So, as the child begins to realize what he owes, comes the next little play, “The Flower Basket,” the key-note of which is given in its motto:
“Try to let the child give outward form to what stirs his feelings, for the love even of a child dies away if not carefully fostered.”—M., p. 38.
And the baby makes of his tiny hands a basket for flowers wherewith to celebrate the father’s birthday in orthodox German fashion. In Froebel’s own phrase, the “inner meaning” of the little finger play with its picture, is “to cherish thoughtfully the bond, which is invisible, yet which can be felt, whereby the life of humanity is bound together, the first opportunity for which is afforded by the life of the child and the family.” What is important here is that Froebel has pointed out the way in which this bond can be strengthened, that is by expression, by giving “outward form to what stirs feeling.”
This idea of service as expression of feeling comes into Froebel’s description of the ideal child, “merry, happy, strong and busy,” when the mother:
“Kissed upon his brow her blessing,
Then, his love for her expressing,
Off he starts his mother serving
All he can do, she’s deserving.”—M., p. 191.
Again, in connection with childish productions, the little baskets, napkin rings, etc., that they have made, Froebel wrote:
“The use made of these little productions is very important to the civilizing and nourishing of the child’s being and mind, for I consider the fact that many children receive so much and can give hardly anything to be one of the most essential causes of the frequent retrogression of childish love and sensibility.”