We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Technology

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What are Froebel Gifts?

Mary McMahon
By
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 12,541
Share

Froebel Gifts are educational toys for children which are designed to encourage them to explore shapes, the relationships between objects, and the nature of beauty. These education tools are designed for very young children, and they are part of a larger educational framework developed by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, in the 1800s. Froebel believed that children learned best through exploration and play, and he developed his “Gifts” to encourage this. He also developed the concept of kindergarten, which is widely used around the world today.

Today, there are 11 Froebel Gifts available, five of which were invented by Froebel himself. The gifts are presented to children in order, growing increasingly more complex and stimulating a deeper understanding of the world as children progress through them. Froebel referred to his educational toys as gifts because he felt that they were most effective when presented directly to children as presents. As children use the gifts, parents or teachers are supposed to provide assistance and support, offering suggestions to the child to help him or her use the gift in a new way.

Each gift consists of a number of parts, ranging from balls on strings in the first gift to a complex collection of curved blocks in gift 11. The user is encouraged to open the box that the gift is kept in, to examine the objects it contains, and then to use them in a variety of ways, stacking them, sorting them, and constantly rethinking their relationships and potential applications.

Froebel devised several “categories” to think about when looking at gifts. The first is the form of knowledge, focusing on the wordly knowledge that each gift stimulated. For example, the geometric shapes in many of the gifts illustrate mathematical concepts, and children can use the Froebel Gifts to think about fractions, the relations between shapes, and so forth. In the forms of life category, children are encouraged to liken the objects in the Froebel Gifts to objects that they know; for example, a ball could be an orange, or a stack of blocks could become a tower.

Finally, children are also encouraged to think about forms of beauty, using the objects in the Froebel Gifts to create purely aesthetic and attractive displays. This encourages creativity in the users, as they think about symmetry, color relationships, shapes, and so forth. Children can move through each Froebel Gift at their own pace, with a supervisor ensuring that the child gets the full benefit of the gift, exploring its full richness and complexity.

Beyond the official Froebel Gifts, parents and teachers can also make their own with collections of everyday objects. In regions where education funding is low, the ability to assemble educational tools out of things like scrap wood is extremely useful, and many people believe that early enrichment of children can lay the groundwork for better performance later in life, even with minimal resources.

Share
EasyTechJunkie is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Mary McMahon
By Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a EasyTechJunkie researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Discussion Comments
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a...

Learn more
Share
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-are-froebel-gifts.htm
Copy this link
EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.