worsted balls in the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
The second gift is an oblong box containing a wooden ball or "sphere," a cube, and a cylinder, with several slender axles and beams to assist in the little plays.
The third gift is a box containing a two-inch cube divided horizontally and vertically into eight one-inch cubes.
The fourth gift is a similar cube divided horizontally into eight oblong blocks.
The fifth gift is evolved from the preceding ones and is a five-inch cube divided into inch cubes, half cubes, and quarter cubes.
The sixth gift is a cube of the same size divided so that it contains cubes, oblongs, and plinths.
The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth gifts are derived from the geometrical solids.