Froebel gifts

The Sonntagsblatt (1838-1840) published by Fröbel explained the meaning and described the use of each of his six initial "play gifts" (Spielgabe): "The active and creative, living and life producing being of each person, reveals itself in the creative instinct of the child. All human education is bound up in the quiet and conscientious nurture of this instinct of activity; and in the ability of the child, true to this instinct, to be active."

Between May 1837 and 1850, the Froebel gifts were made in Bad Blankenburg in the principality of Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, by master carpenter Löhn, assisted by artisans and women of the village. In 1850, production was moved to the Erzgebirge region of the Kingdom of Saxony in a factory established for this purpose by S F Fischer.

Fröbel also developed a series of activities ("Occupations") such as sewing, weaving, and modeling with clay, for children to extend their experiences through play. Ottilie de Liagre[who?] in a letter to Fröbel in 1844[citation needed] observed that playing with the Froebel gifts empowers children to be lively and free, but people can degrade it into a mechanical routine.

Each of the first five gifts was assigned a number by Fröbel in the Sonntagsblatt, which indicated the sequence in which each gift was to be given to child.