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EDITED BY
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, A.M., LL.D.
Volume XXX,
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION SERIES
FRIEDRICH PROEBEL'S
PEDAGOGICS OF THE
KINDERGARTEN
OR, HIS IDEAS CONCERNING THE
PLAY AND PLAYTHINGS OF THE CHILD
.(>»,! "tj » » O
JOSEPHINE JARVIS
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1909
Copyright, 1895,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
^biuJ^Ai:^^^' cBEi^i'^,
ElJSCTROTTPED AMD PRINTED
AT THE APPLETON PrESS, U. S. A.
EDITOK'S PKEFACE.
The work here offered to the public is a translation
of fifteen of the essays of Froebel collected by Wichard
Lange into a volume entitled Die Padagogik des Kinder-
gartens, Gedanken Friedrich Froebel's liber das Spiel und
die Spielgegenstande des Kindes, Berlin, 1861. The chief
value of the present volume is to be found in the thor-
oughgoing discussion of the first five gifts. Froebel
found an educational value in every phase of the child's
play, and in every object that engages its attention. His
keen scent discovered in the roundness of the ball, in
the facility with which it may be moved on a plane sur-
face, an educative effect on the dawning intellect of the
child. It is a symbol of a unity that perpetually asserts
itself in whatever variety — i. e., in whatever change of
place, extension, or movement — happens to it. " The
sphere represents to the child every isolated simple unity
— the child gets from it a hint of manifold nees as still
abiding in unity" (p. 105). Whether the ball or sphere
be large or small, every segment of the surface is like
every other, and undistinguishable from the others by
shape — " the manifoldness abides in unity." That this
is akin to the child's consciousness of self is obvious.
His self remains the same under all circumstances, but
f/27331
vi EDITOR'S PREFACE.
it exists amid a perpetually changing variety of states
of perfection, feeling, and volition. Thus the ball as a
symbol aids the child on his way to the attainment of
adequate self-knowledge.
On the other hand, the cube, according to Froebel, " is
representative of each continually developing manifold
body — the child has a hint in it of the unity which lies
at the foundation of all variety or differences of shape,
and of the development of these dift'erences out of that
unity." Thus while the unity of the sphere swallows up or
subdues and conceals its variety, the cube accentuates and
makes manifest its variety. For its corners and edges
and surfaces are rigid and abiding, as differences from
one another, and attract our attention away from their
unity in the whole cube. In the sphere the sides are
alike, and there are no corners or edges — one part is like
another ; identity and unity prevail.
Froebel brings out the principle of contrast, the act
of distinguishing by the category of opposition (p. 39).
This is very clearly another step in the consciousness of
the child's self ; for he is self as subject knowing, op-
posed to himself as object known. The fertility of this
new thought or idea in the child's mind appears in his
discriminations of things and events by the contrasts of
sound and silence, of visible and invisible, of going and
returning, of abiding and transient, etc. With the ball
in hand the mother attracts the attention of the infant
too young to talk. She raises the ball by its string and
lowers it ; swings it to and fro ; in a circle or in a spiral ;
jumps it and twirls it ; rolls it on a surface or causes it to
rebound, etc.
The child gradually learns the words with which to
describe these general forms of motion (pp. 43, 44). Then
EDITOR'S PREFACE. yii
the child plays or "makes believe" that the ball is a
dog or cat or some other animal, and a new step in cre-
ative activity is reached by the exercise of fancy and im-
agination.
In the third gift Froebel points out the physical coun-
terparts of a still higher range of categories. For the
cube, subdivided into eight smaller cubes, demands the
use of the categories of whole and parts, of outer and
inner, general and particular (p. 120), etc.
Here, too, begins the mathematical or quantitative idea.
For the eight small cubes are repetitions of the same unit,
and likewise equal parts of the large cube. Thus multipli-
cation and division, and the two numerical series, integers,
and fractions, are learned by the child at the same time
that he is beginning to use the highly significant cate-
gory of outer and inner. With play nothing should be
permitted to exist without relation to something else
(p. 131).
Froebel finds all that the child does significant and of
educational importance. In fact, he is the great pioneer
and founder of child study as well as of the pedagogic
theory of intellectual values. Every branch of study has
its distinctive intellectual value, and the teacher or super-
intendent should ascertain this by an investigation similar
to that undertaken in this volume on the first five gifts
used in the kindergarten. We all acknowledge gratefully
our debt to Dr. Stanley Hall for the widespread interest
in the United States created by his labors in the move-
ment known as Child Study. In this book are collected
the first great European contributions to the subject.
They are so subtle and so suggestive that every teacher
should begin his pedagogical training by reading and
studying them.
m
viii EDITOR'S PREFACE.
In fche essay on How Lina learned to Read and Write,
at the close of the volume, one may see what is expected
of a child whose self -activity has been properly developed
in a good kindergarten. The greatest lesson of the school
is the lesson of self-help. Froebel proposed to have each
gift or object of study considered in a threefold aspect :
first, as form of life; second, as form of beauty; and,
third, as form of k^iowledge. In his doctrine of this three-
fold significance of objects of learning, the mother and
the teacher will find a safe guide to the education which
best develops self-help in the child.
W. T. Harris.
Washington. D. C, March, 1895.
AMERICAN PREFACE.
I HAVE been sorry to give so masculine a preponder-
ance to the child in this book, but the necessity for this
mode of expression must be attributed to the peculiarities
of our language. Many sentences would be unintelligible
if " it " were always used to designate a child as well as an
object. I might have used " her " instead of " him," but
where, then, would have been the masculine supremacy ?
The music for most of the rhymes contained in this
book are to be found in Kohler's Bewegung Spiele, which
I have translated, and hope to see in print.
Josephine Jarvis.
CoBDEN, Illinois, July 7, 1893.
H
PKEFAOE.
Family considerations, and a lively interest in Fried-
rich Froebel and his endeavors, determined me long since
to devote some of my very scanty leisure to the study of
the literary writings left by Froebel, all of which were
most willingly placed in my hands for compilation by
members of the family, and especially by Madame Louise
Froebel. I aim to do all in my power to give a complete
representation of the man of whom at this time so much
is said. For this purpose I have collected his original
writings, which give authentic particulars of his develop-
ment and that of his endeavors. Thus has resulted a
work which separates into two divisions. The first depicts
Friedrich Froebel in his development as a man and as a
pedagogue, in general ; the second treats of him as the
founder of the kindergarten.
The first would have been ready for sale at this time
if, firstly, it had not required the most work on my part —
revisions, appendixes, explanatory notes, and elucidations,
etc ; and, secondly, if I had not felt obliged to assist the
newly established Erziehung der Gegenwart, edited by
Dr. Karl Schmidt, by articles which must be taken from
the before-mentioned first division. Undoubtedly it would
now be more correct and more effective for the attainment
of my object if I sent the first division into the world be-
xii PREFACE.
fore the second ; but the lack of writings on the subject
of the kindergarten from Froebel's own pen is as great as
the desire for them.
Moreover, literary freebooters continue to permit them-
selves all kinds of unlawful encroachments on Madame
Froebel's rights of possession, which nuisance must be
finally and completely stopped once for all. Therefore I
send forth the following original articles, although re-
luctantly — reluctantly, because they should serve first of
all as sources and sketches for independent works. I
have thought that a simple publication of Froebel's
works, on account of its form, would not be advisable
before its contents had already become the possession of
many by means of an easier and more pleasing style of
writing. May experience prove this opinion to be erro-
neous, and may Froebel's own representations accomplish
more and have a better result than those of his ex-
pounders !
My aim is to have this second division followed by
the first, which consists of two volumes, and contains all
the rest of Froebel's practical works. The latter partially
requires expositions of my own, which I think of under-
taking in the future, with the object of increasing the
spread of the ingenious devices of the Thuringian friend
of children.
This gift will certainly be welcome not only to the
teachers in training schools for kindergartners and chil-
dren's nurses, but also to all who take an interest in
Friedrich Froebel's endeavors.
Dr. Wichard Lakge.
Hamburg, November 10, 1861.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAOB
I. — The Two Views. A New- Year's Meditation . . 1
II. — Plan of an Institution for fostering the Impulse
TO Creative Activity 14
III. — Child-Life. The First Action of the Child. . 23
IV. — The Ball : The First Plaything of Childhood . 32
V. — The Seed Corn and the Child. A Comparison . 61
VI. — The Play and Playing of the Child in Harmony
WITH his Development and with the Totality of •
THE Relations of his Life 63
VII. — The Sphere and the Cube : The Second Plaything
OF the Child 70
VIIL— First Review of the Play ; or, The Means of fos-
tering THE Child's Impulse to employ Himself . 104
IX. — The Third Play of the Child and a Cradle Song . 108
X. — The Continued Development of the Child, and the
Self-unfolding Play with the Ball . . . 145
XL — The Fourth Play of the Child .... 166
Xir. — Second Review of Plays — A Fragment . . . 196
XIII. — The Fifth Gift. The Cube divided equally twice
IN EACH Dimension and with Obliquely Divided
Component Cubes. Evolution of this Gift from
THE Preceding Gifts, and from the Nature of
THE Child and his Environment .... 201
XIV.— Movement Plays . . 237
XV,— How Lina learned to Write and Read . , . 286
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE
TKANSLATOR.
I. (P. 1) Thetwoviews— a New- Year's meditation. Looking backward
over the old year, man sees what he has done or neglected ; gained or lost ;
the reasons for failure in attainment; (2) the spirit of his strivings; finds
new germs of action ; looks forward to the new year with hopes ; ways and
means for attaining his object; sees the foundation of all to be correct
comprehension of the nature of the child and a suitable method of training
him for his all-sided destiny ; man a member of a larger whole— the family,
the community, the nation, the race ; only as member of a social whole (3)
can man attain the realization of his destiny ; asks all to unite with him in
working for all ; " Come, let us live with our children " ; this is the motto
for the year to come, and will make it indeed a new year ; what awakes in
•us the anticipation is the thought of all men in all times ; (4) every one
has been a child ; importance of childhood ; on it depends the growth of
the man ; we live our own best life in caring for the proper nurture of our
children ; this life of the individual as a part and at the same time as a
whole is the most important thought ; the sun and planets are part of a
whole ; the elements — earth, air, water, light, heat — are each separate, and
yet each depends upon the whole of which each is a part ; the parts of a
plant likewise ; (5) in all Nature the individual tries to realize in itself the
whole ; man's superiority to plants, animals, etc. ; the desire to " live with
our children " unites us with man, with the creation, and with the Creator ;
(6) the deed, the direct result of resolution and effort and the embodiment
of the uniting thought of living " with our children," is an institution for
training the human being by fostering his impulse to activity ; an institu-
tion where each teaches, trains, and educates himself by play and by crea-
tive activity; foundation of the whole future life of each being laid in
his infancy ; (7) importance of understanding this infancy ; comparison of
child to a flower bud ; of man to a tree ; complete development of man de-
pends on correct understanding of the child ; man as a created being, a
part and a whole ; (8) man's nature made known by the child's impulse to
creative activity ; family life connecting father, mother, and child ; man as
xvi PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
a member of the family ; development of the child's impulse to creative ac-
tivity conditioned by and connected with family life ; (9) genuine educa-
tion linked with fostering this impulse ; object of our endeavor ; family love
shown in this impulse and increased by fostering it ; what is necessary for
man as a created being ; (10) what is required in order to see, to recognize,
and to perceive ; life, love, and light— three, yet one ; God reveals himself
as life, love, and light; (11) the child's nature also shows itself in life,
love, and light; connection of the child by these three with Nature,
humanity, and God; man a child of Nature, humanity, and God; (12)
requirements for man's becoming a completely developed human being ;
(13) comparison of the institution to a tree.
II. Plan of an institution for fostering the tendency to creative activity.
(P. 14) How one must seek to live and act so that his actions may have a
beneficial and lasting effect ; what he must endeavor to do ; educational
axiom ; how to treat children so as not to cripple their present and future
life ; the highest aim of Rfe ; its demand upon all educators ; why those
inclined to foster the child's impulse to activity fail in so doing ; (18) aim
of the institution ; its plan ; the spirit and character of the means of em-
ployment ; means by which adults may train and instruct themselves ;
what it is hoped to accomplish by the institution ; (22) why the plays,
etc., begin with the simple ; a whole series of plays and occupations for
children.
III. The child's life. (P. 23) The first actions of the child ; activity
and action, the first phenomena of child-life, express that which is within ;
united with sensation and perception point toward the understanding of
one's self ; the child's desire to do something appears when he is only three
months old ; (24) ; all education should proceed from and be connected
with this desire to do ; (25) the helplessness of the young child a sign of
his superiority to the young animal ; the animal and its instincts ; man
and the spontaneous activity of his will ; (26) the baby's helplessness the
opposite of the man's capacity for self-helpfulness; overcoming outward
hindrances by his force of will and his increased power of action ; (27) the
poles and the central point of child-life ; self- employment the key to the
life of man in childhood and youth ; habit proceeds from helplessness,
will, and the employing of one's self ; each phenomenon in child-life calls
forth its opposite ; importance of studying the cause and the result of habit
in child-life is as great as of studying the child's imjiulse to activity ; the
child's desire to make himself one with his surroundings (early shown by
the child) proves the existence and working of his desire to be active and
busy ; (28) habit and imitation important to observe ; threefold phenom-
ena in the life of the child — viz., activity, habit, and imitation — sure in-
dices for correct training ; aims ; child independence ; physical perfection
if possible ; (29) the child's first gaze ; first voluntary employments of the
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xvii
child ; first earthly destiny of the child ; recognition of life ; (30) man
fitted to fulfill his destiny by senses, organs, bodily strength, material
means ; his nature a perceptive and uniting spirit that he may compre-
hend spiritual unity ; importance of early training ; importance of the kind
of training; life of man, being a unit, is recognized in the first baby life;
appeal to parents, etc., for the right development; spiritual activities con-
tained in the life of the child ; (31) the mother's treatment of the child
based on the last-mentioned fact ; outermost point and innermost ground
of all phenomena in the early life of the child is to bring into exercise the
child's dim anticipations ; therefore must be given an object expressing
stability and movability which the child can grasp ; in which it can see its
own life, and test and exercise such life — the Sphere or Ball.
IV. (P. 32) The ball ; its importance ; its charm ; the child perceives
each object in the ball ; perceives himself also as a unity ; the child seeks
to develop himself and everything in Nature by its opposite; (35) the ball
to be considered and used in accordance with the needs of the child and
the nature of the ball ; the child likes to see and grasp things ; the hands
adapted to hold a ball ; clasping it strengthens the muscles, also develops
the hands and fingers; much depends on right handling and grasping,
in the actual as well as the figurative sense ; as the child's use of limbs
and senses increases, the ball shows itself as separate from him ; (36) con-
sequent exercise by mother or nurse with the ball — pleasing and instruc-
tive to the child ; showing the ball to be an individual object ; this simple
activity important for the child ; it perceives by it union and separation ;
the feeling of oneness and individuality important ; (37) necessity to com-
mence early the development of the child, perceiving and awakening in-
dividual power and activity : observe progressive development of strength
by means of a measuring object — the ball ; the dim perceptions which
first dawn on the child, and are the most important, are the ideas of being,
having, and becoming ; from these the three perceptions of object, space,
and time develop in the mind of the child ; (38) the new perceptions of
present, past, and future in respect to time develop from play with the
ball ; the child's development has its foundation in almost imperceptible
attainments and perceptions ; repetition increases and clarifies perceptions ;
when two different and separate perceptions have been received by the
ehild, the third and following perceptions proceed from them ; the whole
attention of the fosterer should be given to this truth early in the life of
the child; on what the attainment of the earthly destiny depends; (39)
the mother often does the right thing, but not logically ; we wish for a
whole, consciously and progressively formed ; consciousness develops from
connection of opposites ; (40) to become conscious of itself the first task in
the life of the child ; the mother's impulses taking right directions ; connect-
ing words with actions ; how form this word-accompanying play with the
\
xviii PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
child? (41) we give an indication of it; observe the first expressions of the
child's inner life ; (42) no directions of the child's nature should be culti-
vated at the expense of the others ; the heart and emotions are the starting
point of human development; (43) description of play with ball hanging
to a string ; (44) same continued ; the child, having perceived the circling
movement, sees the spiral ; (45) continuance of the play ; the child to take
the consequence of his actions ; continuance of play ; (46) efi'ect of play on
the child : man appears in the child ; (47) illustration of the above ; goes
back to the ball ; prominent is the fact that it offers only the fundamental
form; multifariousness of movement considered; (51) plays should be car-
ried on with other objects, but the ball remains the explaining and uniting
principle ; as the child's physical powers increase, the play with the ball
is extended ; description of play ; teaching to stand — to hold himself in
equilibrium ; (52) the father's help here comes in developingly ; constantly
progressive development given by the ball ; (53) first childish plays im-
portant for growth of the child ; through the ball the child perceives unity ;
(54) the ball leads to the consideration of the most important phenomena
and laws of earth -life and the life of Nature ; therefore the ball places man
in the midst of all ; the ball a connection between mother and child — the
child and its surroundings — the child and Nature ; (55) the ball and play
with it lay hold of the whole man as child, in respect to body, mind, and
soul ; (56) also on intellect ; the playful employments considered as a
whole do this still more ; the series of plays belongs to the actual, external,
and creative life; another series of plays shows an inner unity; (57) the
course of childish employments is pursued uninterruptedly, and leads to
harmonious training; by it the parent can decide to which side of the
cultivation the child inclines; the child should not be cultivated one-
sidedly; ball cultivates mental training; (58) how the mother's actions,
feelings, and thoughts aftect the child ; also her love, faith, and hope ; the
child susceptible ; how life is comprehended ; (59) play develops the child's
capacity for speech ; (60) how the play with the ball strengthens the child.
V. Observation of the seed-corn ; (p. 61) does the word " child " express
less ? why we foster a seed-corn; why try to understand it ? is the nature
of man and humanity less unknown to us ? (62) why not give to the study
of the child and its needs what we give to the seed-corn 'i
VI. (P. 63) As the child's first nourishment must be in harmony with
his digestive organs, so must the nourishment of his soul-life be in accord-
ance with the development of its members, especially with the organs of
sense ; rest the first deinand of the bodily life — movement, of the soul-life ;
(64) as the mouth takes in the fluid, and in the fluid the solid, so the eye
perceives motion, especially that of light, and perceives the object by
means of this motion ; therefore the mother early calls the child's atten-
tion to what is light ; little Children like to look at the sun, etc. ; pleased
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xix
with radiate forms ; (66) for this development we give the mother the col-
ored ball ; first impressions of the child ; (66) its own activity and mother-
love ; fostering of mutual life is the union, the fount ; the child must be
rightly comprehended in all its relations ; by looking back we find how
careful fostering has developed our own lives ; (67) learn from this how
to base the child's guidance on its true foundation ; all development cor-
responds; the child perceives life in himself, and outside of himself; so
with man; the child perceives this in play, the man in Nature; intellectual
and spiritual condition changed in the mother after the birth of her child ;
(68) this condition should be fostered for the sake of the child ; relations of
mother and child ; the first play observes and fosters this reciprocal life ;
(69) as the child becomes older it demands a purely opposite body, making
itself known by noise, sound, and tone ; here the cube is introduced.
VII. (P. 70) The sphere and cube give more pleasure than the ball
during the second half of the first year ; the sphere and cube are alike and
unlike, therefore belong together imdivided as a play ; the two in common
form a unity ; important to notice the relation in which the child's play-
thing and play appear to the child, to his surroundings, to Nature, and to
God ; play should be in harmony with the all-life ; (71) we endeavor to satisfy
this harmony with sphere and cube as before with the ball ; hints for the use
of sphere and cube ; the free circling movement gives pleasure ; the sound is
a higher sign of life to the child ; (73) this play develops the hearing and
speaking capacity of the child ; play with the sphere ; (74) continuation of
play with the sphere ; important impressions made on the child by seeing
the sphere in different positions ; important that the child should clearly
perceive the difference between sphere and cube ; (75) the sphere the
natural advance step in the series of playthings ; play by mother and child ;
important that the child should designate correctly, as well as clearly com-
prehend ; through this the life of the child becomes symmetrical ; (76) the
cube as the pure opposite of the sphere inducts the child into new ways of
perception ; play differs — the cube requires a plane on which to stand ; the
sphere needs only a point ; the cube a surface ; further description impor-
tant to produce inward harmony between the child and the surrounding
world by tone and glance ; (77) if this is neglected the child becomes sooner
conscious of oppositeness and separation than of mutuality and union ; play
with the cube showing that strength is required to move it ; (78) the child's
strength should be drawn into this play ; manifoldness of development
aroused ; (79) continuation of play of dropping the sphere or cube ; plays to
correspond to the child's needs ; not to be in opposition to his wishes ; plays
arising from the desire to grasp too many things at the same time ; variety
if possible by change of hands ; (80) the cube stands on one surface, totters
if placed on an edge, unless supported by some other object; putting these
facts into words deepens their impression on the child's mind ; (81) connec-
XX PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
tion of plays on page 80 ; the child helps his mother ; enjoys play morw ,
reproduces it when older; the child beats with cube on table; rhyme for
this play showing it is well not to injure any object, even one which feels
no pain; (82) the cube placed on one corner; held upright in that posi-
tion by pressure of finger of the left hand ; turning on its axis by the finger
of the right hand; lasting effect of these plays on the child; (83) the
child notices what is needed to make the cube stand firmly, to make it
move easily ; will himself do what is needed ; the child's attention hith-
erto directed to the actions and positions of the object ; play of hiding and
showing given with the ball, also used with the cube; mother hides the
cube in her hand ; (84) child tries to find it ; mother opens her hand ; effect
of this play on the child, showing one surface of cube while covering the
rest; child tries to open the mother's hand ; (85) mother shows two sur-
faces, hiding the others ; opens hand ; shows tliree surfaces ; the numbers in
the rhymes merely intended for change of sound accompanying change of
position ; (86) the child receives impression of the form of the cube by means
of this play ; order of plays given in the book may be different in the nur-
sery ; what mothers and nurses should clearly perceive with regard to these
plays ; premonition that comes to the child intrusted to them ; the child's
play makes it easier for him in manhood to get a premonition of the law of
life ; (87) the previous play with the cube brought to view its space and form
mostly when at rest ; we now consider its movements ; the simplest is swing-
ing, first by a surface ; next by an edge; then by a corner; (88) the child
perceives difference between apparent and real shape of cube ; importance
of repeating perceptions in different forms; reason for this importance ; the
three different positions and axes of the cube; these perceptions confirmed
by the following plays; (89) thin stick put through cube in each of its
three directions ; cube turned on its surface axis by fingers of right hand ;
new form of cube attracts the child's attention ; the stick put through edges
of cube which turnes on its edge-axis ; (90) the stick put through corners ;
the cube turned on this axis ; the cube hanging by a string attached to its
surface; twisting, untwisting, and retwisting of string; (91) play repeated
with string attached to edge; then string attached to corner; the plays
given, by no means all that are possible ; sphere and cube used separately ;
(92) used together; sphere expresses motion; cube rest; the two together
express the living thing ; the child's liking for round pebbles ; for straight-
edged objects ; connection suggests the human being ; the child's dim an-
ticipation of the nature and destiny of man ; cause of child's delight in
baby-doll ; difference between boy and girl ; between their destinies ; (94)
Froebel asks parents to consider in this way, early in the child's life, all the
indications of its inner spiritual nature ; objection ; objection met ; further
remarks on this subject deferred; return to play with sphere and cube;
(96) purpose important to the life and development of man; why cube
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxi
should be represented as speaking of itself to the child ; how the mother
seeks to give the true expresision to this visible speech ; what his play,
his surroundings, Nature, and the universe may thus become to the
child ; (96) reason for early beginning of this manner of developing the
child ; what is essential for nurses to consider with regard to ball, sphere,
and cube ; why something normal should be given to the child ; man can
not grasp each thing in all its relations ; reason for this fact ; thorough
understanding oi one thing helps toward the understanding of all things;
(97) understanding of sphere and cube fits child to recognize, observe, and
handle all other things ; a simple normal form (as a means of all-sided de-
velopment and self-education) greatly lacking ; hints of moral character of
the sphere and cube, and way to treat other objects ; different positions of a
book : speech given to book in the play ; (98) box turned on corner axis;
single perceptions of different objects alternate with normal perceptions of
cube and sphere ; by such play the child comes to the premonition of unity,
constancy, and conformity to law ; what it is essential for man to perceive at
a later period of life ; representation of other objects by sphere and cube ;
(99) different things which cube may represent ; what the child may be led
to perceive ; what endears object to the child ; (100) inner union of mother
and child gives their play its true life ; threefold love on the part of the
mother ; similar feelings of the child ; effect on child of means of play ; degree
of satisfaction of life, mind, and heart determines character of child's future
life ; this inner satisfaction should be early confirmed and fostered in the
child; (101) what depends on this; under what conditions the child will
attain this satisfaction ; the child feels the trinity of necessity, law, and love ;
finds them to be the condition of genuine satisfaction ; the youth, possessing
this treasure, can be safely trusted in the world ; why he can be thus trusted ;
one of the most essential aims of these plays ; three things to be considered
in the plays ; (102) effect of these and the following plays, from what they
originated, and for what purpose they were formed ; circumstances under
which surliness, etc., find a home in the child's nature ; how the child can
be preserved from them ; (103) illustration of last statement ; first and
second gifts connect with the child's development of speech.
VIII. (P. 104) First review of the play, or the means of fostering the
child's impulse to employ himself. Important to see what has been set
forth up to this point ; the clear comprehension of unity, the entire compass
of its variety, plurality, and totality important ; the progressive course of
the carrying out of the plays ; their inner vital coherence should be shown
to the child ; a comprehensive view of the wnole in general ; (105) the first
object used was the ball in contrast with the sphere and cube ; the child
perceives life and exercises faculties ; by the sphere and cube he becomes
more conscious of his senses and exercises them ; the ball a representative
and means of perception to the child of a single effect caused by a single
xxii PEDAGOGICS OB^ THE KINDERGARTEN.
power ; the sphere the representative of every isolated simple unity ; the
cube the representative of each continuing, developing, manifold body ; in
sphere and cube are presented the resemblances between opposites so im-
portant to his whole human life; (106) the sphere and cube express the
animated and active ; child tries to divide or open everything ; the sphere
and cube the necessary advance ; child's delight in building up, tearing
down, uniting, separating; forms of life; (107) exhibition of results as re-
gards these plays, and these means of fostering the impulse to activity.
IX. (P. 108) The third play of the child and a cradle song; children's
play by no means to be treated as offering merely a way for passing the
time, but rather that by them the child's innermost nature may be satisfied ;
the fact to be held firm that in the employment and play of the child,
especially in the first four years, not only the germ but also the core of hia
whole future life is shaped ; therefore, we must recognize individuality,
selfhood, future personality, as already contained in' a germ or vital center ;
what proceeds from voluntary employment; (109) what we miss in the
children; how amend this; (110) how develop love for parents, respect for
age; how make them observant and active in thought; (111) perceive how
the child values the giving spirit, the loving glance ; notice the spiritual in
the phenomena of the earliest child-life ; (112) child likes to go into the
open air, welcomes his little cloak ; point out to him surrounding objects ;
child not satisfied with mere bodily care ; consider this phenomenon in its
innermost causes ; (113) the respect and love of children are secured to par-
ents and older persons by what they do for the mental growth of the child ;
the child does not like to be left alone ; the care for the fostering of the
innermost begins early; (114) the inner spiritual perceptions of the child
are often far in advance of their outward manifestation ; it is possible to
accustom the child early to purity of heart as well as cleanliness of body ;
(115) feeling himself a whole, and also a single member of a higher life
unity, will cause to germinate in the life of the child love and gratitude
toward his parents, respect and veneration for age. This is the aim of
these plays ; the spirit from which they proceed is the spirit of unity of all
life ; (116) with the first of these plays the adult seems outwardly more
employed than the child ; object of the play to make the spirit free first ; the
child comes to the free use of his senses sooner than to that of his limbs ;
(117) physical employment will follow spiritual in due time; sole object in
the fostering of childhood is innermost union with all that is called life ;
the two former play-gifts contribute to this ; this third play -gift does so
still more variedly ; try to find what attracts the child ; (118) the child
tries to alter tne form, discover new properties, etc. ; after comprehending
the outside, he likes to investigate its inside ; to see the parts after seeing
the whole ; then to create the whole ; for this is given to him the divided
cube ; (119) cube divided into eight e<iual cubes ; a whole and a part thus
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxiii
distinguished as a fact ; parts show the same form as the whole ; size is
distinguished from form ; the child learns position and arrangement ; dis-
tinguishes outer and inner; (120) this first divisible plaything fitted to
develop the child ; appears to him as the key to the outer world ; this im-
portant to development ; by the use of this gift the general is recognized in
the particular ; the most general in the most particular ; the inner as outer;
that which is felt and thought as a thing that has shape ; the unity appears
as a plurality, and thus the invisible becomes perceptible in the visible ;
(122) why the too-finished plaything fails ; the nature of the child is to feel
and experience, act and represent, think and recognize; (123) this play-
thing satisfies the child by making it possible for him to represent and
construct forms of beauty ; it is perfectly suitable to the child ; provides
free action for him; how the plaything is given to the child; (124) con-
tinuation of presentation of plaything ; this essential, as first impressions
are important; (125) the observation of what is small and even impercepti-
ble especially important in the mother's room ; use of cube with and by
the child; (126) consideration of what the nurse shall do ; singing accom-
paniment; (127) play continued with song; value of song; (128) the child
will occupy himself partly alone, partly with nurse in arranging blocks ;
connecting ideas with forms ; child desires further connection ; (129) con-
nection with persons, with the details of life ; stories told in connection
with forms; (130) cube arranged as ladders; story of ladders; child al-
lowed the greatest freedom of invention ; experience of adult accompanies
and explains; essential to remark that all the eight cubes always belong to
each design ; (131) in this play nothing need ever exist without a relation to
something else ; nor must anything appear without this relation ; the ulti-
mate and highest aims of these plays ; beauty forms ; (132) unity shines
forth from them ; how bring this inner unity to the perception of the
child ; (133) let us go on this path, proceed to our lesson on Fig. 1, Plate
V ; surfaces can join surfaces, edges edges, so the like can join ; opposites
can join one another; (134) this is made perceptible to the child by mov-
ing and removing (Plate V, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4) ; singing is added ; (135) changes
with inner cubes as before with outer ; development of the four inner cubes
(from Fig. 4 to Fig. 12; return from Fig. 12 to Fig. 4) ; movement of outer
cubes, Plate V, Figs. 12 to 9 ; no undue pressure on the child's development
or on the expression of his inner nature ; the whole comprehended from one
point ; (136) singing accompaniment ; forms of beauty called also dance-
forms ; possessing totality ; each individual there on account of the whole,
and the whole on account of each individual ; (137) experiment with halves ;
what it teaches ; (138) what the child has learned and recognized is true ;
what forms of knowledge can be to a child of from one to three years ; exer-
cise with cubes showing variety of changes ; connect with singing ; com-
pare and connect with song ; (139) illustrative songs ; (140) similar and yet
xxiv PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
different forms presented with the quarters ; play illustrating relations of
position as forms of knowledge; song ; these songs may be used for quiet-
ing the child ; (141) nurses can apply the lessons of the play so as to exert
a direct influence on the child ; aim of this ; (142) what presents are most
prized by the child as well as the man; encouragement to "live with our
children"; importance of child's plays and occupations; (143) mothers
cradle song; (144) conclusion of song.
X. (P. 145) The continued development of the child and the self-unfold-
ing play with the ball. A new play does not preclude the use of earlier
plays; effect of earlier and later plays on one another; plays a whole;
their spirit one of union ; development of child also a whole ; comprehen-
sion of the child's playing as a great living whole; (146) what these play-
things show ; use of ball as child's strength develops ; example of more
varied play with the ball ; repetition and extension of play ; the child desires
to learn the significance of what happens around him ; (147) of what this de-
sire is the foundation, the cause, the reason ; the child desires to know the
means, or at least the kind of relation which exists between things ; he even
asks the object for its meaning and relations ; this premonition and this
demand shown especially to the mother; the satisfying of these makes the
child love and reverence parents and respect age ; weaving play; song to
increase the child's perception of the play ; (148) play symbolizes time con-
sumed in weaving ; the child not to be told this ; he feels it when told to
weave ; mothers and nurses can perceive coherence of the child's play with
man's life ; other words for play, showing the accord of inner and outer life ;
another side of play with the ball ; (149) throwing the ball on inclined sur-
face and catching it as it rolls off; song for play ; meaning of play, inclina-
tion and social union ; rhyme ; meaning, quicker movement through greater
space ; rhyme showing that the force of a falling body is increased by the
greater space through which it falls ; (150) child pleased by ball's rebound-
ing from wall ; rhymes for this play hint at ball's elasticity ; also at the
straightness of its path ; return to play of handling ball in free space ;
reference to play of throwing ball from one hand to the other; (151) to
this is added the throwing into the air ; rhyme; a companion in the play
(before solitary) ; play extended ; (152) oblique movements added to weav-
ing play-action without visible result ; extension of simple throwing play ;
increased distance between players and higher arch described by ball;
(153) play extended by use of two balls ; plays adapted to child's strength
and skill which they develop ; three or four children can join in this
play ; increased time in the passage of the ball causes increased desire in
each child to have the ball come to him ; (154) rhyme sung to (or with)
four or more children ; six or eight players, if skillful ; may have two or
more balls of different colors ; balls compared to flowers ; subordination to
law of motion ; plays in harmony with higher life of Nature and man ;
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxv
(155) 80 plays can not be too carefully cultivated ; return to play of throw-
ing ball against a wall ; extension of play in which two or more children
take part; apprentice and master play; continuation of this play; (156)
conclusion of play ; (157) this play an image of, education and exercise for,
and instruction about life ; what leads to the goal of life ; mother must
feel the spirit of these plays ; (158) he only who has the spirit of play can
call it forth ; to be near such a one has a magnetic effect on the child ;
mothers and nurses should be trained for such fostering ; return to this sub-
ject later ; finish discussion of play ; what can be learned byplay of throwing
the ball down on a flat surface and driving it back as it rebounds ; the child
finds that strength is increased by use ; (159) he perceives this as a fact of
his own nature, not limited to play with the ball ; ball song showing what
the child needs in order to succeed in ball play ; meaning, to hold fast one
high purpose in all vicissitudes ; incomplete view of details of the plays, etc.,
already given, (160) and of their influence on man proves proposition de-
•ived from insight into child-nature ; such nurture influences and devel-
ops the child's whole nature ; suflRcient for purposes of education to offer
child through these plays all we desire for his portion in life; wish that
these plays may be the possession of the child-world ; the genuine spirit of
child-life could then be recognized; how reach this result? by introduc-
ing these plays and occupations into infant schools ; (161) gain from such
introduction ; for what the plays, etc., would serve ; what we must con-
sider them, and why ; such introduction not sufficient ; establishment of
kindergartens ; (162) children can use at home what they learned at kin-
dergarten ; effect of this on family life ; aided by family sympathy ; union
of families to form a kindergarten ; Froebel makes a proposition and dis-
closes his plan for union of families into societies for the establishment of
institutions ; (163) aim of such institutions; their bcneflcial results ; present
training of child unsuited to present state of human development ; means
to be sought for more satisfactory guidance ; what these means are ; fami-
lies called upon form such united organizations; (164) what is our duty;
need of institutions to train those who are to have the care of cliildren ;
training school ; offer to give needed information to parents and associa-
tions ; mention of circumstances favoring Froebel's training school; (165)
a wish that the idea may find accord and sympathy, benefit the entire
human race, and prove an individual as well as a general blessing.
XI. (P. 166) The fourth play of the child; the child and the play;
find the exact state of cultivation the child has reached before giving a
new play ; cause of the child's pleasure in the gifts he receives; (167) this
faith should be preserved; why? (168) what parents, nurses, and kinder-
gartners should strive to do ; the child seeks the new which has been de-
veloped from the old ; (169) seeks for a change ; the old within the child
clarifies, transmutes, and unfolds itself ; this according to definite law ;
xxvi PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
what is necessary for educators ; how has the child developed up to this
point? (170) light in the child's mind illuminates the objects around him ;
he observes development in the things around him ; will perceive cau-
sality ; recognizes law ; has been educated in conformity with this law ; the
outer world in its essence helps the life of the soul ; (171) understand the
plaything clearly before giving it to the child ; understand the purpose of
the plaything ; what the purpose is ; in recognizing the ball the child moved
from the indefinite to the definite, etc. ; the ball recognized as a body ;
the child perceives himself a body ; (172) the child has two important terms
of comparison for his first intellectual development, body and body, object
and object ; the kind of body important ; the child feels himself as life ;
perceives the ball outside of himself in motion and as motion ; ball needed
for development ; second gift; sphere and cube illustrate the idea of a self-
opposed unity ; description of sphere ; what it illustrates ; what the cube
illustrates ; further description of second gift ; cube divided into eight
parts shows the qualities of the whole cube eight times; (173) three direc-
tions come forth by means of the divided cube ; three inner ; three surface ;
further notice of these ; a new gift demanded ; description of the fourth
gift ; (174) each object given must condition the one that follows ; condi-
tions fulfilled in gifts up to this point ; another requirement of a satisfactory
human education given ; this requirement has been hitherto met ; another
fundamental idea given ; the making the external internal, etc. ; (175) the
cube divided into eight building blocks — the fourth gift of the series ; its
nature ; this simple alteration gives a new significance to play and play-
thing ; the alteration described ; forms of this gift incline toward surface-
forms ; these forms divided into forms of life, of beauty, of knowledge ;
(176) use of play ; name must be given to what has originated under the
hand of the child ; talk with the child about what he knows ; habits of at-
tention must be formed ; (177) all representations connected with an inner
precise condition ; conditions given ; child must use all the material before
him ; what develops through fulfilling these conditions ; description of
play with cube; (178) further descriptions of play ; (179) still further de-
scriptions ; song ; (180) description continued ; important for and pleasing
to the child to see how one object springs from another and can be turned
into another; isolation and seclusion destroy life; union and participation
create life; living objects represented by blocks ; (181) stories and talks to
be used ; observations of forms of knowledge; (182) bench divided ; rela-
tions of size illustrated by fourth gift; "high wall" the easiest transition
to forms of knowledge ; gift shows similarity of size, dissimilarity of dimen-
sion, and position; (183) song for halving cube; division may be either
vertical or horizontal ; song ; further divisions ; song ; further changes ;
(184) songs ; new variation of exercises ; song ; (185) fourth gift offers
more forms of knowledge than the third ; forms adapted to children of
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxvii
three or four years ; comprehension of the gift by the mother gives the
play a life impossible to describe by lifeless word ; (186) the true aim of
education — to lead to comprehension of harmony ; we turn to the considera-
tion of forms of beauty — harmonious forms ; value of last name ; forms of
knowledge the suitable transition to forms of beauty ; example ; (187)
forms radiate, circular ; description of radiate form ; illustrated ; (188)
pleasant filling up of time for children ; developing also ; another consid-
eration ; comparison with forms of beauty of third gift shows those of
fourth gift contained in those of third as in a germ, or bud ; (189) vast
number of different forms proceed from germinal form ; three relations of
size as abiding in fourth gift as the position of the three principal direc-
tions ; each of the fourth gift forms of beauty may be regarded and used as
a fundamental form; what follows this; illustration; (190) all forms re-
late to the germinal form ; the influence of this gift for the child lies in
the visible connection of the pure antitheses ; child learns that law is at
the foundation even of accident ; illustration of this law important ; how to
carry on these representations of forms of beauty ; (191) way of carrying on
these representations; (192) word to accompany form; wheel forms; two
points considered; (193) first the play and the adult playmate, second the
relation of the difterent gifts ; (194) third and fourth gifts complement
each other in a striking manner ; their alternate use necessary ; how the
child should treat contents of box ; each child must have his own box ;
(195) the play-box to be treated as a companion ; when the child can use
each gift separately he may use them together.
XII. (P. 196) Second review of play — a fragment. Froebel was asked
to elaborate his material ; to state inner and outer connection ; one reason
for complying with this wish ; he tries to connect with first review ; enters
more deeply into the subject ; Nature our example ; essential nature of ma-
terial objects ; study process of natural development ; why ? how each
natural object develops; (197) threefold result of search for ground of this;
find element in the common unity of the threefold process ; the three
forms in which this element shows itself; pivot on which all tmns ; (198)
condition of manifestation of completeness in Nature ; what we must do ;
what we can thus help men to attain; what is necessary even for the
wisest ; through and to what man must rise ; what we observe in Nature ;
man must unfold and develop in unity with Nature ; what else he must
do ; what we must endeavor to make our children perceive and do ; Nature
and life interpret each other ; how force and life manifest themselves ;
(199) how specific life form and size show themselves ; size and form im-
ply number ; why we gave the child a ball for his first plaything ; the ball
a symbol of the universal life; universal qualities of material objects
thrown into relief by play with ball ; what the child learns by such play ;
what he recognizes in the structure of the ball ; what the ball becomes to
xxviii PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
for the *
the child ; ball helps the child to grasp and use objects ; the means for the
end ; nature and relationship of contrasts in the ball — how accentuated ;
(200) connect second review with lirst ; sphere and cube given separately ;
given together to the child ; latter way especially important ; cause ; the
second forms complementary ; to what the plays with the ball and those
with the sphere lead.
XIII. (P. 201) The fifth gift. The cube divided equally twice in each
dimension and with obliquely divided component cubes. Evolution of this
gift from the preceding gifts and from the nature of the child and his en-
vironment ; from and toward what the child's development proceeds ; of
what the child's plays and playthings are the means ; how we have di-
rected the child's activity ; progress of gifts from ball to sphere ; (202) un-
divided cube, third gift, fourth gift; description of each; (203) description
concluded ; what this review shows ; fifth gift indicated in and demanded
by previous gifts ; cube divided once in each dimension ; natural progress
from one to two ; what this division by threes yields ; a new feature added ;
the diagonal ; how demanded ; where and how suggested ; demand of new
gift ; (204) oblique line the diagonal of a square ; how produced ; by what
this division is demanded ; how shall cube be diagonally divided V how
many cubes shall be thus divided ? fundamental number in this gift ; three
whole, three halved, three quartered cubes form one third fifth gift; sum-
ming up ; use of this gift ; it is a symmetrical whole ; its arrangement in
box; (205) how to remove box from cube ; advantage to the child of this
way of removal; first use of the fifth gift; (206) the representation of
forms of knowledge ; the simplest obtained by division ; simplest form of
division ; first division of cube ; division and plane of division of third
gift; threefold division repeated in fifth gift; differences between the
division of the two gifts ; variation of arrangement in fifth gift ; how per-
ceptions and recognitions are gained ; merit and influence of this play ma-
terial ; words added later; (207) rhythmic speech produces clearer. con-
sciousness ; dividing and recombining cube accompanied by words ; effect
of rhythmic form of words ; arrangement of the thirds of the cube ; different
position of the thirds makes them seem different things to the child ; (208)
this second division, etc., also accompanied by words ; law to be observed
in all plays; illustration; incitement to thought and feeling; (209) the
child likes to find out how one form comes from another; see previous illus-
tration, page 208 ; words given to each form ; words uttered rhythmically,
child pointing to forms at the same time ; words may have rhythmic form ;
(210) other rhymes ; aim of all that is done ; clearness and precision to be
given to what the child makes ; return to division of cube ; thirds divided
into ninths in three different ways : ninths into twenty-sevenths ; parts of
fifth gift united into different solid forms, and each of these divided into
two or more equal parts ; point of resemblance between these forms ; facts
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxix
apparent when forms are made ; (211) rhymed questions and suggestions ;
change of one form important ; how the forms advance ; separation, divi-
sion, recombination : (212) result; reference to plate; bodies resolved into
their different parts ; number of square prisms to be made at the same time
by the fifth gift; all equal; all unequal; equal and unequal; same thing
done with other forms ; point of prime importance ; illustration ; illustra-
tion concluded ; (213) reasons for detail ; (214) first combination of square
prisms ; resulting structure ; relative size of square tablets in structure ;
perceptions gained are precisely expressed in geometry ; with this gift it is
merely play; words and observation connected; (215) make relative sizes
clear to the child ; second, combination — three square prisms inclosing
hollow, right-angled triangles ; third, square prism contains as many cubes
as both the others ; illustration ; rhymed description ; description for each
stage of representation ; (216) make word, act, and subject explain each
other; interest of finding and combining forms ; now come figures unlike
in form but with equal contents ; illustration — first series ; (217) second
series ; third series ; facts brought out by observing these series ; (218) facts
concluded ; facts shown in third series, also shown by third gift ; repetition
profitable to the child ; (219) translation to forms of beauty and forms of life
very simple ; children begin with forms of life ; all the blocks to be used ;
those not used in the main part must bear some relation to it ; why we be-
gin with forms of life ; child advances from use to beauty, from beauty to
truth ; object of giving forms of knowledge first in presenting this gift :
leader's knowledge of gift increases the pleasure and profit of play with it ;
(220) forms of life proceed from the cube as a whole; advantage of this;
box packed in same order and removed from cube in same way as before ;
cube called a table, house, or other object ; directions for series beginning
with armchair ; for series beginning with large table ; renaming of forms
which the child has made with fifth gift; (221) rhyme for the renaming;
proceeding from cube make three trunks ; children like to make houses ;
why ? why houses with doors and windows are preferred ; child's use of
blocks shows his increased acquaintance with things beyond his home ;
mention of some of these forms which can be made with this gift ; list con-
cluded ; (222) intimate connection of Froebel's gifts with the chrld's de-
velopment ; their effect on him ; connection of the child's representations
and experiences; his representations a means of correcting his percep-
tions ; buildlLig gifts extend perceptions ; examples ; stories joined with the
child's representations ; advantage ; building in common ; (223) directions
for building with fifth gift a large house and two small ones ; song ex-
presses the child's pleasure and describes what he has made ; (224) song
ended ; naming different parts of the house ; art-building from which forms
of beauty proceed ; these forms also come from certain forms of life and
architecture ; forms of beauty develop one from another ; each a change
XXX PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
from the former ; no form entirely destroyed ; another essential ; (225)
these points were discussed before ; second way of proceeding to forms of
beauty ; fact to be considered before adopting the second way ; how forms
of beauty of the fifth gift differ from those of third and fourth ; surest foun-
dation of both series; foundation the of first; (226) of second; the square
the fundamental form of first series ; in what the beauty and influence of
these plays consist ; second point of importance; advantage of this man-
ner of carrying out the play : how the trustful relationship between mother
and child, etc., is kept intact; (227) the child begins changes inside square
or outside triangles ; in these again he may begin with the inner or outer
blocks of form chosen ; a further choice ; limitation implied in so much
change ; what the child must do if the series of development is broken
off"; proceed from fundamental form; form admits of variety; unfolding
from the middle on all sides; directions; (228) directions continued;
change of position of cubes, though the appearance remains the same ; this
fact generalized of great importance ; a law of Nature and of life ; frequent
reference made to it ; other laws dealt with in same way ; example ; direc-
tions continued ; concluded ; (229) final form kept in mind ; three final
forms ; each admits of a double manner of representation ; remark in re-
spect to forms of beauty in both series; illustration; (230) illustration
concluded ; remaining fact to be brought out ; triangular forms of beauty ;
the starting point; condition of advancement; (231) change made by
moving the cubes toward inside or outside; result; why this change
pleases ; a cube on each side is set free for play ; the different positions
it may take ; the six different forms a logical whole ; other positions for
the three free cubes; (232) law of connection pointed out even in third
gift ; alterations possible with three free cubes by no means exhausted ;
alterations possible if one or more of the eight cubes be halved ; prin-
cipal alteration; changes possible in first case; in second case; (233) one
hundred representations possible if the three cubes are halved ; if one
of the half-cubes be halved ; each free cube changed to one half and two
fourths ; about three hundred combinations made possible by this change ;
the three cubes changed each into four fourths allow of at least five hun-
dred representations ; thus nearly one thousand possible with but three
free cubes : necessity for classifying representations ; unclassified ones op-
press by their magnitude ; want of classification the bane of children's
plays ; (234) plays lose their formative influence by this lack ; limitation
excludes many forms, prevents kindergartner and children from losing
their way among the forms, enables guide (if a true guide) to know where
they are ; thus these plays are not wearying but improving on account of
the educator's knowledge ; next series ; two cubes on each side set free for
play ; changes possible in these six cubes ; (235) movement of the cubes
of the inclosure ; moving them in and out ; the smaller the inclosure the
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxxi
richer the structure of the representations ; tend toward curved form ; pro-
gress to two and two-sided forms ; conclude with circle ; representation of
cog wheels ; intrenchments, sconces, and redoubts ; previously mentioned ;
(236) spirit of unity in forms of fifth gift ; use for diagrams ; for whom
originally intended ; their object ; when given to the children ; purposes
served by this.
XIV. (P. 237) Movement plays. Some relation expressed in every ac-
tivity of the child ; material is required to realize aims ; kindergarten gifts
lead child to the handling of material ; each incites to free self-activity ;
movement plays developing from gifts not yet considered ; omission inten-
tional ; we now attend to movement plays; (238) why explanation of sixth
gift is postponed ; we must meet needs of inner development, not only re-
spond to outward manifestations; final ground of child's outer activity;
deepest craving of his inner life ; what child learns through the reflection
of such life ; why such reflection is essential ; law of development ; its
recognition the aim of Froebel's gifts and games ; (239) external phenomena
in child's life to be studied ; children our guides ; cause of child's joyous
movement when seeing a moving object ; the child seeks cause for move-
ment of the object ; the educator's procedure should be similar; the child's
own nature the main consideration in his education ; external phenomena
sometimes a guide-post, never a path ; condition of child-education ; no
other education worthy the nature of man ; (240) we now consider starting
and course of development of movement plays; child's unconscious en-
deavor ; he tries to do what he sees done ; ball set in motion ; song showing
what ball can do; (241) ball's activities the germ of movement plays; the
child wishes to move like ball ; reason the child likes independent move-
ment ; threefold feeling caused by walking ; what we must do, and why ;
the three elements of the child's pleasure in his first walking should all be
fostered at the same time; the child should use his power and get his
whole body into his power; (242) what else he should learn; illustration
of child's threefold purpose ; source of child's efibrt to reach some particu-
lar object ; well to name object and its parts and properties ; object of this
naming ; development of speech by child's experiences ; (243) how we must
help the child to these experiences ; each new phenomenon a discovery ;
child-nurture ceases to be a task ; motives for becoming a nurse ; the child
likes to go from place to place ; what he seeks by change of place ; each
walk a tour of discovery, each object a new world; apparent digression;
(244) return to first movement-play, " child wants to go on a journey " ; A,
traveling plays; object and character of these plays; 1, the child wants to
travel ; motion of ball in ball play makes the child want to move; direc-
tions for play; Froebel's experience; (245) further description of play ; ex-
tension of play ; children take turns ; further extension of play ; (246) the
child names children in circle ; advantage of this ; another addition ; why
xxxii PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
it is beneficial ; manner of naming children varies with the age of the child
who names ; progressive development of game corresponds with intellectual
and physical development of children; (247) children may form square in-
stead of circle ; each new play develops from the preceding ones ; next de-
velopment of walking game ; the walking of all the children at the same
time ; this unfolded naturally in playroom ; 2, general traveling game ;
directions for game; (248) song for game; game actually developed as
described ; description continued ; ('249) song continued ; (250) another song
may be used ; children do what song suggests ; 3, walking plays of many
children in small space ; game enjoyed by children in Froebel's kinder-
garten; (251) 4, visiting plays, or going to make calls, develops from the
walking: description of play; (252) description continued; (253) descrip-
tion concluded ; sources of children's delight in this game ; 5, the winding
brook ; one of the first movement plays developed by the children in Froe-
bel's kindergarten gave them much pleasure ; description and song for play ;
(254) song concluded, also description ; B, brook play, a transition from
journeying games to those representing an object ; 1, the snail ; a favorite
play in Froebel's kindergarten, where it is originated ; sometimes played as
continuation of brook play ; description of snail play ; (255) description con-
tinued ; snail song ; description and song continued ; (256) description and
song concluded ; snail game often ends circle plays ; why well suited to
this purpose ; how snail play originated; object of these plays; representa-
tion plays proceeding from life and needs of very little children ; children
like to clasp hands and run round a tree or column ; (257) this desire the
origin in Froebel's kindergarten of 2, mill play ; description of play ; (258)
description continued ; song ; figure made by children represents wheel of
water mill ; child led to perceive and compare moving power in himself
and the water ; the whole may be wings of windmill ; song ; why liked by
children; comparison of power of Nature and of the mind; (259) lines
added to song ; close of play leads child's attention to effect of too vigorous
movement ; game played without a pillar — in the open air ; way of play-
ing in each case ; movement made in opposite direction ; play came
from girl-life ; another play from boy -life ; 3, the wheel ; directions ;
(260) directions concluded; song for play; play called star game; to
what child is led by these plays; ground of child's pleasure in these
plays; (261) delight of children in movement plays not caused by
mere bodily activity ; true source of their joy ; we must thoughtfully
observe children's plays ; good efl'ects of such observation ; Froebel's ob-
ject in showing how plays started and developed in his own kindergarten;
what becomes apparent by generalizing results of his experience ; (262) 4,
circle, star, flower, and crown play belongs to representing circular mpve-
ment plays ; directions and song for play ; (263) directions and song con-
tinued ; (264) both concluded ; each of these four plays may be used as a
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxxiii
single play for very small children; (265) nature and spirit of this play;
C, the running plays develop from preceding ones ; running plays the
first of completely developed power of motion ; to what, and how, play with
ball incites child ; 1, racing game, a great favorite with children ; where
played ; racing ground described ; directions for play ; (266) song for play ;
directions concluded ; other running plays — when mentioned ; D, the
pure running games ; take into account position of body and movement
of limbs; name more appropriate than marching; 1, the simple walking
game ; how done ; arrangement of children ; (267) directions and song for
play ; song for changing room and play ; change in play accompanied by
singing rhyme; why? (268) wordless melodies with walking plays; to
what adapted ; 2, circular walking game ; more difficult to walk round
circle than straight forward ; latter movement used first and oftenest; cir-
cular movement especially attracts small children ; how to combine the
two forms of play ; song ; real circling games ; song to direct attention to
circle; to position of feet; (269) freely moving ball the incitement to
movement plays hitherto given ; ball on string incites to another series ;
illustration ; origin and aim of this series; (270) movement plays proceed-
ing from the ball on the string, which have in view at the same time an
exact training of the body and limbs ; A, swinging movement plays ; di-
rections and song ; waving movement, like that of grain moved by wind ;
leader sees to the good order of circle; each member should have chance
to lead; why? (271) important to foster child's delight in play; another
movement introduced ; directions and song continued ; harmony of action
important ; harmony of word and movement necessary ; (272) directions
and song continued; (273) words sung as interpretation of movement;
why ? resting play to follow very active games ; circling movement of ball
on string gives rise to series of (B), circling and turning movement plays
proceeding from the ball; directions and song for play continued ; (274)
swinging arms in circle used as windmill play ; (275) directions and song
for this play ; developing influence ; final form can be used as conclusion
of series; ball swings in horizontal circle ; (276) song; child perceives that
one side of ball swung in circle looks toward middle ; rhyme ; this indica-
tion points to a new series of movement plays ; directions and songs ; care
taken that circle is perfect ; why ? (277) directions and song for play of
finding middle of circle ; where originated ; Langethal's development of
play ; song he made for it ; child in middle keeps order in the circle ;
(278) effect of center and circumference on each other ; " Child, turn thee "
developed from those plays just described ; arrangement of children ; par-
ticular and general brought together in this play ; demand of the spirit
and character of Froebel's plays; fidelity to higher spirit of play needed
for its full effect; directions continued ; (279) spinning movement hard
for small children ; (280) what leader may do ; directions concluded ; re-
3
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xxxiv PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
ciprocal activity of individual and whole ; close of this series ; particular,
individual, and general shown in play are recognized by child in Nature
and life ; important experience for child ; manner of evolution ; one chief
aim of early education ; (281) such experience offered to children in cir-
cling movement plays ; illustrated by play of " seeing each other and not
seeing each other " ; directions and song for play; continued ; (282) com-
parison essential ; play that affords comparison has a developing influence ;
comparison employed in Froebel's games ; second way of playing thia
game ; (283) directions and song for this second way of playing concluded-,
(284) end of movement plays proceeding from ball, and of indications of
their significance for the threefold life of child and man ; (285) movement
plays further progress from sphere.
XV, (P. 286) How Lina learned to write and read. Lina's age ; what
Lina could do; (287) Lina always contented and cheerful; Lina per-
mitted to be much with her parents ; father receives a letter ; desire to
write a letter aroused ; mother proposes to make letters with sticks ; in-
struction as to letter-writing; first learns sounds in name; (288) learns
signs for these sounds ; exercise in both ; (289) same continued ; mother
and child take part alternately ; learns A ; (290) exercise continued ;
learns I ; learns L 1 ; then N A ; then both together are made and sounded ;
(291) letters left for father to read ; father reads Lina's name ; father's and
uncle's questions as to letters and signs; pleasure resulting to all: (292)
uncle's suggests that Lina lay and read " mutter " the next day ; Lina begs
her mother to teach her the word " mutteb " ; mother proposes to her to
learn "vateb"; Lina agrees; exercise of close and open sounds; (293)
exercise continues ; Lina learns E ; then V T K ; the close sounds ; Lina
asks to learn " mutter " ; mother consents ; (294) child required to speak
the word clearly and distinctly ; a new open sound u ; a new close sound
m ; child lays and pronounces " vater," " mutter " ; pleasure in showing
words to father and uncle ; Lina examined ; (295) father adds the word
LIEB; asks Lina to read it; she knows three of the sounds; does not
know what the " bow " means ; mother explains ; exercise with the word ;
Lina very grateful ; uncle asks Lina to lay these words the next day ;
(296) Lina's first care the next day to do what her uncle asked ; helped by
her mother, she lays the German words for " my dear uncle," " my dear
father," '' my dear mother " ; uncle adds in German, " Lina is our dear
child " ; the three unfamiliar sounds soon learned with the mother's help ;
(297) at Lina's request the mother helped her to lay in German, " You are
our good father " ; one new sign, G ; father much pleased ; Lina learns
names of relations, etc. ; the father goes on a journey ; Lina longs to write
him a letter ; begs her mother to help her ; (298) a slate and slate pencil pro-
vided ; Lina pleased with the straight lines and squares ; disappointed not
to find pen and paper ; mother consoles her ; (299) taught to handle slate
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxxv
pencil; lays her name with sticks; mother shows her how to indicate
the length of one of the sticks by a straight mark two squares long ;
helped by her, Lina writes her name on the slate ; Lina asks to write a
letter to her father on the slate; mother consents ; (300) mother helps
with letter; process described; (301) uncle comes in; is delighted with
letter ; fears the slate will cost a good deal of postage ; fears it will be
broken ; Lina tells him sadly that this is only a trial ; mother promises Lina
some cross-lined paper and a lead pencil from the city to-morrow : uncle
laughs, and lays before the child a sheet of paper with cross-lines and a
colored pencil ; Lina surprised and delighted ; (302) the next day copied
her letter on the paper her uncle had brought to her ; letter sent to father ;
Lina asks if her father will write to her in reply ; mother bids her wait ;
letter arrives ; (303) the little girl joyful and grateful ; finds she can read
her father's letter; reads it to her mother; (304) sorry to have her father
away so long ; mother proposes to her to write another letter to him ; (305)
takes great pains that her father may find an improvement in the letter ;
regular correspondence with father ; joy the great propeller ; mother and
uncle know this and act accordingly ; (306) what greater delight to a child
than to have a book of its own ; father sends book to Lina ; (307) shows it
to uncle ; looks at pictures in book ; wishes to read it ; makes out some of
the letters ; (308) mother leaves her with the book; at last comes to her ;
encourages her as to learning all the letters; notice of lines; (309) child
points out the letters she already knows ; too dark for further work ;
mother tells a story of people who lived long ago and could not write ;
what is writing and being able to write ; (310) writing is the joining of the
transient sound with the permanent sign ; experience helps understanding ;
mother tells of a shepherd ; what shepherds discovered; (311) a shepherd
who found out how to write with letters ; the way it was done ; (312) con-
tinuation of the way of doing it; shepherds to be regarded with respect;
(313) always employ time well when alone ; mother tells Lina to get the
light, and she will teach her what she needs for understanding her book ;
takes the father's letters as a help ; tells Lina to take I, (314) and com-
pare with 3 (German); finds diflering lines; finds likeness and difference
in the two letters ; compares the two Fs ; (315) repetition of comparison ;
likeness found between the two Bs; between the Ks and Ks ; (316)
enough for to-day ; promise for the morrow ; Lina to examine letters by
herself; first thought in the morning; Lina brought up in all-sided life-
union ; led quietly to pray for all good things ; each day a valuable gift ;
(317) examines the large letters in her book ; finds the letters her father
had used; runs to show them to her mother; mother promises to come
soon ; wishes for uncle also; shows him when he comes all she has found ;
uncle delighted ; lets her find the same letters on other pages ; Lina's
mother comes in ; (318) shares in the pleasure ; all three perceive a simple
m
xxxvi PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
comprehensive law ; what that law is ; Lina grieves because she can not
read the small letters; begs to be taught; (319) mother encourages her;
what Lina had found out with regard to learning; mother asks about the
first letter that Lina learned ; (320) the German 3 sprouts from the I as
the curled-up, unopened leaf from the germ ; so it is with many things ; so
with our large printing letters (German) ; Lina finds small letter most re-
sembling the large 3 ; compares ; (321) finds which among the small letters
is like the large F; compares ; compares D ; places German 3), D and small
d side by side ; examines ; (322) Lina asks to go to kindergarten ; takes
Minna ; former playmates delighted to see her ; is asked what she does at
home ; kindergiirtner allows questions and answers ; Lina tells of her
book ; (323) Lina tells how her mother taught her to lay her name with
sticks ; children beg to be shown the way ; kindergartner approves ;
Lina lays her name; Minna's also; children wish to learn; Lina tells them
what they must do ; (324) tells them their dear gardener will help them ;
they detain Lina for a play ; good-by ; (325) kindergartener's lesson to
her children ; Lina's visit productive of good ; desire of the children to
learn comes naturally ; first thing Lina did on reaching home ; (326) seeks
book early in the morning to compare letters ; hopes for her mother's help ;
knows twelve small letters; (327) Lina shows her uncle what she has
found; asks her mother if she is right; asks her uncle to tell her what
signs mean, and how they are spoken ; uncle agrees ; mother approves ;
(328) uncle tells her to bring slate and pencil ; uncle draws the letters for
comparison side by side, then one within the other; in this way the child
can see the differences, also the essential and abiding ; uncle shows com-
pound letters; and change of form in letter S; then shows the double S ;
then the St ; open sound ; (329) Lina knows St and S ; uncle teaches her
the double sign ch and the sound ; then sch ; asks her to analyze it ; (330)
Lina sounds sch; explains j ; shows the two sounds of j ; compares with
g; (331) Lina thanks uncle for help and for drawing so nicely; uncle
points out the value of drawing; bids Lina go over carefully all she has
learned, as the mother is to examine them ; uncle goes ; Lina obeys him 1
gives uncle's message to her mother ; asks if she may have Minna to play
with her; (332) is permitted to go; tells Minna they will play kindergar-
ten with dolls ; must leave what dolls do for mother to see ; (333) tells
what dolls have done ; mother happy as well as the child, but from other
causes ; why she is happy ; bids Lina to tell dolls to put things in their
places before they go; tells Lina to thank Minna for coming, and take her
home; then come back and show what her uncle had taught her; Lina
shows first the relation and development of the form of A, E, G, Q, T, C ;
makes them on the slate; doing this makes many things clearer to her;
(334) mother calls to her notice this and that thing either forgotten or
overlooked by her uncle ; Lina also pronounces j and s, and the compounds
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY THE TRANSLATOR, xxxvii
of the latter letter ; Lina calls her mother's attention to her uncle's nice
drawing ; mother tells the uses of drawing ; calls attention to living Na-
ture ; representative drawing and explanatory word ; one explains the
other; pleasure expressed by Lina in her book; can read a great many
words in it ; mother eager to hear ; (335) Lina reads the words she knows ;
can read a whole line ; mother praises her ; tells her what to do if she can
not at once read a word ; goes to other work ; Lina reads the first story in
the book to herself; then to her mother and uncle, to their great deliglit ;
mother makes her notice the meaning of the punctuation marks ; (330)
uncle notices the bulky sheet ; Lina wishes she could write small, like her
mother ; asks to be taught ; mother says she can not spare the time'; tella
her she will learn it at the preparatory school, to which she is to go when
her father returns ; Lina satisfied.
PEDAGOGICS
OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
THE TWO VIEWS — A NEW-YEAR S MEDITATION.
At the conclusion of an old and the beginning of a
new year, even as his eyes turn toward the coming year,
man appears almost involuntarily to look back on the fast
departing time of his life, on the year so soon to end ; for
beams, like those of the parting sun, once more illumine
all objects in the past year with their light and attract
the gaze of man. He stands there thoughtfully, his soul
absorbed in the farewell to the old and the greeting to
the new year. He looks back upon all which, in the year
now vanishing, he has done or neglected ; for which he
has striven, or which he has lost ; in which he has been
successful or unsuccessful ; which have been his helps or
his hindrances. He examines what has been attained,
and what has been denied to his efforts, his wishes. He
inquires as to the effects of what has been done, and
the consequences of what has been neglected. He com-
pares the form of what has been achieved with the spirit
of what was desired, and seeks for the reason why much
that appeared within his reach is yet not attained. The
2 , PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
earlier efforts and desires, as far as they have been justi-
fied thrdughi the eld yeai-, animate him now with greater
clearness ; and as he finds in himself new germs of action
and of new deeds, so, gazing into the coming year, his
mind and heart are filled with new efforts, new hopes, and
new strength. He searches for the ways and means by
which they may be most surely and quickly attained, and,
viewing the subject on all sides, he finally settles upon one
thought as the essence of all, as the foundation of the cor-
rect or incorrect comprehension and treatment of what life
in its totality gives ; this thought is that which the educa-
tion of man for life gave or did not give, offers and still
withholds; on that which, above all, the domestic, the
family education, the first education, the education of life,
gives or does not give to man. Through a glance into
the innermost heart of man, into his individual life, and
at that which education gave or denied him, all resolves
itself into the mute but vivid feeling, into the quiet but
clear thought : would there might be for the human being,
for my child, even from its first advent on this globe, a
correct comprehension of its beiug, a suitable fostering
and management, the education truly leading to the all-
sided attainment of its destiny — in short, a correct com-
prehension and treatment of that which is called life !
But what man desires, as deeply grounded in his na-
ture, and for which he longs as corresponding with these
demands, he will self- actively enter upon efforts to ob-
tain ; only he soon feels, anticipates, and recognizes that,
as a human being, he does not and is not to stand alone ;
he is, as a human being, a member not only of his fami-
ly, his community, his country, the whole race of man-
kind now existing, but of all humanity. He is and makes
a whole with all ; all make and are a whole with him ; and
THE TWO VIEWS. 3
only as a member of the whole he will and can attain in
freer, more spiritual union with this whole that which he,
as a human being, perceives and strives to attain. Alone
he can do but little, and therefore a unifying thought fills
his mind, a feeling of unity his soul. Would that several,
many — yes, all, or, at least, would that those nearest to me
— ^would unite with me in working for all, as for each indi-
vidual ! And so, especially to-day, while gazing back upon
the old and forward to the new year, there bursts forth
from man's breast, as the all-embracing and all- compre-
hending thought, the all-embracing and all-comprehend-
ing feeling, this appeal to all who think and feel with
him:
" Come, let us live with our children ! "
This appeal, uniting and comprising all, also expresses
all our feelings, all our thoughts to-day, at the conclusion
of the old and the beginning of the new year.. We in-
deed anticipate, hope, and believe that it is the more or
less clear feeling, the uttered or silent thought of many —
of all, indeed, who lead considerate and thoughtful lives.
Therefore, even to-day in the old year, the determination
to " live with our children," and the immediate realization
of this determination, express the desire felt by many for
union in spirit and for common effort ; consequently the
coming year from its first day, even from its first hour,
may thus become the most important opportunity for hu-
manity — an opportunity to unite for the welfare of the in-
dividual human being as well as for the good of all hu-
manity. Such united effort will make this indeed a new
year.
But what awakes in us the anticipation, what secures
to us the belief and gives us the conviction that the idea,
" Come, let us live with our children," is not only to-
4 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
day in the old, the departing, and in the new, the coming
year, but at all times, the uniting, fundamental, living
thought of many ; and that it not only finds accord and
sympathy in the human breast, but is held fast in the life
and deeds of humanity ?
There is no man who was not a child — not one who
does not know at his stage of culture what he became or
did not become by the holding fast or not holding fast
to this living thought ; yet all feel deeply, and, indeed,
express frequently to themselves and others, what they
might have become by a general adherence to this idea.
If we ponder even for a short time on the definite hold-
ing fast to this idea, we must deeply experience and
clearly recognize that by carrying it out ourselves, by the
remembrances of our childhood which it arouses in us, by
the complementing and completing which it gives to our
owm life, and by the demand which it makes and the op-
portunity which it gives for our own increasing improve-
ment, we live our own best life.
This. cry escapes us; it hopes to find sympathy and
accord in the breast of man ; the all-embracing heart, the
penetrating intellect, perceive it in all things as a silent
feeling, a quiet thought, and so as the thought of the
world.
Heart and mind see it express itself in deed and as a
fact in the whole of which man is only a part, of which
he himself is a member. Does not the sun with all the
stars say it to the earth with all its creatures, all its chil-
dren ? Do not the elements, earth, water, air, light, heat,
say it to one another in reference to all forms of earth ?
Do not all the parts of every plant say it to one another
in reference to the seed quietly growing in its place?
Yes, in all Nature, where life and activity make themselves
THE TWO VIEWS. 5
known, where the individual strives to absorb the unit and
the whole (as, for example, the kernel contains the nature
of the whole tree) in order to make it more perfectly
known and demonstrated in raanifoldness and totality —
everywhere we see the idea, " Come, let us live with our
children," express itself as the maxim which applies to all
life.
Should not now the conscious human being, destined
to rise to yet higher consciousness, express aloud for mu-
tual advancement and recognition, and also for common
employment and accomplishment, what nature already
silently expresses as a general law, a prevailing demand of
life ?
Therefore this appeal hopes to reach those who will
not only sympathize with it, but also assent to it and
respond to it in action. For is not man more than
every other creature in nature, and the child more than
the germ of a plant ? The tree germ bears within itself
the nature of the whole tree, the human being bears in
himself the nature of all humanity; and is not, there-
fore, humanity born anew in each child ? But who has
fathomed this nature? Who has measured it? Does it
not rest in God ?
Thus the appeal, " Come, let us live with our chil-
dren," is a true life call, uniting all in itself as in a cen-
tral point, on the dividing line between the departing and
the coming year ; since it indeed mingles with all life ;
not only uniting human beings and human life with each
other and with humanity, not only uniting the creature
with the universe, but even with the fountain of all life,
with the Creator, who said, " Let us make man in our own
image."
Therefore, " Come, let us live with our children ! "
6 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
The Deed.
Where true resolution and genuine effort for compre-
hensive representation of life exist there appears also di-
rectly the deed, as is, in general, the case with the clear,
self-dependent, uniting thought that immediately seeks
also to manifest itself in action. The fundamental and liv-
ing thought of humanity, " Come, let us live with our chil-
dren," becomes, when manifested in action, an institution
for fostering family life and for the cultivation of the life
of the nation, and of mankind, through fostering the im-
pulse to activity, investigation, and culture in man, in
the child as a member of the family, of the nation, and of
humanity ; an institution for self -instruction, self-educa-
tion, and self-cultivation of mankind, as well as for all-
sided and therefore for individual cultivation of the same
through play, creative self-activity, and spontaneous self-
instruction ; first of all, for families and schools for the
nurture of little children ; for primary and public schools
as well as for every person who strives for completeness
and unity in his culture ; to the carrying out of which
the spirit of this reciprocal appeal has united many fami-
lies in Germany, Switzerland, and North America.
As now this leaflet * is first of all intended to illustrate
and introduce this institution, it begins immediately with
presenting the
Foundation of the Whole.
The development and formation of the whole future
life of each being is contained in the beginning of its ex-
istence. The untroubled realization and the undiminished
efficiency of the life of each being depend wholly on the
* The Sunday Leaflet, in which this essay first appeared.
THE TWO VIEWS. 7
comprehension and fostering, on the recognition and firm
carrying out of this beginning.
Man, as a child, resembles the flower on the plant,
the blossom on the tree ; as these are in relation to the
tree, so is the child in relation to humanity — a young
bud, a fresh blossom ; and as such, it bears, includes,
and proclaims the ceaseless reappearance of new human
life.
As the flower bud of the tree — connected with twig,
branch, and trunk, with the whole ramification of root
and crown, and, through this double ramification, with
earth and heaven — stands in united coherence and recip-
rocal exchange with the whole universe for the develop-
ment and vivification of its being, so stands man also, in
all-sided developing life-exchange with nature, with hu-
manity, and with all spiritual efforts and influences — with
the universal life.
The blissful development of the human being which
leads to perfection and completion, and the fitting him
for the attainment of his destiny, and thus for the attain-
ment by effort of the genuine joy and true peace of life,
depend alone on the correct comprehension of man, even
as a child, in respect to his nature as well as to his rela-
tions, and on the corresponding treatment of man in ac-
cordance with this nature and these relations.
But man is a created being, and, as such, is at the same
time a part and a whole (therefore, a part-whole *), for, on
the one side, he is, as a creation, a part of the universe ;
but, on the other side, he is also a whole, since — just be-
cause he is a creature — the nature of his Creator (a living
* Gliedganzes in Frobel's meaning signifies that man is a whole
or self-determining being and at the same time a member of a social
whole. — Ed.
8 PEDAGOGICS OF THE Klx\DERGARTEN.
and creating nature full of life, and testifying
therefore in itself single) lives in him.
This original and* fundamental nature of man, as be-
ing life in itself and therefore again giving life, makes
itself known in man's impulse to creative formation. This
fundamental nature makes itself known even in the child
by the instinct for observing, analyzing, and again unit-
ing — that is, by the instinct for formative and creative ac-
tivity. Indeed, the fostering of this instinct in the child
makes manifest the life of man, at the same time wholly
satisfying the demands of that life.
Man, as a child, appears to be conditioned and medi-
ated by father and mother.
Father, mother, and child form a triune life- whole — a
family. The child creates the family and the family-life
by its advent ; and, on the other hand, man's continuous
presence on earth is indispensably linked with the family.
The family and child reciprocally condition each other ;
neither exists without the other ; they form in themselves
an inseparable unit.
As in his original ^advent in the universe (on the
earth), so also in the family man again makes his appear-
ance as a true part- whole, since he is a whole in himself,
and also, at the same time, a necessary member of the
family life-whole.
Only as a member of the family will it be possible for
man to become a symmetrical, real, whole man ; indeed,
the family as a whole is a real, whole, human existence,
and the family life as a whole is real, complete, human
life.
As now the family is the fundamental condition of the
production of man and the mediator of his existence, so
also man as a child attains fully the development of his
THE TWO VIEWS. 9
(instinctf or creative self-actiyitylonlj when connected witk
and conditioned by the family.; then only is it possible for
him to live in complete accordance with this instinct.
All genuine human education and true human train-
ing, and so also this endeavor of ours, are linked with the
quiet fostering in the family of this instinct for activity,
with the thoughtful development of the child for the sat-
isfaction of this instinct, and with the fitting of the child
to be active in conformity with it.
It is the aim of our endeavor to make it possible for
man freely_aiiii.spontaneouslxio_dei£liip, to educate hi m-
seil from his first advent on earth, as a whole human
being, as a whole in himself, and in harmony and union
with the life-whole — to ma ke it possible for him t o inform
and i_n^truct himself, to recognize himself thus as a defi-
nite rnember of the all-life, and, as such, freely and spon-
taneously to make himself kjnown--freelyanjd spontane-
ously to live.
Moreover, the first and fundamental appearance of
love — of the love of parents and child, the family-love — is
found now in the family-life ; indeed, the family is love
itself become personal. The parental love manifests itself
in its whole nature just in and by means of the nour-
ishing and developing of the child's impulse to creative
activity, and in the supplying of the means for this devel-
opment. The fostering of this impulse arouses and
strengthens the love of brothers and sisters. This foster-
ing of the impulse to creative activity is thus a compre-
hensive expression of the true love of parents and child, of
the genuine family-love, and so reveals, and at the same
time wholly satisfies, all love and the nature of love.
Considering man as a created being, it is also quite in-
dispensable to regard and treat him, even in childhood as
10 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
well as through his whole life, as a creative being, and to
train and prepare him so that, while himself creating, he
may, even from his earliest years, find and recognize the.
Creator, the creation, and the created, and may thus find
and recognize, himself in this threefold relation and con-
nection according to the measure of his increasing ca-
pacity. So trained, he will be enabled to understand and
comprehend, and thus to attain to that which is man's
calling and destiny as an earthly being — namely, to recog-
nize God in the creation and in the creature, and there-^^
fore in man ; to recognize himself in himself and in man-_
kind ; and thus each in the others, and the others in each
individual : to promote this recognition, to represent it
and to make it representable, to perceive it and to make
it perceptible.
But to see, to recognize, and to perceive, require and
presuppose light and almost are light. Recognition there-
fore develops light in and around the human being, from
the satisfying fostering of his impulse to creative and
observant activity. The destiny and calling of man (to
be light and to move in light), as well as the possibility
for him by the fostering of the impulse to creative activity
to fulfill the above-mentioned destiny, is thus shown to us.
As we now see man, even from his first appearance
upon the earth and his first entrance into the family,
move in a threefold way, which is yet single in itself
(therefore a^ triune way), in and by means of life, in and
by means of love, in light and by means of light — ^^in his
seeing, perceiving, recognizing, and remembering — we also,
see that the careful fostering of his impulse to creative
activity completely corresponds to and satisfies this triune
life of man. But this triune way in which man moves
is, above all comparison, important to the human be-
THE TWO VIEWS. H
ing ; for God shows himself in Nature, in the uni-
verse, as life ; God reveals himself in humanity as love
(and in love) ; and God manifests himself in wisdom (in
tlie spirit) as light and in light. So Go d is the life, the
]gv^, and t_hfiJigJ|J; ; and in such a triune way he ap pears
as the^reator and in the creature,
In life, 'love, and light, and as life, love, and light
therefore, the being and nature of the child, of the man,
are made known as existing, are revealed as having been
realized and as still realizing.
By life, the child appears predominantly connected
with Nature, with the all ; by love, he appears pre-emi-
nently united with humanity ; and by light, he appears to
be one with wisdom, with God.
Man as a created being is thus in his first period of life
on earth to be regarded, considered, and fostered in the all-
sidedness of his relations as a threefold child, as it were ;
or, as a child in three separate relations which are united
in themselves — as a child of Naturq, as a human child,
and as a child of God ; that is, first, according to his com-
mon, earthly, and natural conditions and connections, ac-
cording to his life ; then, according to his special human
existence, to his love; finally, according to his original
spiritual nature, his anticipations and perceptions, his re-
membrance, recognitions, and intentions, his knowledge
and his wisdom. In his first relation (as a child of Na-
ture) man is to be considered as a being bound, chained,
unconscious, subject to impulses, sentient, living only cor-
poreally ; in the latter relation, as a child of God, as a free
being not only fitted for consciousness, destined to con-
sciousness, but already in anticipation conscious of his
nature, therefore following by his own will a high and
genuine unity of life as a thoughtful, perceptive, intuitive,
4
\
12 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
spiritual, knowing, and wise being ; and in the intermedi-
ate relation (as a child of humanity) as a being struggling
from bondage and chains toward freedom ; from single-
ness toward unity, toward consciousness ; from separation
toward union, toward peace ; an aspiring being devoted
constantly to the above-named efforts ; and, in the antici-
pation of finding unity, a joyously living being.
To become clearly conscious of all the conditions and
relations in which and by means of which man exists, and
to faithfully live up to the requirements of these condi-
tions and relations, make man (as a presence) first become
man in consciousness and action ; and make it possible
for him to become a whole, complete human being by
leading him to an equally careful and joyous fulfillment of
each of his duties, and by making it possible for him to
fulfill the totality of the duties of man in harmony.
Only if the child, the human being, be comprehended
and treated through the whole fostering of the impulse of
his life (his impulse to creative activity), in the triunity of
his nature, as living, loving, and perceiving, in the unity
of his life, in the all-sidedness of his circumstances and re-
lations ; if he be comprehended and treated as an earthly
being in accordance with what he is, what he has, and what
he will become ; only if he comprehends the outer world
around him in like triunity (and thus recognizes the revela-
tion of the divine in like triunity) in its unity, in each indi-
vidual, and in the sum of all unities — only thus can man
develop himself as that which he is, as the manifold and
articulated (but in himself single) whole, and, at the same*
time, a member of the great whole — of all life ; only thus
can he develop himself in conformity with his destiny,
and be faithful to his vocation. He will thus form an
entirety and a unity of life from and around himself, and.
THE TWO VIEWS. 13
in and by means of his creative life, God, Nature, and hu-
manity will reveal themselves in unity and singleness^
Man himself will make them known as they reveal them-
selves to him in and for the all-sided union, the genuine
peace, and the true joy of life.
So, founded on the nature of man and on his instinct
for formation and activity, and connected with the foster-
ing of this impulse, the aim of this institution is to be a
living whole, or, as it were, a tree in itself, as well as to
provide means of employment, and consequently of cul-
ture and instruction, founded on the relations of man to
Nature and life ; means, which when applied in a lively
manner to the child from the first stage of its spiritual
awakening and of its use of limbs and senses, and con-
stantly advancing with the growth of its powers, develop
it on all sides, and therefore in union with itself, with Na-
ture, and with the laws of life. Thus, this institution aims
to establish means of employment and so of cultivation and
teaching, which, as they show the objects of cultivation
and instruction in union with each other, at the same
time represent them in harmony and accord with the
development of Nature and of man, and satisfy the re-
quirements of both.
The detailed plan of this institution will be shown by
the following.
II.
PLAN OF AN INSTITUTION FOR FOSTERING THE IMPULSE
TO CREATIVE ACTIVITY.
Preface. — Because all life rests in one unity, and be-
cause all existing life wells forth from this unity, he who
will work benevolently and fruitfully, blissfully and con-
stantly, progressively developing to increasing perfection,
must try to act and to live in inner united coherence with
the development of Nature and man*, with the stage of
cultivation of the understanding and of the use of the
reason now attained, thus in full accord with the present
stage of development of Nature and humanity (that is, of
the whole univerFe), as well as in pure harmony with the
inner demands and the stage of development of the indi-
vidual or whole.
Thus, he who desires to work helpfully and fruitfully,
constantly and beneficially, for the welfare and found-
ing of the family, must, in harmony with the stage of
development of his family and its members, connect his
efforts with a comprehensive and unital, a simple and yet
general human fundamental idea, at least with such a
general perception of life ; or, rather, he must make such
a perception his starting point. He who does not do this,
just in proportion as he does not do so builds on quick-
sand.
Now such ideas, which must lie at the foundation of
PLAN OP AN INSTITUTION. 15
the Imman influence, especially of the educating influ-
ence as a human one, have been already definitely and
clearly expressed above ; it will wholly suffice for the pres-
ent aim — the demonstration of the plan of the before-
mentioned institution — to deduce the necessity and nature
of the institution in view from a principle derived from
experience, a principle which rests in and is explained by
one of the highest, final, fundamental ideas, and whose
innermost coherence with the highest thought of life comes
out definitely enough for this aim.
This principle derived from experience is:
The present effort of mankind in harmony with the
phenomena in Nature and the time, with the collective
all-life, is an endeavor after freer self-development, after
freer self -formation, and freer determining of one's own
destiny. In fact, the more or less conscious aim of those
who make this effort to find out the unity of the individ-
ual and the manifold, the inner coherence of the separate,
the accord of the opposite, the abiding with the changing^
the true being behind the phenomenal, and the spirit in
the form.
Therefore, the more or less clear aim of the individual
is to attain clearness about himself and about life in its
unity, its foundation, as well as in its thousand ramifica-
tions and in its relations to completeness and unity of
life, to comprehension and right use of life, according to
recognition and insight, as well as to representation and
accomplishment; and all this by voluntary choice, by
spontaneous and personal activity, and in accord with all.
This portrays the present degree of development of
mankind in character. Therefore, if we would not anni-
hilate our children spiritually and bodily, if we would not
cripple their present childish life, the youthful life next
16 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
to be attained by them, their future life as citizens, their
future domestic life, and their whole life as members of
humanity, we must in the education and training of our
children be faithful to the requirements of their individual
nature, as well as in accord and coherence with the present
stage of human development, which is conditioned by and
proceeds from the development of the whole world, the
collective all-life.
That this highest aim of life may be attained, the
present time makes upon education and the educator,
parents and nurses, the following wholly indispensable
requirement — to comprehend the earliest activity, the
first action of the child, the impulse to formation and to
spontaneous and personal activity (the first manifestations
of which appear at an early age), to encourage the earliest
employment of children at home, the impulse to self-cul-
ture and self-instruction through self-shaping, self-obser-
vation, and self-testing.
Every one who observes with any attention even the
first stage of child-life is met therein (frequently as well
as definitely) by the requirement of fostering the child's
impulse to activity, but he is also met by the perception
of how little is done to satisfy the requirement generally,
but especially how little is done to satisfy it in a judicious
way — that is, in accord with the nature of man.
Very many loyal parents and members of the family,
very many anxious fathers and grandfathers, loving moth-
ers and grandmothers, cousins and uncles, fostering elder
brothers and sisters, and sympathizing family friends and
friends of the children, are indeed inclined carefully and
suitably to nourish and foster the impulse of childhood
and youth to acquire information spontaneously by self-
activity, but, on the one hand, only too often the requisite,
PLAN OF AN INSTITUTION. 17
wholly suitable means, and, indeed, the needed capacity
and dexterity, knowledge, and training are lacking ; but
on the other hand, also, the child's employments as
well as the means and objects of such employment (the
plays and the playthings) are too little — indeed, not at
all — recognized in their true, deep significance, are too
little comprehended in their general human interest and
spirit, which, just because they are general and human,
continue to cultivate the man already grown up and rich
in knowledge, and are too little presented in their con-
nection with life in general. The consequence of this is,
that these means of play offer too little — indeed, nothing
at all — to the adult for the nourishment and continued de-
velopment of his or her own life ; hence, aside from the
duty of older people to children, it seems to the adult a
waste of time to employ himself or herself with fostering
the child's impulse to activity by means of and in its
plays.
Now the aim of this institution is to make the needs
and requirements of the child- world — needs and require-
ments to which we have just referred — correspond to the
present stage of development of humanity, and to pro-
vide for parents and adults who find themselves in the
just-mentioned position in regard to the fostering of the
children intrusted to them, appropriate plays and means
of employment, and consequently of instruction and cul-
tivation — of education in general — and, above all, means
adapted to the mind, spirit, and life of the child ; there-
fore to be able to prove the equally necessary, natural,
and human reciprocal call of the families, " Come, let
us live with our children," to be as general as it is rich
in blessing. Hence the plan of this institution is as
follows :
18 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Plan.
I. To provide plays and means of employment (con-
sequently of culture) which satisfy the needs alike of
parents and child, of age and youth, of educator and pu-
pil ; which therefore nourish and strengthen, develop and
form the life of the children, as well as promote the life
of the parents and adults — or at least aiford them spiritual
and intellectual nourishment while they employ them-
selves in playing with the children — indeed, we might say
even while they, as experienced and intelligent parents,
and observant and clear-sighted older people, merely ob-
serve the plays and spontaneous employment of these
children in a thoughtful manner — that is, with spiritual
and intellectual sympathy.
The spirit and character of these means of employ-
ment, and so of instruction, are therefore that —
1. They proceed from unity, and develop in all mani-
foldness from unity in accordance with the laws of life.
They begin with the simplest, and, at each particular
stage, again begin with that which is relatively the sim-
plest; but afterward advance in reciprocally beneficial
relation to one another, and according to the necessary
laws contained in the nature of the things themselves,
from the simplest to the most complex, from that which
is as yet undeveloped to that which is fully grown, and
so on in accord with natural and spiritual development
— in general, with the development of life.
2. The aim of each of the means of employment, and
likewise of education, is purely human instruction and cul-
tivation — that is, such as is in itself single as well as unify-
ing — so that through the right, judicious, and spirited use
of each (even of the smallest) of these means the human
PLAN OF AN INSTITUTION. 19
being both in childhood and in maturity will be advanced,
educated, and formed as an individual, and also compre-
hended and developed as a member of humanity — there-
fore as a member of his family, of his nation, and of hu-
manity, and also as a member of Nature and of the uni-
verse — of the one-life and of the all-life.
3. The totality of the plays and means of employment,
which are at the same time means of formation of charac-
ter and of education, as it proceeds from a single, funda-
mental principle of culture observable in Nature, authen-
ticated by history, and proving itself to be purely human,
forms a stable, coherent whole, all the parts of which re-
ciprocally explain and mutually benefit one another. This
whole, therefore, resembles a tree with its many branches.
4. Each individual thing which is attained, however
small and simple, or however large and complex it may be,
is therefore always a self-contained whole, and so resem-
bles a bud, or a kernel of corn, from which manifold new
developments can be called forth, which again converge
into a higher unity. Wherefore he who judiciously, ener-
getically, and carefully uses for his little charge what is
attained, is himself manifoldly developed as well as har-
moniously cultivated.
5. These means of employment will, in the course of
their presentation, embrace the whole province of general
and fundamental instruction of the faculties of perception.
They also will embrace the groundwork of all future ex-
tended instruction as a whole, and are founded on the
nature of man as an existent, living, and perceptive being.
But, as the child at first feels and finds himself in space, and
finds others occupying the space around him, these means
of employment proceed from space, from the observation
of space and from the knowledge which comes from that
N
20 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN. ^^
observation, going on by means of the development anSf
training of the limbs and senses of the human being, and
by means of language to comprehend Nature in its most
essential directions; so that finally man, who at first
could find himself only in space and by means of space,
may now learn to find himself as an existent, living, feel-
ing and thinking, understanding and intelligent, percep-
tive and rational being, to retain the perception of him-
self as such a being, and, as such, to strive to live.
6. It is quite essential to the spirit and character of
these means of fostering independent action in the child
that they should lead to the thoughtful observation of
Nature and of life in all its parts and phenomena ; but it
is also essential that they should lead to the anticipation
and recognition, and finally to the comprehension of the
inner coherence of material things, and of the phenomena
of life, and also of the oneness of the material and spiritual
worlds, and the increasing similarity of their laws.
7. Thinking and discriminating parents will there-
fore find these plays and this playing of use and benefit
in their business or calling, whether it be an inner one de-
voted to knowledge or an outward one devoted to work,
the results of which can be seen, as even the occupying of
one's self therewith in the circle of the children is invig-
orating and beneficial, elevating and purifying, in its retro-
active effect on the life of the adult.
8. Each play, each means of employment, and each
means of self -teaching will be accompanied by sufficing
instructions which embrace the subject on all sides. These
instructions will contain —
a. Description of the nature of play and its higher
references to man and to life.
b. Statements of the relation of each individual play
PLAN OP AN INSTITUTION. 21
and means of employment to the totality, so that with
each is specified what, in general, precedes it, what accom-
panies it, and what follows it ; therefore, on what it is
founded, and of what it is itself the foundation.
c. A direction sufficient to enable parents and nurses
and teachers to use the play, the thing being vivified by
the word, the word illustrated by drawings, and these
again explained by the word and the thing itself.
d. These instructions will especially render prominent
the laws of mental growth proceeding from and leading
to the use of play and to its different representations ; and
e. Will especially state the firmly, beautifully, and
clearly formed truths of Nature and life obviously con-
tained therein, for the purpose of self -disco very, self-
observation, and further self-development, in order to
unite man more and more in and with himself, as well as
with Nature and life, with the unity and fount of life.
II. In the gradual accomplishment of the whole course,
such means of self-cultivation and self- instruction are to
be provided as satisfy the needs and requirements of the
present stage of human development, and also suffice for
adults who wish to continue their own cultivation in ac-
cordance therewith. Here will be presented, in conform-
ity with each line of culture and instruction, comprehen-
sive summaries of all parts which belong together, and
of the relatively higher unities and the highest unity of
these parts. The purpose of these summaries is that the
human being — as all unity is, properly speaking, invisible,
and only perceptible in the innermost — may be led from
the visible and external to the invisible and internal, from
the appearance to the true being, aud, thus led into him-
self, may also be led to God ; thus man may be clearly
shown to man in his nature, in his unfolding, and in his re-
22 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
lation to totality and to unity — to Nature and to God — and
so may come to man, in all the relations of life, unity and
clearness, consciousness and penetration in cultivation, as
well as in life and in insight, and therefore joyousness,
peace, and freedom.
Since we are now deeply convinced that man, even
though only unconsciously faithful to his nature and to
the higher and highest demands of humanity of which he
is a member, seeks to learn to comprehend and present
the outer as well as the inner coherence of life in the
higher and highest living unity — in spite of the actual
and undeniably apparent disjointedness in life, and the
generally prevailing seeking merely for that which is di-
rectly and immediately useful in the striving for informa-
tion — we hope by means of this institution to answer to a
need in accordance with the spirit of the age, and to pro-
vide such an education of childhood as will correspond to
the deepest and most secret (even unknown to themselves)
wishes and yearnings of parents and adults, as fosterers of
children.
The course of plays and means of employment is to
begin with that which is simplest and near ; for only that
which proceeds from the simplest, smallest, and near can
develop from and explain by itself the manifold, great,
and distant — can show the spirit of unity ; and it is only
the single spirit which creates the single life.
And thus we show here, for the fostering of the im-
pulse to activity and of the creative nature of the child,
first of all, the details of a whole series of boxes, for the
play and for the occupation of children in methodical and
coherent sequences, stages, and gifts, accompanied by il-
lustrative drawings and text.
1
III.
CHILD-LIFE. THE FIRST ACTION OF THE CHILD.
As the newborn child, like a ripe kernel of seed corn
dropped from the mother plant, has life in itself, and,
also like the kernel, develops life from itself in progres-
sive but increasingly spiritual coherence with the common
life-whole by its own spontaneous action, so activity and
action are also the first phenomena of awakening child-
life. This activity and this action are, indeed, the actual
expression of the internal and innermost through and by
the outward, therefore inward activity devoted to observ-
ing and working with the external, to overcoming out-
ward hindrances merely as such, and to penetrating the
external. Hence early in the life of the child appears an
activity in harmony with feeling and perception, indicat-
ing a slumbering apprehension and comprehension of it-
self by the child as well as an already germinating indi-
vidual capacity.
The nature of man as a being destined to become,
and in future to be, conscious of personality, although at
first apparent only in slight outlines, yet already stamped
with suflScient distinctness to be observed and compre-
hended — lies in the quite peculiar character of childish
activity even when the so-called three months' slumber
has just ended; in the totality of the first childish action
(especially after this time), a totality which can not be
24 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
more fittingly designated than by the expression " to
busy one's self " ; in the impulse of the child to employ
itself, an impulse awakening at the same time with the
inner life of the child — that is, in the impulse (in accord
with feeling and perception) to be active for the increas-
ing development of its own life ; and, as we remarked in
the beginning, man, even from babyhood, in his triune re-
lation to Nature, to humanity, and to God, finds his
needs completely satisfied by the correct comprehension
and by the right fostering of his impulse to busy himself,
by the care and oversight of childish occupations.
We are repeatedly impressed with the conviction that
everything which is to be done for the true human devel-
opment of the child, and all efforts which are to be made
for such an education as will satisfy the needs of all sides
of its being, must be connected with, and proceed from,
the fostering of the impulse to employment, and the over-
sight of the first employment of the child. For the im-
pulse to employment corresponds to the triune activity of
man in doing, experiencing, and thinking. This impulse
corresponds fully to his nature, which is to have power to
perceive, to comprehend, to obtain self-knowledge, to be-
come more and more conscious of his own personality, and
to become spontaneous. Therefore the whole human be-
ing, all humanity in the child, and life itself, is compre-
hended by means of the impulse to employment.
Notwithstanding the existence of the impulse to em-
ployment which manifests itself early in the life of the
human being (though but the slightest traces of it are at
first perceptible), it has been commonly stated, but from a
quite incorrect point of view, that the child is so helpless
when born, and develops to self-dependence so slowly, as
to require the mother's fostering and help for a long
CHILD-LIFE. 25
time ; it has even been said that man is in this respect be-
hind and below the animals. Only, as we shall yet more
often see in the future, just exactly that with which hu-
man nature is charged as a necessary consequence of the
existence of human beings upon earth, or which is at
least alleged as a speaking evidence of the great imper-
fection of man, constitutes his evident superiority over
the other creatures on earth, is a sign of his dignity, and
an assertion that man is created in the image of God, so
that he may recognize and demonstrate his likeness to
God — that is, that He has appeared upon earth, and under
earthly limitations for that purpose. For we recognize
through this helplessness that man is destined to free, self-
active progress, and is called to higher and higher stages
of consciousness of self.
The animal, whose life-impulses, powers, and qualities,
whose instincts, as they are called, are at birth so definite
and strong that it, on the contrary, does not fail, and in-
deed in a free natural condition can not fail, to overcome
by those instincts every obstacle in each department of its
life, the animal, just on account of its strong instincts,
can not arrive at the knowledge of its powers, its qualities,
its nature, its unity, and therefore can not arrive at a
recognition of its manifoldness, nor, above all, at the an-
ticipation and recognition of unity as such ; still less can
it give to itself an account thereof, for it lacks all points
of comparison. It lacks the points of comparison which
(as is the case with man) proceed from the fact that even
the weakest manifestations of power meet in their work-
ings with obstructions which even increase as the power
itself increases, and will thus with difficulty be overcome,
or prevailed over and annihilated.
It is, as already stated, quite different with the life of
26 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
man, in which at first scarce anything can be easily ac-
complished without extraneous help, and consequently
nothing without hindrance, but especially nothing
through the superiority of power from within (such, for
example, as the just-hatched duckling shows on the
water) ; thus everything external is to be overcome, even
though there be a preponderance of helplessness, through
the inner enhancing and outward strengthening and in-
creasing of power by the free activity of the will. This
inner self -enhancing of power, proceeding from spontane-
ity of the will and outward strengthening and increasing
of this power, effected by this inner self -enhancing, con-
stitute the superiority of man over the animal, and this so
much the more as man is born in the most extreme condi-
tion of helplessness.
The helplessness of the newborn human being in re-
spect to everything external is the opposite of his future
ability for self-helpfulness (an ability which is in unison
with the unity and the wholeness of life) through the en-
hancement of his will power and consequently his power
of action. As now outward helplessness is the opposite of
possible enhancement of inward power, so the latter is to
be aroused and become recognized and strengthened by
the former. As, in general, everything is and will be best
recognized by means of that which is its opposite, there-
fore helplessness is to be overcome by the enhancement of
power ; for it is just the conquering, or rather the prevail-
ing over and so annihilating the outward hindrance of
life by one's own will power and one's own enhanced
power of action, which preserves to man peace, joy, and
freedom in his own consciousness, and thus elevates him
to that likeness to God for which he is destined. Help-
lessness and personal will (one's own will), therefore, soon
CHILD-LIFE. 27
become the two hinges, the opposite turning points (poles)
ofJ;he child's life, of which the middle point and point of
union, and thus the balance point, is independent activity
and free activity, self-occupation and self-employment.
Herein lies for the educator and fosterer of the human
being the key to the inner and outer life of man in child-
hood and youth, and to the phenomena of this inner and
outer life, often as difficult to explain as to treat and to
adjust. By means of this key there is opened to the edu-
cator an unobstructed view of the lights and shadows of
child-life and of its phenomena, which so often seem to
contradict one another. From the impulse to activity and
from spontaneous employment of one's self, or rather from
the three (helplessness, one's own will, and employment
of one's self), soon proceed habitude and custom (often
indolence and a tendency to seek one's own ease). This
fact is as remarkable and worthy of notice as it is easily
recognizable, as each phenomenon — which is especially to
be considered in the life of children and in the correct es-
timation of that life — calls forth its opposite. One will-
ingly makes one's self at home where one can act freely ;
and, on the other hand, one can act freely where one has
made one's self at home.
It is therefore just as important for the child that
those who have it in charge should notice its customs, its
habits, and to what it accustoms itself, especially in re-
spect to cause and effect, as that they should notice and
foster its impulse to activity. Indeed, one can see clearly
that just this trait of the child of accustoming and inur-
ing itself to something, and of growing together with
its surroundings and becoming one with them, proves
the early existence of the impulse to activity and employ-
ment even when the child outwardly appears inactive
5
28 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
(passive) ; since the child accommodates itself to out-
ward surroundings, relations, and requirements, in order
thus to obtain more space for the play of its inner ac-
tivity.
As now habit in the child proceeds from spontaneous
and independent activity, so also imitation springs from
it ; and it is no less important for the fostering of child-
hood and child-life and for observing it to keep this origin
of imitation in view than to keep in view the phenomena
of habitude, custom, and independent activity. For we
see the whole inner spiritual life of the child manifesLthe
threefold phenomenon, spontaneous activity, habit, and
imitation, as a triune phenomenon. These three phases
are intimately united early in the life of the child, and
give us the most important discoveries concerning child-
life in respect to foundation and result, and the surest in-
dices for the early correct treatment of the child. None
of these phenomena should therefore be excluded from
a comprehensive study of children, such as would sat-
isfy the nature of the human being, for all three are alike
deeply grounded in human nature in respect to their
source.* The three activities taken together also disclose
the following aims, which wholly correspond to the nature
of the child as a human being : These aims are, to keep
itself such as it feels and finds itself — a being which is in-
dependent and yet supported by the whole ; to strengthen,
exercise, and develop its limbs and senses, and to make
them free, thus within itself and by its own efforts to at-
tain more and more independence and personality, and to
* We shall later return to this subject on account of its impor-
tance, and will then treat it more fully and in more extended con-
nections ; but this limited intimation must here suffice for the gen-
eral foundation of what follows.
CHILD-LIFE. 29
reveal itself in its personality; finally, to obtain knowl-
edge of the independence and personality — that is, of the
independent existence — of that which surrounds it, and
to convince itself of that existence.
This joint aim of life, the joint activity proceeding
from it and the unity of life at the foundation of both,
are expressed by the child's first quiet fixing of its eyes.
Hence the child's first clear gaze so delights and uplifts
those who witness it, for the child thereby proclaims self-
dependence and personality in itself and his ability to
maintain these qualities; it also acknowledges the self-
dependence and personality of those around it and an-
ticipates the future (though as yet deeply slumbering)
unity of life ; it therefore announces the elevation of man
above unconscious nature, and fully expresses his dignity,
his humanity.
Therefore, the first voluntary employments of the
child, if its bodily needs are satisfied and it feels well and
strong, are observation of its surroundings, spontaneous
reception of the outer world, and play, which is independ-
ent outward expression of inward action and life. This
dual expression, taking in and carrying out in life, is
necessarily grounded in the nature of the child as well as
of the human being in general, since its first earthly des-
tiny is to attain by critical reception of the outer world
into itself, by manifold inward impressions and through
outward realization of its inner world, and by critical com-
parison of both, to the recognition of their unity, to the
recognition of life as such, and to faithful living in ac-
cordance with the requirements of life.
Since we now see man at an early age comprehend his
destiny by means of these three activities, so the collect-
ive phenomena of his whole future life find their solution
30 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
in these activities, which form, as it were, the triune point
of reference and vital point thereof.
That he may fulfill and attain his destiny, man is en-
dowed on the one hand with senses, the organs by which he
can make the external internal ; on the other hand with
bodily strength and limbs, by which he can represent his in-
ner nature outwardly, therefore always by material means ;
finally, that he may comprehend spiritual unity, the nature
of man appears as an anticipating and individual soul, be-
cause this nature is in itself a perceptive and uniting spirit.
It is therefore evident how important the training of
body and senses is for man even in the early stages of his
existence ; and, from the more spiritual, comparing, and
uniting point of view, it is also evident how important the
kind of observation of the outer world and its reception
into the inner nature of man, and also the kiyid of the
voluntary, playful occupations of the child, are for the
method of experience as to its conclusions and reasons,
for the spirit of the knowledge and insight which it draws
therefrom, and so for the expression of its nature, which
makes itself known thereby.
For, as the life of man in all the necessary variety of its
phenomena is in itself a complete unity, one can recognize
and consider even in the first baby life, though only in
their slightest traces and most delicate germs, all the spir-
itual activities which in later life become predominant.
Beloved parents and nurses, do not say. How could
the last-named spiritual tendencies be contained in the
life of the little child, which appears as yet so unconscious
and helpless? If they were not contained in the little
child they could not be developed at all from it ; but on
the fact that they are contained therein is based the love
for children of the greatest friend of children, his judg-
CHILD-LIFE. 31
ment concerning them, his placing them on the same
plane with himself, and his demands for them. Were
these directions and references not contained in the child's
nature, the quickly discerning sense of the mother would
not treat the child from the first moment of its existence
as an understanding, perceptive, and capable being, and
so these directions and references could never become the
fruit of its life ; for where there is not the germ of some-
thing, that something can never be called forth and ap-
pear.
The outermost point and innermost ground of all phe-
nomena of the earliest life and activity of the child is
this: the child must bring into exercise the dim antici-
pation of conscious life in itself as well as of life aroiind
it J and consequently must exercise poiver^ test and thus
compare power, exercise independence, and test and thus
compare the degree of independence.
Therefore, as soon as the life of the child, its power of
spontaneous and voluntary action and its use of limbs
and senses are aroused ; when it can freely move its little
arms and hands, when it can perceive and distinguish
tones, and can turn its attention and its gaze in the direc-
tion from which these tones come ; let us give to the child
for its spontaneous and voluntary action an object which
expresses stability and yet movability, which in this stabil-
ity and movability can be grasped and handled by the
child ; in which, as in its own mind, the unity of all mani-
foldness is contained ; which it perceives in its new exist-
ence, in which, therefore, though as yet quite uncon-
sciously, it can see its own self-dependent, stable, and yet
movable life, as it were, in a mirror, as well as test and
exercise such life by such an object. And this plaything
is, the sphere, or rather the hall.
^
IV.
THE BALL; THE FIRST PLAYTHING OF CHILDHOOD.
(See Plate 1.)
EvEN^ the word ball, in our significant language, is full
of expression and meaning, pointing out that the ball is,
as it were, an image of the all (der B-all ist ein Bild des
All) ; but the ball itself has such an extraordinary charm,
such a constant attraction for early childhood, as well as
for later youth, that it is beyond comparison the first as
well as the most important plaything of childhood espe-
cially. The child loyal to its human nature — at whatever
incomplete and dim stage of observation it may be — per-
ceives in the ball the general expression of each object as
well as of itself (the child) as a self-dependent whole
and unity. It is above all important for the child,
as a human being destined to become and in the future to
he conscious, to perceive that which is inclosed in itself, in-
deed complete (vollendeten), and so, as it were, the coun-
terpart of himself and his opposite ; for man seeks even
as a child to develop himself as well as everything in Na-
ture by means of that which is its opposite yet resembles
it ; and so the child likes to employ himself with the ball,
even early in life, in order to cultivate and fashion him-
self, though unconsciously, through and by it, as that
which is his opposite and yet resembles him. Indeed, the
ball in the totality of its properties, as will be clearly
THE BALL. 33
shown in the course of our considerations, is in manifold
respects as instructive a type for the child, as the All (the
universe), with its phenomena, is for the adult.
There is yet another thing which gives to the ball not
only a great charm for the children but likewise deep
significance as a plaything, and so as a means of educa-
tion ; this is, that the child, feeling himself a whole, early
seeks and must seek in conformity with his human nature
and his destiny, even at the stage of unconsciousness, al-
ways to contemplate, to grasp, and to possess a whole, but
never merely a part as such. He seeks to contemplate, to
grasp, and to possess a whole in all things, and in each thing,
or at least, by means of and with them. This can be
abundantly proved in the history of the development of
the individual human being as well as of whole nations,
and of all humanity. Many phenomena in child-life, on
the bright side of life as well as on the dark, cari also be
explained thereby. This whole for which the child seeks
is also supplied to him by the ball.
Only we further notice in the life of the child how
he — like the man in the fairy story — would like to perceive
all in all, and also to make all from each. The ball is well
adapted to fulfill this desire also of the child, being (as a
whole inclosed in itself) the image of all in general, and
also the particular image of individual things ; as, for ex-
ample, the apple, as well as all things which are spherical
in form, and from which such manifoldness again devel-
ops, such as seed grains and the like. The ball — or, what
is the same, the sphere — is actually the foundation, the
germ, as it were, of all other forms which can therefore
logically be developed from it in conformity with fixed
simple laws ; this fact will later be proved in the course
of presenting the plays and the means of employment for
\
34 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
children. Indeed, the sphere takes up immediately into
itself all surrounding objects, since they are mirrored in it,
as is justly said. Thus all which the child needs in the ex-
pressions of his life and activity, in the earliest beginning
as well as in the later course of his development, are af-
forded by the ball ; for, as it is a whole in itself, it is, as it
were, the representative, the general expression of each
whole. The child can see each whole and himself in it,
as he makes each whole or each object from it, can repeat-
edly impress upon it his own image and thus stand face to
face with himself.
In fostering the development of the child special at-
tention must be given to these expressions of his life and
activity, as these expressions are the foundation and means
of the recognition of individual oneness, of unity as such,
and of the accord of all things to which man is destined.
Attention should also be given to that which clearly fol-
lows from the preceding, and which on account of its
great importance must be brought forward here at the be-
ginning of a play — namely, that the spirit in which a play
is conceived and originated, as well as the spirit in which
the plaything is treated and tlie play played, give to the
play its significance and its worth, its efficient value to
humanity. So also if the spirit by which Nature is cre-
ated is comprehended by man, and if Nature is observed
and treated in accordance with that comprehension, this
spirit gives to Nature the significance which it has for
man — a significance as true as it is deep and full of life,
producing life as well as fostering and unfolding life.
But now how is the ball to be considered and used, es-
pecially for the first strengthening of the child as a whole,
for the first exercise of his bodily powers, the development
of the activity of his limbs and senses, as well as for the
THE BALL. 35
arousing and nourishing of his attention and of his free
independent action ?
This is wholly in accordance with the needs of the
child and the nature of the ball.
We see how the little child likes so much to seize and
grasp everything, even its own thumb or its other hand or
fist if it has nothing else. We also see — which is certainly
worthy of earnest consideration — how each hand by itself
is well adapted to inclose a ball, as are also both hands
together.
Therefore a ball is early given into the child's little
hand, though at first only for grasping, for him to lay his
little fingers round like rings, in order to comprehend its
roundness and thus come to possess and hold it fast.
Even this clasping will soon strengthen the muscles of
the child's fingers, hand, and arm, and also develop hand
and fingers so as to fit them first of all for voluntary
handling of the ball, and later for the right handling of
other things. Every one knows how much in the life of
man, and even in the life of the child, depends on the
proper grasping and the right handling of each thing in
the actual as well as in the figurative sense. It is there-
fore inexpressibly important for the whole future life of
the child that he should early learn to actually handle
even one extraneous object on all sides.
This now requires that, as the child's use of limbs and
senses increases, the ball may show itself to the child more
as a thing separate from him ; for at first the ball seems to
be, as it were, one with the hand of the child himself, and
seems to grow together with it like his fist ; and this is
well, as thus all future recognition of the child's surround-
ings and of the outer world come to the child by means of
the ball.
\
36 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
n
As soon as the child is sufficiently developed to per-
ceive the ball as a thing separate from himself, it will be
easy for yon, dear mother, and you, dear nurse, having
previously fastened a string to the ball which you give
into the child's little hand, to draw the ball gently by the
string as if you wished to lift it out of the child's little
hand. The child will hold the ball fast, the arm will rise
as you lift the ball, and as you loosen the string the hand
and arm will sink back from their own weight and through
holding the ball fast; the feeling of the utterance of
force, as well as the alternation of the movement, will
soon delight the child; and the use of the arm in this
activity gives dexterity to the arm and strengthens the
arm and hand.
Now, dear mother, here is the beginning of your play
and playing with your dear child through the mediation
of the ball. From this, however, soon springs a quite
new play, and thus also something new to the child,
when, through a suitable drawing and lifting by the string,
the ball escapes from the child's hand, and then quietly
moves freely before him as an individual object. Through
this play is developed in the child the new feeling, the
new perception of the object as a something now clasped,
grasped, and handled, and now a freely active, opposite
something.
One may say with deep conviction that even this sim-
ple activity is inexpressibly important for the child, for
which reason it is to be repeated as a play with the child
as often as possible. What the little one has up to this
time directly felt so often by the touch of the mother's
breast — union and separation — it now perceives outwardly
in an object which can be grasped and clasped, and which
has actually been grasped and clasped. Thus the repeti-
THE BALL. 37
tion of this play confirms, strengthens, and clears up in
the mind of the child a feeling and perception deeply
grounded in and important to the whole life of man — the
feeling and perception of oneness and individuality, and
of disjunction and separateness ; also of present and past
possession.
It is exceedingly important for the child which is to
be developed, as well as for the adults who are to develop
him (therefore, first of all, for the father and mother), that
they (the adults) should not only perceive but should also
suitably foster the awakening individual power and indi-
vidual activity, and the awakening spirit of their child in
the traces and slightest expressions found in the almost
imperceptible beginning, so that the development of these
qualities and this spirit may not be carried on by acci-
dental, arbitrary, and disconnected exercises. It is also
important to observe the progressive development of the
strength as well as of the activity by means of a measur-
ing object, for which also the play with the ball is in mani-
fold ways the most suitable means for parents and child.
The idea of return or recurrence soon develops to the
child's perception from the presence and absence ; that of
reunion, from the singleness and separateness; that of
future repossession, from present and past possession ; and
so the ideas of being, having, and becoming are most im-
portant to the whole life of man in their results, and are
therefore the dim perceptions which first dawn on the
child.
From these perceptions there at once develop in the
child's mind the three great perceptions of object, space,
and time, which were at first one collective perception.
From the perceptions of being, having, and becoming in
respect to space and object, and in connection with them,
38 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
esent. 1
there soon develop also the new perceptions of present,
past, and future in respect to time. Indeed, these ninefold
perceptions which open to the child the portals of a new
objective life, unfold themselves most clearly to the child
by means of his constant play with the one single ball.
As we now find that all the development of the child
has its foundation in almost imperceptible attainments
and perceptions, and as we see that its first evanescent
perceptions (almost imperceptible in the beginning) are
fixed, increased, and clarified by innumerable repetitions —
that is, by change — so we also remark that when two dif-
ferent and separate perceptions have been once received
by the child, the third and the following perceptions
necessarily proceed from them. I
It is highly important for the careful and faithful foster-
ing of the child that the fosterer should devote her whole
attention to this truth early in the life of the child. It is
also important early to observe, to retain, and therefore to
connect with the objective, the linking together of the ap-
parent and of the existent life, though this linking together
is at first but dimly perceptible. For the future sure at-
tainment of the earthly destiny of man not only depends
on the comprehension of the nature of being, having, and
becoming, of object, space, and time, as well as on the
correct comprehension and consideration of present, past,
and future, but man himself will, even in early child-
hood, in his triune nature and in conformity with the
qualities combined in him in a manner corresponding to
his nature, claim the attainment of this destiny. The
more clearly you perceive this, parents and fosterers of
childhood, and the more definitely you employ it in your
fostering, the richer in results will be your education of
children.
THE BALL. 39
True, the natural and unspoiled feeling of the mother
often hits upon the right thing to do ; but this right thing
is done by her too unconsciously and too unconnectedly,
it is not repeated continuously enough ; still less is it con-
stantly and progressively developed, and so it is not logi-
cally enough built up. The mothers themselves, and yet
more the nurses who undertake the mothers' business at
a later time, only too easily abandon the path correctly
pointed out by the pure motherly feeling, as could be
easily demonstrated in many places ; but we wish and en-
deavor to have that which the natural motherly feeling
correctly though unconsciously suggests clearly recognized
and constantly and progressively fostered, and so that life
may become by this, for parents and child, a whole, the
parts of which constantly, progressively, and reciprocally
train one another — a whole which is consciously and pro-
gressively formed.
Thus the mother, guided by human feelings, connects
the mute action, the becoming and become, with that
which is perceptible only to the sight and touch — as, for
instance, the action is connected with a definite place and
object, and then, almost without exception, is connected
with the audible word, the sign vanishing again almost as
soon as it arises.
From the connection of opposites and the duality of
the silent and the sounding, of the abiding and the van-
ishing, of the visible and the invisible, of the corporeal
and the spiritual object, there goes forth to the child
(who also bears this duality within himself in its unity)
the object as recognized by the mind, and thus held fast,
and the consciousness of the object; in this way con-
sciousness itself develops in the child.
But consciousness itself belongs to the nature of man
%
40 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
and is one with it. To become conscious of itself is the
first task in the life of the child, as it is the task of the
whole life of man. That this task may be accomplished,
the child is even from his first appearance on earth sur-
rounded by a definite place, and by objects : by the air
blowing around all living creatures, as well as by the
arousing, human, spiritual language of words ; and so the
animating word, at least the animating song, belong to
each voluntary employment, and hence to playing with
the child. Genuine, childlike human beings, mothers
especially, as we have before seen, know this very well of
themselves, therefore they undertake nothing with the
child which they do not accompany with words spiritu-
ally exhaled and inhaled, even if obliged to confess that
there can be no understanding of the spoken words by the
child, as the general sense of hearing is not yet developed,
still less the special hearing of words. So we find the
mother, soon after the child's birth, caressing and talking
to the little one ; for that which can develop and origi-
nate, and is intended to do so, begins and must begin
when as yet nothing exists but the conditions; the possi-
bility, and, especially with human fostering, the dim an-
ticipation of it. Thus is it with the attainment of man to
consciousness, and the speech required and conditioned
by that attainment to consciousness.
But now, how shall this word accompanying the play
with the child, the play-speech of the child, be formed ?
As childlike, as motherly, as playfully as possible ; so
motherly, that the mother creates it herself in the instant
of using it with the child ; that, quite unconsciously to
herself, she creates it afresh in her own mind and from
life so that it passes away as the word dies away ; for this
speech is to express the highest personal and most di-
THE BALL. 41
rectly felt motherly life with the child ; it is therefore
impossible to put it down in black and white and repre-
sent it in its individuality, in its life-awakening and life-
ravishing fullness, which is caused by momentary emotions
of the mind and mind-union, by gaze, movement, and
tone, as well as by song, etc.
Yet, in order as much as possible to come to an under-
standing with the dear fosterers of childhood, a hint at
least, may be permitted to us.
Just as soon as the child's first capacity for speech
is somewhat developed, we note how it follows out the
sound in and by means of the movement which it remarks,
and that it tries to imitate that sound with its own or-
gans. " Tic, tac," we hear it say, in imitation of the move-
ment of the pendulum and the striking of the clock. We
hear it say, or sing, " Bim, bom," when the sound of the
movement is more audible, or is comprehended as a sound.
In the words in and out {Innen und Aussen), it is worthy
of note that the child uses the vowel scale e — ah — oo,
which symbolizes the movement from within (e) to the
outward (oo).
Thoughtful and observant nurses can therefore ob-
serve many and beautiful things in all the first expres-
sions of the workings of the child's inner life, especial-
ly when he begins actually to speak. These many and
beautiful things which can be observed are an essential
guidance in fostering the development of the child. So
we must perceive that the child, in the beginning of
its use of speech, comprehends, designates, and retains
through the words " tic, tac " rather the physical part of
the movement ; but by " bim, bom " he comprehends the
movement more from the feeling, if one might so say, in
the mind. And (if I may be permitted to express myself
42 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
thus) through the " there, here," which comes later, the
child follows the movement more as a thing of compari-
son, of recognition, and, in his dawning thought, more
intellectually.
A further treatment of this subject must come later ;
now, we can only remark that it is highly important for
the nurse to observe even the first and slightest traces of
the articulate connection of the corporeal, intellectual,
and spiritual nature of the child, and to observe it in
its development from existence to sensation and thought,
so that none of these directions of the child's nature
should be arrested, or cultivated, in the development of
the child at the expense of the others ; but neither should
any be repressed and neglected for the sake of the oth-
ers. It appears important to us here, and we believe that
all who quietly consider the first development of the child
have already remarked, or will yet remark, that children,
even from the first stage of development at the point to
which they have arrived, are apt to indicate the swing-
ing movement, " bim, bom," in a singing tone which ap-
proaches to song, and serves as such the emotional nature
and its cultivation. They thus early and definitely point
out that the center, the real foundation, the starting point
of human development, and thus of the child's develop-
ment, is the heart and emotions ; but the training to ac-
tion and to thought, the corporeal and spiritual, goes on
constantly and inseparably by the side of it ; and thought
must form itself into action, and action resolve and clear
itself in thought ; but both have their roots in the emo-
tional nature.
After these remarks, which are necessary for the
knowledge, fostering, and protection of the primitive
course of development, and of the laws of development
THE BALL. 43
of the human being, let us return to our childish play,
but now with a presentiment of its deep significance.
By a slow and constant pull, the ball, hanging to a
string, escapes from the child's hand, and " Bim, bom ;
bim, bom ; tic, tac ; tic, tac ; here, there ; here, there "
sounds immediately from the mother's mouth, and in-
dicates the movement of the ball.
This quite simple play admits of many changes by con-
necting it with different tones and words.
" See, child, see the ball— there, here ; there, here."
(Compare Nos. 1 and 2, Plate L)
The ball resting, " Here "hangs the ball."
Slowly raising and lowering the ball by the string,
" Up, down." (See Nos. 5 and 6.)
Letting it swing over an object (for example, the other
hand placed crosswise) : " There, here ; there, here ; over
there, over here." (See Nos. 3 and 4.) Or, considerably
lengthening the string, that the ball may swing slowly now
toward the child, now away from him, " Near, far ; near,
far " ; or, " Now comes the ball ; off goes the ball," or " The
ball comes ; the ball goes away " ; or as a general indica-
tion, " Here it comes, there it goes."
Swinging the ball slowly in a circle : " Around, around ;
round to the right, round to the right ; round to the left,
round to the left." (Compare Nos. 13, 14, 15.)
Or, playing with the ball on a firm surface on the table
before the child, " Tap, tap, tap," letting the ball fall on
different parts of the surface, especially in a vertical di-
rection. (See No. 7.)
" Jump, ball, jump ! " " See, now the ball jumps !
Jump ! jump ! jump ! " letting the ball, held by the string,
fall quickly and rebound by its own elasticity. (See
No. 9.)
44 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Or, helping it by a quick, short drawing of the string,
" The ball jumps high " ; " The ball can jump no more ;
it is tired ; it lies down to sleep."
Quickly lifting the ball from the surface of the table
on something, for example, the ball's box, " Hop up high " ;
or, raising it quickly over the box, " Hop over." (See Nos.
8 and 10.)
Twirling the ball on a surface in a horizontal position
by the string, and then around a center, and imitating
with the voice the more outward movement " r r r r " or
merely " Around, around." (See No. 20.)
And now raising the ball quickly by the string in a
vertical direction into the air, and now hanging it, letting
it twirl quietly and quickly backward, and now imitating
more its inner movement by " 1 1 1 1 " or " Turn thee, turn
thee ; swiftly, swiftly," or, pointing out the increasing
speed of the movement, "Faster and faster." (See No.
31.)
The rolling on the surface can now be repeated, " Now
to the right, now to the left " ; and so also can the turning
of the ball hanging by the string be changed, " Now to
the left, now to the right."
Then drawing the ball on a surface, " Pull, pull, pull."
(See No. 22.) The string may at this point be laid in the
child's hand, and string and hand grasped by the mother's
hand and the ball drawn off the support : "Ah, there falls
the ball ! " This, which appears to the child an effect of
his own action, delights him exceedingly.
Now the swinging movement may be again made with
the ball in the air, either out from the middle, " Always
wider," or from the outside toward the center "Always
narrower." (See Nos. 16 and 17.)
As the child before perceived the circling movement,
THE BALL. 45
SO it sees here the spiral widening and narrowing. So
the movement of the ball can also be made in an oval
line, " Lengthen out," or " Widen out."
In the same way, winding the ball on a string up and
down round a stick in the form of a screw, " Always higher,
always lower." (See Nos. 18 and 19.)
Or, merely drawing the ball on a string slowly up and
letting it down, " High, low ; high, low."
Now, the ball free from the string is allowed to roll on
the surface. " Roll, roll, roll, roll ; there the ball runs ! "
(See Nos. 11 and 12.)
Or the ball can be made to recoil from a surface — for
example, the ball-box or a book : " Come, ball, come again
to baby"; "Here conies the ball"; " Catch the ball";
" The ball has fallen " ; « Go for the ball " ; " Look for the
ball." The mother may lift the child to the place where
the ball lies, in order that the little one may itself pick
it up. If the child has attained to any degree of intel-
lectual and physical development and strength, he must
be allowed to pick up the ball himself when he throws it
to the ground ; and if the child is as yet too small and
helpless to move himself for that purpose, he must be
lifted to the place where the ball lies, especially if he him-
self has thrown the ball away ; so that he may early ex-
perience the consequences and requirements of his own
action, and discover that he must himself fulfill the re-
quirements and bear the consequences. Effort should be
early made not only to have the child make many and
definite discoveries, but to have it retain them, as well in
respect to their connections with each other as in respect
to their results.
"Where is the ball?" "There is the ball again."
" Ball, stay now with baby."
46 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Or, closing the hand over the ball, " Where is the ball ? "
Opening the hand again, " There is the ball." (See Nos.
25 and 26.)
A beautiful exercise, which is particularly pleasing
to the child, is this : to make the ball turn constantly
around its own center in the hollowed hand by a con-
stant alteration of its center of gravity, or rather its
point of support. This play can be well performed by
moving the ball in a saucer in the same manner, by
which the ball can be made to run around almost on the
rim without falling. This representation can be accom-
panied by — " Dance prettily," or " See, the ball dances ! "
etc.
Or, raising the ball again by the string behind the
other hand, placed crosswise, " Off ! " etc. " Where ! " etc.
Bringing it again before the hand, " There ! " etc. (See
Nos. 25 and 26.)
Each of these exercises can now be repeated by itself
as often as it gives the child pleasure. Through this
repetition these exercises become just as important for
the extension of the horizon of experience as for the
greater clearness, definiteness, and distinctness of the
child's experiences.
Thoughtful and attentive mothers and nurses can,
however, perceive that all this proceeds from the play and
the exercises themselves.
Then, lowering the ball into some inclosed space — for
example, into the ball box — " Deep in ! "
Shutting the ball up in the box again : " The ball is
gone ! " " It wants to sleep ! " " My child is tired ; yes, it
is tired ; it wants to sleep too ! "
These and many other observation exercises offer in
their connections innumerable changes for the employ-
THE BALL. 47
ment of the child and for the awakening and nourishing
of his intellectual as well as of his bodily activity ; especially
when the limbs of the child are so strengthened and de-
veloped in power that the ball can be given up to him, at
least partly, and he can, by his capacity for speech, which
is equally developing, already enter into a kind of conver-
sation with his nurse ; and yet we have here in the em-
ployment with the ball a whole side of childish employ-
ment and play to consider, namely, the fact that the child
likes so much to see all in each object, and to make all
from each. Many kinds of objects, inanimate and ani-
mate, can not fail to appear in the neighborhood of the
child, in his surroundings ; to the latter especially his at-
tention is called involuntarily by their coming and going,
or, intentionally, by his nurse. Life generally attracts
life, as it awakens life. The child sees the coming of the
dog and cat ; in one case of the poodle or Spitz, in the
other of the cat or kitten. The child notices the bird,
the birdie in the cage, the sparrow at the window ; the
dove, the cock, and hen, the hen and chicken in the yard ;
he sees the carriage, and the horse, etc.
In conformity with this quality and requirement of
the child, the swinging ball can now become a birdie :
" See how the birdie flies, now here, now there ! "
Now the springing ball can become a kitten : " There
springs the kitty on the bench."
Now a dog : " Hop goes the dog over the hedge."
Now the ball becomes a chicken : " Tip, tap, tap, the
chicken comes running."
Now the cock : " Tap, tap, tap, the cock picks up the
corn."
Now a squirrel which climbs up the tree, going round
and round it, or in the same manner climbs down.
48 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
Now a miner : " He goes deep down into the shaft.
Or the ball without a string : now the sheep which we
must watch ; now the horse or colt which springs away ;
now the dog which comes running, " Bow, wow, wow ! "
But now, again the ball on the string, on the carriage (or,
if it is winter, on the sled or sleigh) which is drawn ; and
a hundred other things.
The thought now impresses itself upon us as an im-
portant one, that by one and the same object, and that,
moreover, an inanimate object (in this case the ball), are
perceived, and as it were made, many kinds of objects, and
above all live ones ; from which follows another thought
that objects are brought before the child by words here
(as also indeed in life) which it has not yet even once
seen ; which are not to be found at all in its neighbor-
hood.
Yet this might appear inadmissible to many a one who
has not yet deeply and universally enough entered into
the course of development of the child's life and its con-
ditions, although we have already pointed out its existence
in the nature and life of the child. We will therefore
briefly justify this procedure, without, however, penetrating
deeply into human nature, in which it could be very
easily demonstrated as necessary and as required ; but this
is not the place for it. At some time the anticipation and
thus the inner recognition of the special and the general,
will be unfolded to the child. But this takes place when,
as already remarked, the opposites, having yet some simi-
larity, are compared with one another. Then also the
fewer special similarities and qualities that the means of
perception or the object used to play with has with the
presented object (which, of course, must be connected by
preceding connecting links), the more skilled the child be-
THE BALL. 49
comes thereby; he now considers the actual object in
order to obtain a clear impression of it and of its special
qualities, so as to rise from the perception of the object
to that of its kind, and from the perception of the kind
to that of its species, etc.
The second remark is, that objects are here brought
before the child which indeed the playing adult has seen,
but which as yet the playing child has not seen at all.
Though this is not to be scrupulously avoided, as little is
it to be thoughtlessly carried too far ; kept within right
limits it justifies itself to any simple and straightforward
mind. The life and the course of development of the
human being and the laws of this development make this
repeat itself with the most developed man, for, as man is
a being destined to attain increasing consciousness, so he
is also to become and be a reasoning and judging being.
Besides, man has a peculiar presaging power of imagina-
tion, as indeed also — what must never be forgotten, but
always kept in view as important and guiding — the new-
born child is not merely to become a man, hut the man
already appears and indeed is in the child with all his
talents and the unity of his nature.
Objects not yet seen in life by the child may therefore
be introduced to him through word and playthings that
represent these objects, but with the following restric-
tion: this introduction (as, for example, in the preced-
ing pages, of the squirrel) ought not to take place before
the child — who is through frequent repetition quite fa-
miliar with the object, near, already often seen, and
always possible to be seen again (for example, the kitten)
— in the qualities of the personifying object (here of
the ball), has recognized the qualities of the personified
object (here of the kitten), and likewise has seen in and
50 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
through the first (the ball) the second (the kitten) ; has
learned to represent it, for example, by the jumping.
Now the child has also noticed the climbing of the cat,
and when it is said, as above, "The squirrel climbs,"
etc., the child quickly comes to the conclusion that the
squirrel is a living thing that climbs. This is enough to
excite its attention, so that when he some day sees a
squirrel, and the squirrel is named to him as such, he fixes
his eyes upon it sharply, and perhaps, indeed, even without
hearing its name, recognizes it as such from this quality
and other connections. This is a sufficient hint for the
justification of this childlike, motherly, and (in the nur-
sery) domestic procedure.
We now go back to the contemplation of the ball as
the first plaything, and bring into prominence as essential
the fact that it (being, as it were, the representative and
means of perception of all that is contained in and rests
in itself) offers to be perceived, produced, and handled
only the fundamental form, as it were the rough sketch of
all which can present itself as a whole and can act spon-
taneously as such ; so that several of the phenomena of
the ball — such as presence, departure, return, seeking,
finding, getting, catching, grasping, holding, rolling,
sliding, turning, etc. — can be represented by each of the
said objects as well as by the ball, which is, just on that
account, such an excellent and attractive plaything for
the child. But though, as just stated, several of the phe-
nomena of the ball can be represented by each of the said
objects, this is not the case with all the phenomena — for
instance, the multifariousness of movement. For this rea-
son, in order to increase the powers and advance the devel-
opment of the child, the plays carried through with the
ball are, as the opportunity or the demand is made, given
THE BALL. 51
in part with other objects — for example, an apple, a
handkerchief, a ball of thread, a key, a nut, a flower, etc.
— and these objects are thus brought before the child in
various kinds of activity. But the ball always remains
as the uniting and explaining object, and thus the true
means of connection and understanding, and the very
plaything to connect the child with his nurses and his
surroundings.
If the child is now old enough to sit alone and likes to
do so, and also to creep or drag himself from one place to
another, the play with the ball can be essentially and effi-
ciently extended. Thus a quilt is spread in the room, the
child seated on it, and a ball, now with, now without a
string, given to him for his own spontaneous handling.
Also, if it can be easily accomplished, a ball of suitable
size can be fastened by a sufficiently strong cord to the
ceiling of the room, so that the child can at times employ
himself with swinging himself with the ball, and at times
can raise himself up, and so can stand by means of it. He
will thus learn to hold himself more surely in equili-
brium, and to stand more easily than if he raises himself
up by a body which stands firmly — a chair, or a bench —
which does away with the necessity for him to maintain
his own center of gravity ; and if he falls, the fall is less
painful, with a good quilt to fall on. Yet more suitable
is it, in reference to the child's learning to stand, that the
ball, proportionately increased in size and fastened to a
strong and sufficiently long string, be given into the hand
of the child seated on a sufficiently thick quilt, with the
directions to hold it firmly. Now the attempt is made to
raise the child higher and higher by means of the cord
which is fastened to the ball. The raising and lowering
will please the child, as well as strengthen the muscles of
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52 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
the whole body, hips and thighs especially. If he is thus
raised by means of the ball and string to a standing posi-
tion, he can soon easily stand independently.
Here is now the point, as beautiful as it is important,
where the life and activity of the father also, at times
when his business permits, can exert a fostering and de-
veloping influence on the life of the child ; and the ball
here again appears as a connecting link between child and
father, as it was at an earlier period between child and
mother. The child in the father's company is to grow
up, as it were, climb up to him, and by his aid is to steady
itself ; all this is now offered in manifold shapes by the
above given play with the ball, by which, in order to ren-
der it again prominent, the father comes into his right re-
lation to the child, calling out his strength, etc. (consid-
eration, reflection), but also using and thus developing
strength, etc. By means of the earlier play, especially of
that connected with speech, the mother, with all her mild-
ness, enters into the life of the child.
So the first play of the child with the ball is now re-
vealed in its nature as well as in its application and its
general effects. Through this is given to you, dear par-
ents, for your child, what is as beneficial as it is impor-
tant — the means for his constantly progressive develop-
ment, from the first activity of the limbs and senses up to
independent sitting and voluntary self-occupation, and a
means is given of leading toward the constant fostering
of these developments. We now see how comprehensively
the child's life is satisfied by the play with the ball.
We see, in proportion as the first child's plays which
we have given are apparently simple and transient, as they
are born at the moment and are dropped again at the
moment and supplanted by others ; in proportion as the
THE BALL. 53
child is at first not capable of receiving them in their
complex details, just in that proportion are they impor-
tant for the unfolding and the growth of the child in all
ways ; for since we are thoroughly penetrated by the con-
viction that the movements of the young and delicate
mind of the child, although as yet so small as to be almost
unnoticeable, are of the most essential consequence to the
whole future life of the child, therefore no perception is
more important for the child and his future life and
action than that of the unity of all manifoldness and that
of the living correlation between both, and these two per-
ceptions are shown to the child as definitely as manifoldly
by the ball as appears from what follows.
It is evident to the child that all the various plays
proceed from the single ball, and that all in their phenom-
ena refer again to the uniting ball ; they make known the
manifoldness resting in the ball, which is itself single ;
they proceed from unity and again lead back to unity. In
the second and also opposite view, the play is considered
from the child outward ; all activity, although connected
with the ball, proceeds definitely from the child (who is in
himself a unit), and, although using the ball as a means,
refers to the child, who is in himself a unit. The child is
in himself unity and manifoldness, and destined to develop
this unity and manifoldness by the surrounding outer
world ; and for this, also, the ball serves through the play
with it, but especially by its individuality and its proper-
ties ; for the ball itself, being the representative of all ob-
jects, is the unity and union of the essential properties of
all objects. Thus the ball shows contents, mass, matter,
space, form, size, and figure; it bears within itself an
independent power (elasticity), and hence it has rest and
movement, and consequently stability and spontaneity ; it
54 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
offers even color, and at least calls forth sound ; it is in-
deed heavy — that is, it is attracted — and thus shares in
the general property of all bodies. Therefore the ball, by
its fall, by its quicker movement on a shorter and its
slower movement on a longer string, leads to the consid-
eration of the most important phenomena and laws of
earth-life and the life of Nature, of attraction in general,
and first of all of the attraction of the earth, especially of
its laws and limitations, in which and through which only,
the child himself lives and has his being as a human
dweller on the earth, since he lives and exists only through
the breathing in of the air. Therefore the ball, as a con-
necting plaything between parent and child, places man
in the midst of all, on his entrance into the world and
with the activity of his limbs and senses, in the midst of
all phenomena and perceptions of Nature, as of all limita-
tions of Nature, and of all life ; for what is more attract-
ive than life ? But to place man through a skillful edu-
cation in the understanding of and in harmony with Na-
ture and life, and to maintain him in it with consciousness
and circumspection, can not be done too early.
Hence the ball, as we have already seen in many ways,
is a bond of connection between mother and child, be-
tween parent and child — it is a connection between the
child and his nearest surroundings — and thus is it in gen-
eral a bond of connection between the child and Nature ;
and the ball connects the child with Nature as much as
the universe connects man with God.
As now the ball, by its individuality and by means of
the play with it, places man, even in childhood, in the
midst of the life of Nature and of all life, and makes
itself perceived and felt in it, so in like manner it makes
the child early to feel and find himself in the midst of
THE BALL. 55
his own life, in the midst of his perceptive (feeling), his
operative and creative, and his comparing (thinking) ac-
tivity. The ball and the play with the ball lay hold of
the whole man as a child, in respect to his body as well
as in respect to his mind and soul. Thus, in order to
bring forward with precision one phenomenon, only one,
and here the nearest to us, which has been mentioned, the
ball (even in its first swinging movement, if this move-
ment is several times and often repeated, and by the
words " tic tac, tic tac," the child is made to notice the
movement through space and its regular intervals and re-
member it) has an exciting effect on the body of the child,
which effect is expressed by hopping, also a measured
movement. But is not even this single play, developed in
harmony with the whole human being, important for his
whole life ? Is it not even the dim, how much more yet the
developed, feeling of the correct time, that is, the feeling
of tact or the right instant at which to exert an influence
on another by his activity, which later often preserves man
from so many disagreeable experiences? And does not
this depend on the earlier development of man which
always remembers what was opportune, and which is least
retarded when it finds itself in harmony with the oc-
casion.
The movement, on the contrary, predominantly full of
life and expression, which is comprised in and represented
by '* bim, bom," etc., acts on the heart ; this fact is made
known in the course of the development of the child by
his laughter as an expression of the arousing of emotions
and of the use of his eyes. Do we not already see by
this how beneficial, melodious, and therefore harmoni-
ous, training is for man at an early stage of his being ?
But the movement, more suggestive of comparison, com-
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56 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
prehended in and represented by the words " there, here,"
acts predominantly on the intellect, and makes itself
known in the course of the child's development by the
imperfect speech connected with it as the spontaneous ex-
pression of the child's awakening power of thought ; and
do we not find indicated in this already the peculiarity
and requirement of the human mind to render itself in-
telligible, to clarify itself by communication with others ?
As now each of the single plays severally considered
lay hold upon the child early in the trinity of his nature
as creating, feeling, and thinking, so do yet more the play-
ful employments considered as a whole. The attentive ob-
server can easily perceive that one whole series of the plays
belong pre-eminently to the actual, external, and creative
life, or at least refer to it ; these may be even described as
useful in a certain point of view. With another series
of plays, each, without reference to anything extraneous,
suffices for itself, because an inner unity, a life which is
in itself single, appears in an outward manifoldness which
harmonizes with it. The representation of these plays,
through which inner unity (existence) appears in and by
means of harmonious variety, and shines forth from it,
as it were, can not receive a more significant designa-
tion than beautiful. So in the third series of plays each
single play is likewise only attractive to the child in, by
and through its various relations, properties, and connec-
tions, each of which has been already suggested — indeed,
indicated inwardly — before it appeared outwardly, and
therefore before it was recognized. One can not but say of
these plays that they early enchain the child's attention
on account of their truth, though unconsciously to the
little one himself, and perhaps unrecognized by him
through his whole life.
THE BALL. 57
Thus, without bringing out from the mentioned plays
authentic proofs for the stated series, which is very pos-
sible to a thoughtful consideration, we here show only
how directly the course of childish employments, to which
the path is broken by the first child-plays (which, be-
ginning from the ball, advancing constantly according to
inner laws, is now to be pursued uninterruptedly in the
production of means for the child's employment), early
leads the child to a harmonious training for usefulness,
beauty, and truth ; and how means are early given to the
parents to attain the harmonious cultivation of their child ;
we are to consider to which side of the cultivation he
predominantly inclines ; since one excludes the other no
more than life, art, and science do, so man, and still more
the child, ought not to be educated and cultivated one-
sidedly and exclusively for the one or the other.
The cultivation of the mental power of the child in
different directions is also attained by the use of the ball
as the first plaything. The child learns by the use of it
to keep an object in view not only in a state of rest, but
also in the changes of its phenomena. The plays carried
on with the ball awaken and exercise the power of the
child's intellect to place again before himself an object not
present to his bodily eyes, to perceive it inwardly even
when the outward appearance has vanished. These plays
awaken and exercise the power of representing, of remem-
bering, of retaining in remembrance an object seen for-
merly, of again thinking of it — that is, they foster the
memory.
The awakening and fostering of the powers of the mind
to compare, to conclude, to judge, to think, have been
already discussed, and every observer can easily see how by
these plays the powers are further awakened and exercised
58 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
in the child, how they continue to develop and are more
and more formed within. Only, we must remark, what
is capable of demonstration, that this most delicate growth
of the mind is germinated and fostered quietly and gradu-
ally by means of the actions, feelings, and thoughts of the
mother, and by means of her love, faith, and hope with
respect to the child, although yet so imperceptibly in the
child's life thus connected with the mother's — by means
of the ball and the play with the ball.
We see the human being as a child, yes, even as an
infant, placed in the midst of his life, as of all life, by
means of the ball and the play with the ball ; for his own
life, his mother's life, his father's life, and the life of all
his surroundings become to him thus inwardly vital and
jointly objective, as the life and the love of the mother as
become one and objective to him in the fullness of the
mother's breast which affords him nourishment, which
itself appears to him a ball, and is his all.
Again, dear mothers, dear fathers, and nurses, do not
think and believe that the child, in his predominantly
physical, indeed as yet quite helpless stage of develop-
ment, is not susceptible to all that has been mentioned.
You err deeply, you err to the great detriment of the whole
future life of your child and the fruits of your otherwise
strenuous care of the child. The child is just as sus-
ceptible to it as the kernel hidden deeply in the earth
in darkness, or the bud on the tree covered by hard scales
even resembling a stone, are sensitive to the return of the
sun in spring or even to a warm but evanescent breath of
air. He, then, who does not already perceive and foster
consciously and circumspectly the traces of the future de-
velopment of the future life of the child when still hidden
in the depths and in the night, he also will not clearly
THE BALL. 59
perceive them, nor proportionately, or at least not suffic-
ingly, foster them even when they lie open before him.
Only through the comprehension of the connection, as
fervent as it is full of life ; or rather of the eternal trinity
— of the invisible, the invisibly perceptible, and the visi-
ble — is life itself comprehended.
But one thing remains for us to bring forward in the
consideration and contemplation of the plays with the
ball : this is the definite, clear, and legitimate develop-
ment of the child's capacity for speech in the progressive
course of the play. As the child, as has been demonstrated
in many ways, is placed by this playing in the midst
of Nature and of life, or rather finds itself buoyant with
life, so it is also by this playing placed in the midst of
its capacity for speech, of the legitimate development of
that capacity, or rather finds and quietly unfolds itself
therein.
A few hints from the many which could be given
and clearly presented on the subject must here and now
suffice ; this subject will be later taken up again and
treated of by itself. Here on that subject we will give
as hints only the following : The language which accom-
panies the first child-play seems to be clear, precise, full,
significant, simple, and yet completely satisfying. Even
the first words of it, to which the play gave rise and
which the child discovered, and ever anew discovers, con-
tain the whole material of words — that is, in these words
are immediately given vowel sounds, open and closed
sounds. Each appears clear and distinct, each comes forth
pure in its nature in the childish words, bim, bom (boum).
So in au (aou) are defined and given the three funda-
mental voice sounds, a, o, u, and in i their relating, mid-
dle, or conclusion ; and thus through them is given the
7
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60 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
complete compass of vowel sounds in language.* Also,
the compass of language brought into employment by the
play, slight as it appears, embraces the whole province of
language proceeding from the perception and comprehen-
sion of the object in space. The words used are mostly
word stems or roots, and from them develops speech full
of life, regular and all-sided, as an image of the two great
worlds, the inner and the outer world.
The ball gives to the child all this, and many another
thing, which is not at all retained by word as an outside
phenomenon in its individualities, and joins itself to all
as the first childish plaything ; through it the little one
develops himself ; by it is strengthened in the unity of
his nature and life, proportionally in body and in spirit.
It is enough that in the first plays with the ball the life of
the child makes itself known, and the outer world makes
itself known to the child in unity.
* For explanation of voice sounds, open and closed sounds, see
Education of Man.
I
V.
THE SEED CORl?^ AND THE CHILD. A COMPARISON.
Let us look at a seed corn^ a kernel ; let us with
thought and consideration give utterance to the word
hernel\ let us now at once look at a child ; let us feeling.
1}^ and thoughtfully utter the word child. Have we now
expressed less in the word child than in the word corn or
kernel? Have we perceived less in the child than in
either of the others ?
But we cultivate a kernel^ a grain of corn, just on ac-
count of its innermost y of its life ; though that life exists
in it as yet so enveloped and, as it were, so veiled ; though
the form of life hidden within it be invisible and unrecog-
nizable. We cultivate it that it may unfold before us its
life, its nature, in forms, unhindered, with force and spon-
taneous action, as truly as perceptibly and as beautifully as
powerfully. We remove everything from it which might
disturb and stifle, or even only unnaturally check, this free,
spontaneous, independent development in harmony with
the whole ; and all this we do so much the more when the
kernel, or corn, is the seed of a plant as yet unknown to
us in its whole nature — a plant from another part of the
world, which only very few men are fortunate enough to
have seen in the glory of its complete unfolding.
But is, then, the nature of man and of humanity less
unknown to us ? Is it not even less known to us ? But
62 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
why, then, do we observe the human child far less than the
seed corn or the germ of a plant in the totality of its de-
velopment? Why do we pay him less attention in inward,
uniform coherence with the collective whole of Nature and
life than we do the seed corn and the germ of the plant ?
Is it then to be supposed that in the human child the ca-
pacity, the talent for becoming a whole complete human
being, is contained less than in the acorn is contained
the capacity to become a strong, vigorous, complete oak ?
But, as the germ bears within itself the plant and the
whole plant life, does not the child bear also within him-
self the whole man and the whole life of humanity ?
VI.
THE PLAY AND PLAYING OF THE CHILD IN HARMONY
WITH HIS DEVELOPMENT AND WITH THE TOTALITY
OF THE RELATIONS OF HIS LIFE.
As the child's first bodily nourishment must be and is
in harmony with the development of its digestive organs
(intended for preserving, strengthening, and unfolding the
bodily life), so must also the first fostering and nourish-
ment of the child's soul life be in exact accord with the
development of its bodily functions — quite especially with
the development of the organs of sense.
As rest at first appears as the expression and demand
of the bodily life, so movement soon appears as the ex-
pression and demand of the soul life of the child.
As the bodily requirement of the child is at first a soft,
warm, and clean place of repose, and, especially, warm sur-
roundings, so, soon after the first development of his sense
of sight, of his eye, he seeks the clear, simple, quite gentle
motion of a bright object, and keeps his gaze fixed upon
it. This intimation of an intellect begins a few weeks
after birth.
As the mouth of the child in its infancy is especially
adapted for sucking, for taking in the bodily nourishment,
so the eye of the child appears pre-eminently adapted to
taking in, as it were, the mental nourishment which is at
first obtained through a perception of the motion and then
64 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
of the object itself ; as the mouth takes in at first only
the fluid, and in the fluid the solid, so the eye at first per-
ceives the motion, especially the motion of the phenom-
ena of light, and in and by means of the motion perceives
the object.
Therefore the mother, while she quietly supplies to
the child the tepid milk from her breast, early calls his
attention to what is light and shining, to the moving
and movable light by word and look ; she therefore calls
the light, " the little light," and, considering it only in its
movability, " the birdie."
Who does not know how very early the mother-love
interests the child by the little lights by the Mr die, and
also by the mousie, although he perceives in them only
the appearance of light, the shining, moving in space.
So children at a very early age would enjoy for almost
an hour looking and gazing at the shining moon and the
starry sky ; indeed, if they have enjoyed looking at the
first especially, once or twice, they long for it definitely as
soon as the time for its appearance returns.
It is certainly important to consider how children,
and especially little children, like to contemplate the sun,
moon, and stars ; for this is the first and genuine begin-
ning of the contemplation of Nature and of the world to
which the child, the human being, is called through the
fact of being born. In general, all things which have the
star — the radiate — form, which are on that account so
commonly called " little stars " by the child, very early
enchain it. The expression " little star " makes, there-
fore, later the same arousing and delighting impression
on the child as did the expression " the little light " at an
earlier period of his life, and star-formed flowers espe-
cially attract his attention ; even the stars of the sky are
PLAY AND PLAYING WITH THE CHILD. 65
placed by the child in human relations to himself. As,
for example, what was mentioned in a previous work
(Education of Man), that a little child who could only
just speak, and to whom its mother, one clear evening,
showed two brightly shining planets situated toward the
east and very near each other, immediately exclaimed of
its own accord, full of joyful astonishment, " Father and
mother stars ! "
What may not be developed in the child's life by
means of this childish conception if it be early and ten-
derly retained ?
But we return after this apparent digression to the
stage of the child's development with which we are now
particularly employed.
At the same time with the organs of the senses, espe-
cially those of sight and hearing, are, however, soon de-
veloped also the organs of movement, and so first of all
the arms and hands. We gave therefore to the mother — as
the expression of the corporeal movement in space early
comprehended by the child and containing in itself at the
same time unity and manifoldness— for her first plays and
playing with the child, the colored, bright, red, green, or
yellow ball, as it were, as a uniting and personifying model
body, as well for cultivating the perception of an object
as such, as in reference to rest and movement. In order to
make obvious the unity of feeling and perception through
sight, and yet also the separateness of both through
warmth and light in the child, the ball, in itself elastic,
has its bright color, its warmth-exciting cover ; for through
light it makes itself known to the sight, as through
warmth to the feeling, as an objective phenomenon.
The first impressions of the soul — as it were, the first
knowledges — come to the child in the first plays of the
\
e^ PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
senses by its own activity as well as by the mother-love
bearing within it the life of the child and its require-
ments. These first impressions of the soul come thus to
the child in the first plays for the senses by means of per-
ception and seeing, and by means of coming, staying, and
vanishing ; by means of change, thus also, in a certain
point of view, by means of early dim conceptions of se-
quence, of foundation and results, of cause and effect, and
thus of dim comparison.
From the examination of the relations of mother and
child in corporeal as in mental life appears thus clearly
the notice of the facts so important for the higher hu-
man life and for the higher life of humanity, that love
and knowledge, loving and recognizing, stand in intimate
interchange, and that fostering of joint life is the union,
the fount of both.
We see and recognize thus in the first phenomena of
the child's life how the child must be rightly compre-
hended, considered, and treated from his first expression
of life (however involuntary and without definite aim
these phenomena may appear to be) in the progressive
course of his development as well as in his nature, in his
relations to his mother and to his nearest surroundings,
indeed, in his relations to the universe, and to the prime-
val cause of all — to God. Carefully observing parents
and thoughtful true nurses can, by looking back into
their own lives, find how such a careful fostering of child-
hood has affected the development of their own lives,
or would have affected that development if it had taken
place. It is therefore essential that parents and nurses,
for the benefit of their children and for the blissful results
of their efforts to educate the children, should recall as
much as possible the first phenomena, the course and the
PLAY AND PLAYING WITH THE CHILD. 67
limitations of the development of their own total life, and
to compare them with the phenomena, the course and the
limitations of the general development of the world and
of life in Nature and in history, and so seek to raise them-
selves by degrees to the recognition and perception as well
of the general as of the especial laws of development of
life ; so that thus the guidance of the child, the fostering
of his development, may receive in these laws their surer
determinations as well as a higher and firmer foundation,
the true foundation.
To the manifold course of development to be seen
everywhere in Nature and in life, to the course of the gen-
eral development of the world and life, correspond, as the
guidance of the child's life, his employment of self, the
intercourse with him in general, and also in especial the
developing play and playing with the child which awak-
ens and promotes the life of the child. Thus, in the pro-
gressive course of his development the man perceives life
as it is in himself and in many forms outside of himself, so
also, as a child, he already perceives his life as life in gen-
eral in the play and playing, as in the clear mirror and as
a child finds for himself, first of all in play and by means
of playing, an educational book opened for his observa-
tion outside of and around himself, and speaking to him
in form and by means of form, so also does man at a later
period find such a book in Nature.
That the child may be rightly comprehended and
treated in all his relations to life and to those around him,
the whole intellectual and spiritual condition of the
mother after the birth of the child is changed ; her per-
ceptions and the impressions of the outer world are al-
tered as well as her bodily condition. This enhanced
spiritual condition, this higher and more earnest gaze of
N
68 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
the mother, directed especially to discovering and pene-
trating, to perceiving the individual and particular in the
single and general, and vice versa — this condition of hers
must now, pre-eminently on account of her child, be just
as particularly considered and consciously fostered by her-
self as is the life of the child, and in constant harmony
with it.
When the starting point of recognition and knowledge
— viz., perceiving, noticing, and observing — becomes per-
ceptible in the child there also begins in the mother the
power to penetrate into the nature of what is first revealed
to her, and its effects on herself, as well as to see it in its
various and close relation to the child, and to act in con-
formity with this view.
Many-sided indeed are the observations that have been
made by others on the physical relations which bind to-
gether the mother and child, and on the consideration
and fostering of this joint life ; but by no means as yet,
and still less when we consider what the subject requires,
have observations been made on the consideration and
method of the common, reciprocal, spiritual life between
mother and child.
By observing and fostering this spiritual reciprocal
life between mother and child, and the common life with
Nature and all, the first play already above given with the
elastic, colored, and warm ball receives also its deep, true
significance and its corresponding rank in the occupa-
tions. It will find a place in the third month of the
child's life, and may even begin in the second month of
its existence, but will take its place in the fourth month .
as a definite play, and then go on for a long time through
the child's life in manifold development, improvement,
and application, as has been previously intimated.
PLAY AND PLAYING WITH THE CHILD. 69
But soon such a simple body, alike in all its parts,
with its regular, more quiet movement, no longer pleases
the child ; but rather a purely opposite body, which not
only quickly and unexpectedly passes from a condition of
rest into the opposite, and thereby also makes itself espe-
cially known through noise, sound, and tone, as it were
through speech, will now more enchain the attention of
the child.
Here is now the point where, as the play with the
child assumes quite another form, so also does thft play-
thing itself ; instead of the smooth, soft, silently moving
ball, is employed the hard, rolling sphere, and the cube,
uniting in itself more outward manifoldness, and so more
liable to produce noise by its movement as a plaything for
the child.
VII.
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. THE SECOND PLAYTHING
OF THE CHILD.
(See Plate II.)
During the second half of the first year, when the
child begins already definitely to employ himself, the
sphere and cube will, in consequence of the just-mentioned
properties, frequently give the child more pleasure than
the ball ; only the child will also retain for the ball as his
beloved plaything an uninterrupted affection.
The sphere and cube as solids are in respect to their
form pure opposites — that is, as they are in themselves
similarly bodies, so are they externally opposite ; thus they
are opposite yet alike. The sphere can be considered as
the material expression of pure movement ; the cube as
the material expression of complete rest. The [soft] ball
being also at once more movable [pliable] in itself, ap-
pears then, as it were, as uniting, connecting both; as
one can easily make the form of the cube perceptible by
a not too elastic ball, but, on the other hand, such a ball
can be easily brought back to the form of the sphere.
The sphere and cube, therefore, in their oppositeness
and likeness belong together undivided as a play. Sphere
and cube contain a relation to one another as unity in
singleness, to unity in manifoldness, or it may also be
said, as manifoldness in unity to unity in manifoldness,
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 71
or as heart to intellect. Since, now, these two tendencies
in the development of the soul and the power of the soul
early show themselves in the child, so are the sphere and
cube also to be given to him unseparated for play — un-
separated although alternately brought into use in and by
means of the play. To give and bring the two separately
as playthings and in play before the child who is to be
developed intellectually and spiritually would be, or at
least appear, as if one should separate feeling and thought,
sensation and discernment, mind and spirit, from one an-
other, or indeed cultivate one at the expense of the other,
and therefore subordinate the one to the other. But they
must be cultivated at the same time, and they belong to-
gether inasmuch as the two in common make up a unity,
or rather a trinity, if taken with the active life (the repre-
sentation or the deed) — that is, the doing.
We have already recognized and stated the importance
of rightly comprehending the child even from his first ap-
pearance on earth and in the course of his cultivation, as
well as in his nature and in his relations to his surround-
ings, especially in his relation to the world and to God ;
and it is by no means unimportant for parents and child,
and first of all for child and mother, to see in what rela-
tion the child's plaything and play appears to himself, to
his nearest surroundings, to Nature, and to God — to all
life.
Peace and joy, health and fullness of life accrue to the
child when his play, like his general development, is in
harmony with the all-life.
All the plays and employments which have been
planned and carried out by us with the second gift, and
first of all with the sphere and cube, have their founda-
tion, as we have shown in the case of the ball, in the effort
72 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
to satisfy this harmony, and to meet the requirements of
all that has been intimated in this reference. There will
here be given a few more examples, as hints for the use
of the sphere and cube as the second plaything of the
child. They are connected with the two-fold phenome-
non in the nursery, or rather in the first child -life, that
is seen when mothers and careful nurses are employed in
soothing the restless child, vaguely striving for definite
and satisfactory outward activity, and hence also for rest ;
now through the movement of the movable, now through
the repose of the stationary, repeatedly presented to the
child's senses.
The free, constantly circling movement early gives the
children great pleasure, and truly from a deep foundation
in soul and life ; but it appears especially clear with the
sphere when, as was before mentioned in respect to the
ball, the sphere is constantly made to move round in the
hollow of the hand, or in both hands held closely to-
gether in the form of a plate, or yet better of a saucer
by slow constant changing of the center of gravity.
But the sound is a yet higher sign of life to the child,
as he then, and also later, likes to lend speech to all dumb
things ; therefore he also desires to hear sound and speech
from everything, at least by means of everything and at
the same time with everything. The child wishes and
hopes unconsciously to himself to receive through the
accompanying word and through the simultaneous tone
knowledge and explanation of each thing and of its life
and meaning, especially in reference to himself (the child).
We have therefore attempted, in this second gift of the
means of play and occupation, to indicate by movement
and word this connection of life and things, the reciprocal
life between child and plaything ; and this so much the
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 73
more as by using the gift in this way the hearing capacity
of the child is generally wholly developed, and his speak-
ing capacity begins to develop. We do not, however, wish
by this hint to have it understood that these are the
best, still less the only words, that can be employed with
change of moven^ent. We rather believe and wish that
words might be found capable of being sung and yet bet-
ter suited to the end in view, more closely uniting the
child and play, yet more fully comprising the life of the
child and the object of play, and that such words may be
kindly communicated to us for the better fostering of the
child's life and given wider circulation.
The sphere, therefore, as above stated, moves in the
hollow of the hand or in a saucer. The motherly feeling
which invests all with life, prompts the utterance of that
which the mother's mouth, infusing a higher life, now
sings to her beloved child, lending to the sphere tone,
speech, and song, and therefore a full expression of life,
as if it were an actual living being, thus :
Around, around ;
How happy now am II
Around, around ;
I turn now full of glee.
Be happy thou, like me.
As now this shows the constant movement of the
sphere around a point outside of itself with a simulta-
neous movement around its own center (thus a double
movement), so the constantly recurring movement of the
sphere around its own middle line or axis can also be rep-
resented if the sphere, hanging by a doubled string in the
left hand, is quickly turned around its own axis by the
fingers of the right hand ; the doubled string is in this
way twisted tightly together, and, by slowly drawing the
74 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
two threads apart with the thumbs and forefingers of the
two hands and again letting them run together, the sphere
is kept constantly in an alternating movement, now to the
right, now to the left. The sphere now again expresses
itself to the child visibly through its appearance, but also
audibly through the mouth of the mother ; this audible
expression arouses more thoroughly the senses and life of
the child :
I turn and wind, and, as I go,
The sphere in form 1 always show.
Even these two simple movements not only make a
striking impression on the children, who are as yet simple
and unspoiled, in the second half of the first year of their
life, especially, as already observed, toward the close of
this year, but joyously enchain the attention and rouse
the life of the child.
It seems thus to be proved, by the expressions of the
child even at this age, how important it is for the child's
inner development, as well as for his whole life, that the
deep and firm impression of the self-contained, of the
in-itself -reposing, be made upon the child by the specta-
cle of the sphere in the most different positions — that is,
in and during movement. It is also important that he
should perceive very precisely and definitely the difference
between sphere and cube, since it is quite an essential
distinction between the two that the first appears always
as a sphere in all positions and with the most various
movements ; while the second, in different positions and
yet more with different kinds of movements, makes each
time an entirely different, always changing impression.
It may here be merely mentioned how the sphere illus-
trates, indeed, almost all the exercises, plays, and percep-
tions which can be performed with the ball ; although
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. ^^
on account of the greater weight and hardness of the
sphere very many of the exercises, etc., are more definitely
and clearly shown. Also, on account of the greater noise
and the other properties which are especially connected
with the rolling plays of the sphere, the play with it be-
longs yet more to the floor of the room on which the child,
sitting upon his quilt, can even now already employ him-
self more independently and voluntarily. So, therefore,
from this point of view also, the sphere forms the natural
advance step in the series of playthings which corresponds
with the advancing development of the child.
As it was now assumed and set forth that with the
beginning of the play with the sphere even the hearing
capacity of the child in general is also developed, and his
capacity for speech begins already to unfold, thoughtful
mothers and nurses can enter into a certain reciprocal
speech with the child by definite questions ; for example :
" What does the sphere do ? '\ " It dances."
" But what does the sphere do now ? " " It swings."
" Who dances ? " " Who swings ? "
" Shall the sphere also rock ? "
Joyous assent takes the place of the words in the be-
ginning, as, on the other hand, joyous expectation and de-
termined desire more and more awaken and develop the
capacity for speech ; and so it is highly important that
the fostering and the watching of this capacity be more
and more definitely and consciously drawn out with the
play, and especially that the child be early accustomed to
designate correctly and precisely, as well as to clearly per-
ceive and comprehend everything. The life of the child
will through all this become so much the more a symmet-
rical life developed on all sides.
The cube, as the pure opposite of the sphere, replaces
8
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76 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
the manif oldness of the latter's movements, the mani-
foldness of its use in play (which is caused by the facility
with which the sphere can be moved), by its [angular]
form, by the heterogeneousness of its properties, and espe-
cially by the new ways of perception into which it inducts
the child.
All this, however, makes the play quite a different one,
and the expression of the play is likewise different.
As the cube appears to be the several-sided realization
of the plane surface, so also it requires a plane on which
to stand. As the sphere only needs a point for its sup-
port, so the cube requires a surface, or, what is the same,
several points which lie in a plane. While the sphere can
be easily moved by the slightest touch, the cube stands
firm, or one is obliged to shove, draw, or throw it to
make it move on.
In order now, in the beginning of the play with the
sphere, to make this oppositeness between sphere and cube
perceptible to the child, who is now instinctively seek-
ing the perception of the firm and unmoved, the mother
now places the cube firmly before the child, and says, as it
were, to the cube, and exhorting it :
There, now, stand firm !
Stand firm ! stand firm !
(See Plate II, No. 3.) Or,
We want to see you ; stand still and calm ;
You may trust us to do no harm.
We consider it, as previously stated, in the highest de-
gree important that this co-operating, peculiarly inward
harmony between the child and the surrounding world be
early produced by tone and glance ; for otherwise the
child becomes sooner conscious of oppositeness and sepa-
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 77
ration than of mutuality and union. But all opposite-
ness and separation should appear to man (for the found-
ing of his peaceful relation with all and the increasing
of his powers of action) only on the ground of original
union, as development and methodical arrangement. This
trust which leads to union can not be too early fostered,
since from it self-confidence proceeds at a later period.
It must be the task of all educators to foster, even in
earliest childhood, this confidence in a spiritual as well
as in a corporeal sense, in accordance with the whole of
Nature, and, indeed, of the world.
The mother now takes one of the child's fingers, or
one of his little hands, and tries by slight gradual pressure
to push the cube away, but so that the cube does not move.
The mother now tries to make the child notice this by say-
ing to him at the same time :
The cube will do just what we say,
And in its place will quiet stay.
Or,
Yes, the cube in place will stay ;
We can not now push it away.
But finally the mother overcomes the gravity of the
cube, and pushes it away with the child's hand and fingers,
expressing the child's feeling by singing :
Too long in one place do not stay,
But let us now push you away.
Or,
Do not too long in one place stay,
But hasten now again away.
Here is now found the application of what has been
repeatedly demanded — viz., that as much as possible, and
wherever it is possible, the child's strength, although yet
feeble, and his slight activity, be drawn into the play, so
78 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
that his limbs may be trained into use, his strength be
exercised and increased, and that he may himself experi-
ence and perceive much directly by means of and in his
own activity. What richness and what manifoldness of
development the thoughtful mother and careful nurse can
now arouse in the child, even by means of these few repre-
sentations ! The quiet, firm, sure standing on a relatively
larger surface ; the filling of space by each object ; heavi-
ness, which is expressed by pressure; the final overcoming
of heaviness (gravity) ; and the possibility of moving away
the body by the use of a proportionally greater strength.
The perception of all these and many other facts, show-
ing themselves merely as changing phenomena in oft-
recurring repetition, will give pleasure even to the child
who is scarcely half a year, or at least not a whole year
old, especially when the play is placed in intimate con-
nection with the child's life, and with his impulse to ac-
tivity. So, for example, placing the cube on the flattened
palm of the child's hand, and singing.
Cube presses down your hand, my dear ;
Press it, or it will fall, I fear.
Or, conversely clasping the child's hand round the sphere
or cube, and holding it fast, the mother raises the child's
little arm thus into the air so that the closed hand which
is soon to be opened is turned downward, now making
him remark, in any childish way, the holding fast by
hand and finger of the cube or sphere as she, singing,
says to him :
Your hand is closed the sphere (or cube) around,
And so it falls not to the ground.
Now requiring the child to open his hand, when the
sphere (or cube) drops from it :
Or,
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. ^9
Cube (or sphere) to the ground will quickly fall
If by the hand not held at all.
The cube (or the sphere) will surely fall
If not held up at all.
These plays, or, if you prefer to call them so, these
childish trifles^ could be manifoldly increased, especially
by connecting them ; only one must not willfully go on
with this or that play in opposition to the wish of the
child, but always follow the child's circumstances, re-
quirements, and needs, and his own expressions of life
and activity.
Here a phenomenon from the childish world may be
preserved. The observer of children will often perceive
how children who are yet very small would like to grasp
very many and varied things together in their little
hands, while the hand is too small to be able to clasp
them all. The mother can then perhaps sing to the child
in reference to the sphere or the cube :
The sphere takes up the space, you see,
So where it is cube can not be.
Or, about the cube :
The cube takes up the space, you see,
So where it is sphere can not be.
Or, generally :
Each thing takes its own space, you see.
So where it is naught else can be.
The words place or position may be sung instead of
the word space, in order to secure variety of sound.
Also, one can take the sphere and "cube at the same
time in both hands, but changing each now into one, now
into the other hand. The words already given can be
sung to the child with this motion also.
\
80 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
We now return to notice the quiet standing of the
cube on one of its surfaces as soon as it has been placed
there.
This play will make a wholly different impression on
the child (who is still small, though already somewhat
advanced in ability for noticing and retaining what is
extraneous to him) if we try to place the cube on one of
its edges, and the cube, set free, sinks down on the other
side, since it is impossible for it to retain the middle line,
or rather the vertical plane.
Word and tone increase and confirm the impression
on the child if the attempt and the notice be accompanied
by the words, for example.
It totters here, it totters there,
Too heavy to stand anywhere.
(See the representation on Plate II, No. 4.) It is diffi-
cult, indeed, but not impossible, for the cube to stand on
an edge if it receives anywhere an exterior hold or sup-
port ; if it — as, for example, in No. 5 — rests with one of
its surfaces against another surface, and so through fric-
tion is kept in place.
Even the child whose capacity for speech is as yet un-
developed will remark the cause of this ; at least, expe-
rience has shown us that children of this age drew away
the holding support, and, as the cube then fell over, turned
toward their mother with face and body as in joyous
triumph. Therefore the mother can now sing to her
child this :
Cube can stand on one foot if the right way he'll try.
Can you see, my baby, the real reason why f
Or, the cube placed on one of its edges, and with one
of the other horizontal edges leaning against one side of
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 81
the cube box, or something else, so that the cube now
stands perfectly still, the mother sings to the child :
Lean the cube against the wall,
Then it surely will not fall.
But the illustrations Nos. 4 and 5 may be connected
with one another, as is also the case with others.
" Come, cube, come, stand before baby on one foot."
" See, baby, it will not stand." And now again singing,
" It totters here, it totters there," etc. " Now, cube, hold
fast, that you may not fall."
The mother gives her aid, the child's activity is en-
listed and he assists her, so that the cube finally stands
firm, leaning against something, and, as it were, thus
clinging to it, and now the mother sings to the child :
The cube is held up by the wall,
So it stands firm and does not fall.
If the mother will attempt to enlist the feeble activity
of the child with her own in the play, she will soon see
how the child enjoys his work, though only for the mo-
ment ; later the work will please him for a longer time,
and will finally lead to the quiet individual reproduction
and to the thoughtful individual consideration.
But now the child again quickly grasps the cube and
beats with it on the table. The mother takes up at once
the action of her child, and the effect of that action,
and gives word and tone to both, since she adds, speak-
ing in a singing voice :
Pound ! pound ! pound !
By his pounding cube is able
To make a hole in this hard table ;
It does not seem to feel the blow,
So to another play we'll go.
N
82 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Among the many positions of the cube which the
mother can make use of in playing with her child, there
remains one, that of attempting to place it before the
child on one corner and without support ; but the mother
will still less succeed in this than in placing it unsup-
ported on an edge, and she therefore sings to her observ-
ing child :
On one leg,
On one leg,
Cube can not be made
To stand without aid.
Now she allows the point of the forefinger of her left
hand to rest on the upward-turned corner of the cube,
thus keeps it standing, and says, singing :
But hold it with a finger light,
It does not fall, but stands upright.
But now she tries, by a quickening stroke with the tip
of a finger of her right hand on one of the free corners
of the cube, to turn it round on its own axis ; and, turn-
ing to the child, proceeds to sing :
And as it pleases,
It turns round about.
Now around to the right.
Now around to the left.
Now swiftly turns around, around.
Or she lets the cube itself, as it were, speak to the child,
by singing :
On one leg I stand ; and see,
I turn round so easily.
(See the illustration on Plate II, No. 6.) It is not in-
tended that the impression on the child of the as yet in-
comprehensible words, and the variety of the positions
and movements of the cube, should be without abiding
I
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 83
results ; it is always to be remarked, though at first only
after oft-repeated showing and perception, that the child
strongly wishes to see its nurse produce now one, now
another position of the cube ; now one, now another of
its movements; and, indeed, how he himself at a later
period sometimes attempts to produce the movement
that specially interests him.
The fact has been already brought forward above that
the child soon notices what is requisite for the cube's
standing firmly ; so, too, it will also soon remark what is
the condition for easy movability ; and though it can not
indicate these by words, yet the mother will see how the
child at first tries to fulfill the condition, to give the right
position, and then to make the corresponding experiment.
This remark is founded on facts in the life of children.
Through all that has been done hitherto the child's
attention has been predominantly called to the object as
existing, as filling space, and acting, as well as to its posi-
tion and to the manner in which it fills space, and to the
mode of its action, but only incidentally to the object as
being the identical one ; nor yet to the figure and shape,
nor to the members and parts of the object which ap-
peared so differently in the different positions of the ob-
ject. But attention to the form and figure of the object
can also be utilized for the child in play.
The importance of the consideration of the presence
and absence of an object and its utilization for play, and
in playing with the child, has been already noticed (with
the ball, see first gift). With this we will now add a con-
tinuation to the play ; for repeating the same experience
in different ways with the same object serves to develop
as well as to strengthen the child. Hence the mother
hides the cube in her hand while she sings to her child :
84 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
I see now the hand alone.
Where, oh, where can cube be gone t
The mother thus leads the gaze and attention of the
child to her hand, which he will therefore watch intently ;
the gaze, and even the little hand of the child, will make
an effort to find the cube. As if yielding to this effort,
the concealing hand opens, and the mother says or sings
to the child :
Aha I aha !
My hand has hid the cube with care,
While you looked for it everywhere.
See, it is here !
Look at it, dear.
By this play the child is not only again made to notice
that the cube fills space, but his attention is also called
to the precise form of the cube ; and he will look at it
sharply, unconsciously comparing it with the hand, to
which his eyes were first attracted. But the form of the
cube appears to him, up to this point, as too large a whole,
and composed of too many kinds of parts ; the child's view
of it must therefore be clarified by single perceptions.
Therefore the mother or nurse clasps the cube again
in her hand, but so that one surface is still perceptible,
singing to the child :
Only one side here you see.
Where can now the others be I
(See Plate II, No. 7.) Or, bringing the child's life into yet
more intimate connection with the expression of the cube ;
With but one eye cube looks at you,
And kindly nods, " How do you do f "
The child now attempts by a look or action to open
the mother's hand, and she sings to him :
Though one side was all you saw,
Yet my hand shut up five more.
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 85
Or, in reference to the above-mentioned second percep-
tion :
Cube wanted so much to please you, dear,
That from its hiding it came out here.
Now the mother again incloses the cube in her hand,
but lets two surfaces be seen, and sings :
Two sides are all that here you see ;
But where can now the others be f
(See illustration, Plate II, No. 8.) Or, while the mother
takes the child's hand and fingers and softly strokes the
two surfaces of the cube with them, she sings to the child :
Stroke cube's two cheeks with fingers light,
For mother's hand now holds it tight.
And now opening the hand :
See, my hand was shut round four,
Though two sides were all you saw.
Or, in reference to the second perception :
Cube to my baby will gladly go
As soon as we let it loose — just so.
Again closing the hand, and turning the cube in it so as
to show the greatest possible number — which, however,
is only three — of the cube's surfaces at once, the mother,
while turning it, makes it say to the child :
I twist and turn, go high and low.
Three sides at once is all I show.
(See illustration, Plate II, No. 9.) Since misinterpreta-
tions can not be carefully enough avoided, the observa-
tion should be made that the expressions of number are
here for the child only a difference of sound for different
appearances of the object.
By means of the above-mentioned play, now wholly,
%
86 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
now partly hiding the cube, now wholly, now partly
again showing it, the child will receive the preliminary
impression, to be raised later and at the suitable time by
look and word to a clear perception, to a complete com-
prehension of the cube, the normal form of a great part
of all that is solid and occupies space.
What has been up to this point brought forward here
in a certain succession will of course in the child's play
and the events of the nursery and at the children's play-
table be arranged in a different order, and so it should be.
But mothers and nurses should have within them the
clear perception and deep consciousness not only that a
definite simple law exists behind these varied and acci-
dental plays, and makes itself known in them, but they
should also know ^vhat law thus exists and how it makes
itself known. The child of humanity intrusted to them
for his holy nurture will thus, through silently verified
perception, through the strength, action, and inner co-
herence of the mind, come (within itself, of its own
accord, and at its own time, but certainly at the right
time) to the silent premonition that behind the varied
phenomena of life, apparently accidentally thrown to-
gether, rests quiet and hidden the great law, as simple
as it is clear, of these phenomena.
Man will later so much the more anticipate, find, and
recognize this law of life as it is possible already in child-
hood, the play years of his life, and indeed by this play,
to bring before him certain perceptions in their inner
coherence, in order thus to make the law behind them
shine through them more brightly, and to awaken the
premonition of this law, even in the child as well as later
to awaken premonition of the law of life in the more
grown-up man.
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 87
The previous plays with the cube have taken it up —
including simple, passing, unessential movements with it
— in the condition of rest, as already mentioned in refer-
ence to its space and form ; but it gives the child yet
more pleasure to see it produced in its freeer, more chang-
ing movement.
The simplest is the swinging, and this too in the first
position, where one surface is below and another above ;
in other words, where the string by which the cube swings
is fastened in the center of one of its surfaces.
The mother lets the cube thus swing slowly, and,
infusing her song into the life, the attention, the feel-
ing of the child, in order to bring the movement near
to and into sympathy with him, says, singing :
Swinging, swinging !
By my swinging
Pleasure bringing !
Swinging, swinging !
(See illustration, Plate II, No. 10, and compare, in respect
to position, with No. 3.) Now swinging the cube in an-
other position — viz., that in which one edge appears as
the bottom, and another as the top.
(See illustration No. 11, and compare, in respect to
position, with Nos. 4 and 5.) For a connection with life,
as before, the mother can sing to her child as if the cube
itself were singing the words :
Hung by one edge 1 swing,
Tied to a long, long string.
I like to swing just here,
Now far from you, now near.
oast in the same manner swinging the cube in the
third position, in which one corner is indicated as the
bottom and the opposite as the top, the longest diagonal
\
88 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
line of the cube appears the axis. (See No. 12, and com-
pare with illustration No. 6.) The cube says to the child,
through the mouth of the mother :
Swinging by a corner so,
Very long I seem to grow.
Attentive nurses can here easily observe how even the
smallest child, for whom these plays are intended, with-
out having the slightest notion of the meaning of the
words, perceives the difference between the appearance
and the real shape of the cube — that is, does not leave
this difference unnoticed.
It is early important for the human being, especially
as a child, that the essential perceptions of things should
be repeated frequently under different forms, and, if pos-
sible^ in a particular order, so that the child may early
learn to distinguish the essential from the unessential
and accidental, and the abiding from the changing. Un-
noticed and unrecognized though the phenomena are to
the child, yet the impression of them will be certain and
firm, and this so much the more when the repetition has
been precise and clear.
Twice already, therefore, the cube has been brought
before the child in this manner in its three different
and essential positions, namely : where it rests on a sur-
face (compare Plate II, Nos. 3 and 10), or on an edge
(compare Nos. 4, 5, and 11), or on a corner (compare
Nos. 6 and 12). In the first case a surface transverse
line or surface axis, in the second case an edge-diagonal
line or edge axis, and in the third case a corner diagonal
or corner axis of the cube comes out more prominently
than the others. The aim of the subsequent play exer-
cises is yet more to confirm and render prominent these
perceptions.
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 89
To this end is added to the two stronger sticks de-
signed for later use, a third thinner stick, which can be
thrust through the cube in each of the three principal
directions in which it is pierced. Thus the stick forms,
first, a lengthened surface axis of the cube, extending an
equal distance beyond the two parallel surfaces. While
now the one end of the stick rests on the surface of the
table, and the other end between the thumb and the bent
forefinger of the left hand, the finger tips of the right
hand constantly move and turn the cube around on its
axis by means of this upper end of the stick. The cube
showing its now altered appearance owing to the turning
movement, says, as it were, challenging the child :
Round and round now make me go,
I to you a roller show.
(See Plate II, No. 13.)
The movement itself draws the gaze and attention of
the child, but still more does the wholly new form and
figure in which the cube appears by means of this move-
ment. It is the turning movement around its own axis,
which extends the corners into circular lines, and the
edges into a cylindrically curved surface ; and thus says :
As your fingers turn me here,
Corners, edges disappear.
In the same manner one of the edge axes can be drawn
out, and, as it were, lengthened by the stick, since the
same stick is thrust through the cube from one edge to
the opposite one, and then the cube is turned around its
new axis. (See No. 14.) The cube sings to the child :
If round and round you make me go,
A pretty ring to you I'll show ;
And if you like this little play,
I'll play it at your wish alway.
90 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Finally, rendering prominent the corner diagonal or
corner axis, then turning as before, and singing to the
child for the cube (see illustration No. 15) :
Turn me by the corners two,
Many things I show to you.
Do you like this turning play f
Happy are we, then, to-day.
In the preceding play the cube was indirectly set in
movement by the hand by means of the string or stick.
But the cube, like the sphere, can also, hanging by the
string, be put into a rotary motion directly by the hand.
(See Plate II, No. 16.)
What the child thus notices is put into words by the
mouth of the mother :
In turning the cube, if your fingers are fleet,
The cube, as it turns, makes a round ring complete.
Or the cube* speaks in this way itself :
As strongly now your fingers tap,
I gladly turn at every rap.
If the double string by which the cube hangs has
been twisted sufficiently tight, the player lays the cube on.
the table, takes with each hand one of the two ends of the
string, raises the cube from the table, and lets the string
untwist, accelerating this untwisting at the same time a
little by slowly drawing apart the two ends of the string
^n a horizontal direction, so as to keep the two ends tense.
If the string has now untwisted wholly, the swinging
of the cube will still continue, and the string will again
twist up in the opposite direction. In order to promote
this action the two ends of the string, and hence the
finger tips of both hands, must now again be allowed to
come close together till the string has twisted itself in
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 91
the opposite direction. But when this is now accom-
plished, and the cube begins to turn back again, the slow
horizontal drawing of both ends of the string must also
begin again ; by which means is produced a constant
twisting and untwisting, a constantly alternating turn-
ing, now to the right, now to the left, which can be con-
tinued as long as it is agreeable to the child and to the
one who plays with it. Therefore the mother lets the
cube express by words what the child perceives in the
cube as appearance and action :
I always, always turn around,
To right or left as string is wound.
(Compare illustration, Plate II, No. 2.)
What was done with the cube hanging by the center
of one of its surfaces, or in its surface position, can also
be done with the cube hanging by one of its edges or in
its edge position, and also by the cube hanging by one of
its corners or in its corner position ; so that here again,
also, by a constantly alternating rotary motion, the cube
is brought before the child in its three principal points
of view, as was further shown by the directions for the
ball play, in which also the rolling, gliding, and rocking
movements were considered.
Although the production of the manifold relations and
activities in general, in which the sphere and cube, each
by itself, can appear in play, and as a plaything for your
child, is now concluded, yet it by no means exhausts the
number of illustrations, which also are not exhausted in
the directions for the play. Many things in life yet re-
main to be found and to be presented with reference to
these illustrations.
As hitherto sphere and cube, singly, have been em-
ployed as playthings for the child, the two can also be
9
92 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
used together in several ways for this purpose. We men-
tion here only one of these combinations as the most im-
portant — viz., that the cube rests with great difficulty,
and perhaps never, on the sphere, but the sphere, on the
contrary, rests easily on the cube.
This latter combination, considered as abiding and
firm, shows something quite essential — viz., how the
sphere alone has, as it were, in its form the embodied ex-
pression of the easily movable ; and, on the contrary, the
cube alone has in its form the embodied expression of the
firm, the resting ; so both appear in the last-named com-
bination as the embodied expression of the animate, of
the living thing ; and of the living thing acting spon-
taneously, indeed even remotely pointing to the corporeal
expression of man himself.
Early in life the child delights in round and varied
pebbles ; he seeks and collects them ; he takes pleasure in
the rectilinear and straight-edged bodies, especially those
which are cubical or beam-shaped ; seeks to arrange the
former one upon another and side by side ; carries and
handles the latter like a doll. If, however, the spherical
is joined to the oblong bpdy, then it receives immediately
the spatial expression and the significance of the living
being, and, in fact, of the human living being.
I will venture to assert that it seems as if the child,
even at an early age, dimly anticipates in himself the na-
ture and the destiny of man — to analyze and adjust in
himself and in life the opposites of the abiding and qui-
escent and the movable and moving ; and always, while
adjusting, to represent them in life.
The connection of the spherical and rectangular has
for the child the expression of the human so much the
more as the beam-shaped body in its derivation proceeds
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 93
from the cubical and rectangular to the oblong, tablet
forms, or with sides sloping toward one another down-
ward. But with the delight of the child in its little doll,
the dim and transferred perception of inner life, or rather
the direct feeling of the individual life, is certainly more
predominant than the external perception that compares
the real baby with the doll ; for, even if the child has
never been wrapped in swaddling clothes, and has never
seen a child so wrapped, it will yet enjoy its infant doll
when dressed in that manner. The joy of the child in
its little doll has thus a far deeper, inward, and spiritual
human foundation than is generally supposed — a founda-
tion by no means resting merely in the external resem-
blance and similarity of form. Therefore this joy of the
little child in its dolly is to be held sacred, and thought-
fully fostered. Many human traits develop themselves in
the child by its play with the doll, because thereby its
own nature will become at some time objective, and hence
recognizable to the child and to the thoughtful, observing
parent and nurses. Hence there makes itself visible later,
by and through this, the spiritual difference, the differ-
ence of vocation and life between the boy and girl. The
boy will be longer delighted with the play with the sphere
and cube as separate and opposite things, while the little
girl is, on the contrary, early delighted with the doll,
which inwardly unites in itself the opposites of the sphere
and cube. The inner significance of this fact is, that the
boy early presages and feels his destiny — to command and
to penetrate outer Nature ; and the girl anticipates and
feels her destiny — to foster Nature and life. This comes
out yet more at a later time. As the union of the spherical
and angular is, especially to the girl, a doll, a play-child,
so is the mother's yardstick or the father's cane for the
94 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
boy a horse, a hobbyhorse ; the latter expresses the manly
destiny of the boy, that of invading and ruling life ; the
former expresses the womanly destiny of the girl, the
fostering of life.
We feel ourselves forced to ask parents and nurses
to consider in this way at an early period all phenomena
in the life of the child, all its life indications in reference
to its innermost and spiritual nature. Happiness and
blessedness to the children with whom, and joy and peace
to the parents by whom this is done ! One does not
reply, How could such contrasted ideas and such motives
as those cited, which only come into the comparing, con-
sidering, mature thinking mind, even exist in the child's
dreamlike condition ? We here repeat once more what
we have already said elsewhere. Did it not lie in the
child, did it not live and work in the child, did it not
already define the child's life, it could by no means come
out from it at a later period. Does not the whole tree
life — indeed, the whole vegetable life — work already in
each germinating seed of the tree ? So, also, in each
active child, in each activity of the child, works already
the totality of human life — indeed, of the life of humanity.
We must stop here with this hint concerning the sig-
nificance of the connection of the sphere and the cube,
of the spherical and the oblong angular forms, and must
keep what is further to be said, especially in reference to
the development of art proper, which realizes its ideals in
corporeal forms, till the time when we shall speak of the
doll and the hobbyhorse as the first plays of the awaken-
ing life of the boy and girl.
After this digression, though it is only an apparent
one, we return to the play with sphere and cube, which is
next in order. Would that what is here expressed might
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 95
contribute to realize the purpose so highly important for
the whole life and the clear development of man — viz.,
to consider the life of the child and the beginnings of
its life in its own true, deep significance and subjectivity,
as well as in its relation to the totality of life ; to consider
childhood as the most important stage of the total de-
velopment of man and of humanity — indeed, as a stage
of the development of the spiritual as such, and of the
godlike in the earthly and human.
In the plays which have been discussed the cube was
mostly introduced not only as speaking itself, but also as
speaking of itself to the child ; this is a childlike, true
interpretation of the phenomena of Nature, reality, and
life, according to which each object speaks constantly by
its qualities and attributes to man, and still more to the
child, although in mute speech, in order, as it were, to
link its life with that of the child. It is therefore quite
essential for the outer, and especially for the inner spirit-
ual and intellectual development of man, that the sur-
roundings should speak to him ly their qualities and
attributes so as to he understood ; and besides, that man,
as a child, should be early led not only to understand this
mute speech, but even to make it audible to himself and
others. Therefore, the careful mother, wholly loyal to
her human feeling, seeks early to give the true, the com-
prehensive expression of tone, word, and song to this
dumb though visible speech, and the same is done by the
sympathizing nurses. The mute, quiet, still life may by
this approach the child by tone and speech, so that he
may more and more find, feel, and recognize himself ob-
jectively in it. And so his play, and through the play his
surroundings, as well as, last of all. Nature and the uni-
verse, may become to him a mirror of himself and of his
96 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
life. But this can not be too early begun, if the child,
immediately from the beginning of his self-developing
life feeling, is to grow up in this correlation and ex-
changing comparison with Nature and life, and, indeed,
with the whole universe ; and as he impresses his life
upon external forms, he may so also perceive his life
again therein.
It is quite essential for careful and thinking nurses
to consider yet further (and on that account it was ren-
dered prominent with the ball as the first gift) that the
sphere and cube, and the expositions of them, only give
and are only to give the norm ; only the normal funda-
mental and symbolic perceptions and representations
which can also be symbolized in the same way with other
objects which the surroundings of life offer, and can be
found in them, should be found in them and be explained
by them. But it is highly important for the human
being that early in life, and even as a child, something
normal be given to him, as it were, as a connecting and
comparing measure extraneous to himself (in reference
to himself, to life, and to the correlation of the two),
first, in order that he may recognize a generality and a
unity for all that is particular and individual ; next, that
he may learn to judge of the one by the other. For it is
impossible for man to grasp each individual thing in all
its relations. They do not all alike offer themselves fun-
damentally and on all sides to perception, recognition,
and insight. But if he now thoroughly penetrates and
comprehends one single thing^ he will through this at
the same time also learn in a measure to understand all
other things. Thus, if man comprehends fundamentally,
and in all its relations, for example, the ball, the sphere,
the cube (which are indeed really only one in three), as
^H
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 97
representative, as the norm and fundamental perception
of all that occupies space, and of what is given and de-
manded thereby, he will thus become capable of recog-
nizing, observing, and handling easily also all other things,
even that which stands alone yet is the same in all its
bearings and relations, for he learns to see the manifold
in the single, plurality in unity, and vice versa.
The giving, possessing, and retaining a normal form
which is as simple as it is comprehensive and all-sided, in
which he can easily again recognize every other, is what
is now still so greatly lacking to man from an early period
on through life, less as a means of perception and instruc-
tion than as a means of all-sided development and self-
education.
I will give here a few hints as an indication of the nor-
mal character of the sphere and cube, and how the different
objects surrounding the child should be treated accordingly.
A book lies on the table before the child. It can be
laid, now on one of its two sides, now placed on one of
its shortest edges, now on the long edge. In each of
these positions there are now again three different posi-
tions ; as, for example, in the first, either the back, the
long edge, or one of the short edges turn toward the
child. Likewise, if it stands on one of the shortest sides,
either the back, the long edge, or one of the broad sur-
faces or covers can be turned toward the child.
To each of these positions, as to every other, the
mother and the adult who plays with the child can, as
before, now immediately give speech and significance—
for example, to the book with its back and title turned to
the child :
The title on my back will tell
What is inside. Look at it well.
\
98 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
A rectangular box placed on one of its corners can be
turned around the corner diagonal as an axis :
You must on one corner now turn as I will,
For quite long enough on the ground you lay still.
So the thoughtful mother proceeds with all that she
brings near to her child, and so all that the cube united
in itself can be again perceived separately in different
objects surrounding the child.
So smgle perceptions of the most different objects can
alternate with normal perceptions of the cube and sphere,
as is given and required by life, and by the moment at
which it is done. And again, the various single represen-
tations taken disconnectedly, if the quietness of the child
permit, can alternate with the carrying out of regular
though small series — for example, Nos. 7, 8, 9 ; Nos. 3, 4,
5, 6 ; Nos. 27, 28. The child will always, by degrees and
in the progressive course of its own development, in play
and by means of the play, come to the premonition, per-
ception, and finally to the recognition of unity ^ constmicy^
and conformity to law — yes, of the similarity of the laws
of all developmefit. But this is essentially necessary for
man, as is later on the recognition and application thereof
in his own life for the attainment of the aim and object
of his life. As it is important for him that he himself in
play, even as a child, by play should perceive within and
without how /rom unity proceed manifoldness^ plurality,
and totality, and how plurality and manifoldness finally
are found again in and resolve themselves into unity, and
should find this out in his life.
The representation of other objects by the sphere and
cube has indeed been already connected in many ways
with what has been hitherto brought forward. However,
there are still very many perceptions which there was no
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 99
opportunity to mention in the foregoing pages. So, for
example, the cube can be now a table on which some-
thing is placed for the child. . Again, it can be a stool on
which the mother places her feet ; again, a chair on which
she sits with the child ; again, the hearth on which some-
thing is to be cooked for the child. Again, it may be a
a chest in which something is inclosed; now a bureau
which has been shut up ; now a house with its door shut ;
again, a well which has been covered ; finally, a stove
which has been set up, or a bale of goods which has been
unloaded. Then, another time, it may be a hammer with
which something is to be struck for the child ; once more,
the stick thrust into the edge, a broad hoe ; another time,
the stick thrust into the corner, a pointed hoe with which
a little bed is dug ; finally, a child which turns around ;
a little girl who dances ; a kitten which wishes to catch
its own tail. Then, again, a snowball ; an avalanche
which falls from the roof or the mountain ; a rock which
breaks off and plunges into the valley ; or, placed on its
surface with a perpendicular stick on the upper surface, a
flower pot in which a slender little tree has been planted,
and innumerable other things.
The child will be early led through this representation
to perceive and comprehend one thing under many points
of view, and different things under one reference, and the
common and general in and by means of different individ-
ual things ; and the object will be truly dear to the child
by the variety which it affords to the child's life, mind,
and heart.
Those who have paid attention to this gift, especially
those who have employed it with the children, will remark
(what we, therefore, also can not pass over silently) that
it is actually the inner union of mind and life between
100 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
mother and child, between the child and his nurse, which
gives to this, as well as to all and every play with the
child, the true life, its genuine deep significance and
genuine efficiency, which bring forth buds, blossoms, and
fruit in the child's life. The remark can not escape the
thoughtful mother, that it is actually a threefold love on
the part of the mother which so intimately unites her
with the child, viz., love for the child, love of the means
of play (the united life in and with the means of play or
occupation), and love for the great life-whole, of which
she and the child are both members. In reference to
the varied manifestation of love, one may express some-
thing similar on the part of the child, as also even of the
object of play, the means of play, the latter of which
may be thus described : The means of play awakens,
fosters, and promotes the life of the child, thus mutely,
as it were, making love known to the child. It makes
perceptible the life and love of the mother who plays
with the child ; and, lastly, that it makes apparent its
own life, and so, partially, the life of the surrounding
outer world of which it is a self -active member (Glied-
ganzes), as the warmth of heart and life, to the child
which is made glad, joyful, and contented in play and by
means of the play.
And so, as an inducement to the consideration of the
play in question, and of all, especially of the earliest child
plays, we come to another essential remark : that it is
actually the degree, the stage of the all-sided inner satis-
faction of life, mi7id, and heart, attained by man, which
determines the keynote, the impress and character of his
whole future life.
Thus inner satisfaction, especially contentment of the
mind, is to be early — yes, very early — confirmed and fos-
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 101
tered in the child and secured to him. On this depends
the entire future with its weal or w«)e, tjie whole future
happiness of the life of man, in so fa^-as It i&interndl aCnd
therefore genuine. But the child wiH certainly, attain this
in a high degree if treated in accordance with -bis iainer
most nature, if the child sees the objects surrounding him
treated in like manner, and especially if the surround-
ing human beings show themselves consequently satisfied.
Thus the child at least presages and feels directly the
trinity, or the reciprocal conditioning of necessity^ law,
and love; and finds later the one in the other and by the
other, as the true condition of all genuine well-founded
satisfaction. So now, equipped with this real treasure in
the heart, man can, if fate should demand it, even in boy-
hood, and yet more in early youth, be confidently com-
mitted to the world. For from the satisfaction so deeply
grounded there develop in him, and through the satis-
faction are associated with him, all the other feelings
which bless msm— faith, love, and hope ; self-respect and
the respect of others, as well as the cherishing of others ;
love of and loyalty to life and vocation ; love to God, to
Nature, and to humanity, as well as to each individual
human being as such.
One of the most especial and essential aims of these
plays is to foster and strengthen this satisfaction early in
the child — to cultivate it for the stability of mind, heart,
and life, and to give this satisfaction to him as the great-
est gift for life and on the path of life. But to attain
this, three things must also be considered here in the
plays as well as in all dealings with the child and in all
nurture of his life-tendencies and his tendency to activity
— first, that it is to be done for the strengthening and
purifying of the child's life, thus for the union of the
\
102 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
child with, life and in himself; second, that it be done in
harmony and ^unipYi with the means of employment ; and,
fi'ia4%j thaVii badone for a higher union with the col-
lective^ life^-.whole, tfie aggregate and totality of life, and
',". thp t'; jt , b,ear . ih-e detinite, unequivocal expression of all
this. What we called love above appears here under the
expression union.
With this purpose, therefore, these and the following
childish plays (which delight the child, correspond to
the intellectual needs of the adult, and harmonize with
life and Nature) originated from a loving impulse, and
were formed in order early to foster in the child serenity
of thought and mind, and, on the other hand, early to
keep surliness, disobligingness, and a gloomy spirit of
destruction — the tormenting spirits of life, with their
consequences — far from the child. These tormenting
spirits are given a domicile, especially where the child
can not manipulate, or is not permitted to have control
over, the surrounding objects with his yet weak power ;
where the child, with the impulse of his life yet unsatis-
fied, is, as it were, stifled, and in his deathlike weariness
becomes a burden to himself ; where the child, feeling the
pressure of this impulse of his life, appears obstinate, and
even domineering and spiteful. One can not too early
preserve the child from such phenomena of life, and it
certainly can be done by a correct comprehension and
fostering of his impulse to busy himself.
Since the play with the sphere and ball is intended to
employ the child from the beginning of his second to the
conclusion of his third year, but also is yet further pro-
portionately and correspondingly to employ him, so we
here only intimate that its use also entirely corresponds
to the child's capacity for speech^ and the course of his de-
THE SPHERE AND THE CUBE. 103
velopment of speech in these years. It contains the sim-
ple words up^ down, there, where, how, there, here, etc.
Then the words bond, wall, hand, etc., which all lie
within the compass of the child's present capacity for
speech, and therefore, as they are clearly spoken before
the child, can be exactly imitated by him. The stock of
words embraces objects and also actions and qualities.
Indeed, the production and use of this play certainly gives,
in connection with the plays of the first gift, the ball, a
beautiful point of support to, and point of connection
with, the equally important consideration of the course of
the development of speech in the child.
n
VIII.
FIRST REVIEW OF THE PLAY ; OR, THE MEANS OP FOS-
TERING THE child's impulse T& EMILOY HIMSELF.
Before we advance to the further development of
the means of child play and occupation now lying before
us, and before the variety of these means is too much
divided and scattered, it appears to us above all impor-
tant once more to see precisely what has been up to this
point set forth in words in this connection. For, in all
to which man's activity lays claim, especially in human
concerns, the clear comprehension of the unity, as it were,
of the nucleus and germ of life, and then the entire com-
pass of its variety, plurality, and totality, in their develop-
ment from unity, in accordance with the laws of life, are
above all important. Therefore we stated, even in the
first presentation of the plan of this undertaking, that
always in the progressive course of the carrying out of
the plays, their inner, vital coherence among themselves
as well as with the life and course of development of the
child and with his surroundings (his environment), should
be also shown. Although this has already been done on
each occasion in detail, yet we will here once more take
a comprehensive survey of the whole in general, because
it is in the highest degree important for the healthy, and
particularly for the spiritual, development of the child.
FIRST REVIEW OP THE PLAY. 105
and for the clear and sure fostering of his life as a whole,
on the part of the parents.
The first object through which we sought to develop
from without the total activities of the child, in which we
sought to unite them externally, was the ball ; and, in
contrast with it, as fixed forms evolved from it, the sphere
and the cube.
In and by means of the ball (as an object resting in
itself, easily movable, especially elastic, bright, and warm)
the child perceives his life, his power, his activity, and
that of his senses, at the first stage of his consciousness,
in their unity, and thus exercises them.
By the sphere and cube, on the other hand, the child
becomes himself yet more definitely conscious of his
senses, and also especially of the use of his limbs, exer-
cising them with and by means of these objects.
The ball is therefore to the child a representative or
a means of perception of a single effect caused by a single
power.
The sphere is to the child the representative of every
isolated simple unity ; the child gets a hint in the sphere
of the manifoldness as still abiding in unity.
The cube is to the child the representative of each con-
tinually developing manifold body. The child has an
intimation in it of the unity which lies at the foun-
dation of all manifoldness, and from which the latter
proceeds.
In sphere and cube, considered in comparison with
each other, is presented in outward view to the child the
resemblance between opposites, which is so important for
his whole future life, and which he perceives everywhere
around himself, and multifariously within himself.
But now as man both unites the single, which finds its
\
106 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
limits in itself, and the manifold, which is constantly de-
veloping, and reconciles them within himself as oppo-
sites, there results also to the child from both, from
sphere and cube outwardly united, the expression of
the animate and active, especially as embodied in the
doll.
On the one hand, the child therefore demands the re-
combining of the separated, the reuniting of the disunited.
But, on the other hand, he also demands the separation
of the combined, namely, of that which is still united ;
therefore the child tries to open or divide everything.
Therefore the sphere and cuhe^ each of them divided ac-
cording to its infier dimensions., will be the necessary
advance shown in the next childish plays and means of
employment.
Yet the creating, active life of the child requires that
here also again the attempt be made to combine and unite
the divided in the most manifold way by means of the
child's own activity, as his greatest delight consists in the
quick alternation of building up and tearing down, of
uniting and separating, and to this topic we shall soon
return.
If now we cast an inquiring glance on the forms built
up and arranged together, although soon torn down and
separated again, we shall recognize a number of them as
forms of life imitating surrounding life, or as combina-
tions to produce a single form, and hence predominantly
as forms of beauty ; or, finally, that they are connections
and representations for the purpose of comparison in
respect to form, size, position, etc., thus predominantly
forms of knowledge. Hence we may exhibit our results
as regards these plays and these means of fostering the
impulse to activity in the following tabular view :
FIRST REVIEW OF THE PLAY.
107
The Ball
The Sphere
The Cube
The Doll
(a general expression of the active or living)
both sphere and cube divided in accordance with the
fundamental dimensions in each ; and each independently
again united
in forms of in forms of
t-l
td
W
§••
1
g
«-<
CD
predomin
antly correspond-
ing to
the ]
'eeling and
heart
w
p
o
CD
crq
CD
predominantly correspond-
ing to the thought and
intellect
of the child.
10
IX.
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD AND A CRADLE SONG.
(See Plates in, IV, V.)
Preface. — The outward employment, the child's play,
and his inner world.
It has indeed been stated, even at the beginning of
this undertaking, as a fundamental truth, that the plays
and occupations of children should by no means be treated
as offering merely means for passing the time (we might
say, for consuming time), hence only as outside activity,
but rather that by means of such plays and employments
the child's innermost nature must be satisfied. This truth
has indeed been before expressed ; but, on account of its
deep importance for the whole life of the child and man,
it can not be too often repeated, too impressively stated,
nor can its truth be too often established from all points
of view.
Parents and nurses ! we must unchangeably hold fast
for consideration in life this fact : that in the self-occu-
pation and play of the child, especially in the first years,
is formed (in union with the surroundings of the child
and under their silent, unremarked influence) not only
the germ, but also the core, of his whole future life, in
respect to all which we must recognize as already con-
tained in a germ and vital center — individuality, selfhood,
future personality. From the first voluntary employment,
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 109
therefore, proceeds not merely exercise and strengthen-
ing of the body, the limbs, and the exterior organs of the
senses, but especially also development of the heart and
training of the intellect, as well as the awakening of the
inner sense and sound judgment. We stop here with
the development of the heart and mind, with the germ of
anticipatory intuition, of sensation, and of the character
therefrom developing.
Friends of childhood and humanity ! penetrating ob-
servers of life ! must we not, looking around us, miss only
too frequently in the life of the children true deeply
grounded and firmly rooted love and respect toward their
parents, and especially toward age ? Do we not, when
looking around us, miss only too often in the children
and young people true respect for their elders and genuine
love for- humanity as such (apart from rank or position) ?
Do we not repeatedly miss, with pain, in the mind of the
child and of the youth, trustful respect for and love and
cultivation of the innermost nature which abides and
acts in all beings, and which so readily reveals itself to
the quiet perceptions of the child? It is called indeed
the highest, but it should, more comprehensively for child
and man, be called the deepest, because it is perceived in
the depths, in the innermost, in the most hidden nature
of the child and man.
Do we not too frequently (and sadly) miss, in the life
of children and youth, thoughtful appreciation and trust-
ful respect and love for all which we call holy^ or which
is holy 9 Holy, because we deeply feel and clearly recog-
nize that from its attentive observance health, wholeness —
that is, the genuine healthy and unviolated state of the
whole man (at one with himself), and likewise the col-
lective relations of life — would proceed.
\
110 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Yet we must openly and freely avow, as trutli-loving
and upright human beings, and as beings devoted to the
inculcation of uprightness and truth, that by means of
the above remarks we have comprehended the actual life
and the phenomena of life in their deepest roots.
But perhaps for that reason these remarks have been
also made by others, and frequently. This consideration
need not disturb us, for we immediately go further, and
ask. What have we to do, therefore, that it may be dif-
ferent, wholly different?
We must therefore naturally, above all, develop in
children genuine love for their parents, genuine respect
for age, the respect for their experience and judgment,
which is originally deeply rooted in the child, and love
—yes, yearning — for a share of their knowledge. We
must make their own inner life and its needs felt and
perceived in the minds and souls of children. We must,
by creative activity in the outward world, make them at
the same time observant and active in thought ; but, on
the other hand, we must guard against making them in-
wardly empty by superficial scattering abroad. But, now,
how is all this to be done ? By what can it be promoted,
and in what way can it be attained ?
First of all, and in its very starting points, by leading
the child to perceive and later to recognize by thought,
although by no means as yet to express by words, in the
totality of the outward phenomena around him, as a
single fact of life, but especially in himself as a vivid
emotion and as a feeling, that " my parents and also the
grown-up, experienced people around me, not only exert
themselves to supply the outward needs of my life by
food, clothes, shelter, and even by means of exercise, em-
ployment and play, but they are actually anxious also
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. m
to develop my powers and capacities, to foster my inner
life, to fulfill the requirement of my heart and mind.
And this fostering of my innermost being is actually the
ultimate foundation and aim of all their outward care,
and stands before them actually as the single aim and
ultimate purpose of all their efforts." TJiis collective
perception as a feeling, as a sensation, is certainly as
deeply grounded in the unspoiled child as it is early felt
by him ; for the child perceives Ms life at first as an
inner and innermost, as a single and individual one.
Parents and mothers ! nurses and human beings ! the
proofs of this lie speakingly before you ; only observe
them, only analyze them, only read them and study
them.
Mothers and fathers, nurses ! is it not almost incredi-
ble, does it not arouse great astonishment, to be obliged
to perceive how the child so very early — we might say
even with the first weak expressions of his human life —
appears to distinguish inner intellectual and loving gifts
from outer corporeal ones, or rather to be conscious of
the heart and mind of the giver, to feel the giving spirit ?
Who does not see this in the effect of a friendly glance,
of a sympathizingly spoken word, of a tender care which
often affords little more than sympathy and companion-
ship?
We certainly refer too many of the phenomena of
the earliest child life to the striving after physical well-
being ; whereas, on the contrary, something spiritual is
the cause of them. Of course, in the child, as yet, they
flow into one another ; but there is no question in the
healthy little child which of the two ends or poles is
mostly predominant and by which he is most deeply
aroused, by spiritual or by merely physical influences.
\
112 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
If, for example, the child not yet two months old longs
for his cloak, is already joyously excited when he sees it,
but yet more joyously when he sees his nurse move with
him toward the cloak, take it up, and finally put it on
him — this is not merely in order to be more comfortably
carried, for the child desires to go into the open air, he
knows already the door which leads thither — he wishes
to make a journey of discovery into the world, into the
free Nature which offers to him so much that is new.
As, too, the circumnavigator does not take ship for the
sake of having a sail on the ocean, but in order to extend
his own knowledge and that of mankind, to cultivate his
own mind and that of mankind. For that reason the
child should not be carried past the surrounding objects
silently, unsympathizingly, and regardlessly, but such ob-
jects should, as much as possible, be shown to him from
many points of view and in different situations and rela-
tions. It is a remarkable fact, which every one may ob-
serve, that the mere love for the outward person of the
child, the mere bodily care, does not satisfy him; and,
indeed, the nobler the child is in his nature, and the
more strongly he feels himself spiritual, the less does he
cling to the giving person. He indeed even shuns the
one who merely bestows favors on account of his exter-
nal person. This phenomenon deserves from parents
and nurses many-sided consideration and further elab-
oration.
We also will later return to it ; for it is important
and indispensable to beneficial education to seek out the
phenomena of child life in their innermost causes, in their
most secret laboratory. And thus,. through this consid-
eration, we have found and recognized what we sought,
namely, that the respect and love — yea, the reverence — of
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. II3
children and youth are gained and secured to parents as
well as to elders in proportion to what the latter are doing
for the education of the mental life of childhood in gen-
eral. This respect and this love are gained more particu-
larly by the fact that the child is allowed, according to his
small strength of body and mind and his limited capacities,
to develop early and by himself, yet free, self -active, and
independent, always conscious of a superior protection
accompanying and watching him, but without feeling
the external hand guiding him. For the simple, good-
natured child does not want to be entirely left alone and
abandoned to himself, but he wants to feel, as it were,
the eye and look of the faithful nurse always about him
and above him, really always near him. Would that you
all, beloved parents, might succeed in fostering this feel-
ing and this need in your children, and in making this
feeling and this need grow up in them and invigorate
them, for it is, I might even say, natural to unspoiled
children to come to the unity and fount of all life — to
God — by means of their own life with their parents ; that
is to say, this destiny is necessarily postulated in theii
nature as well as in the development of their life.
Hence the care for the fostering of the innermost,
spiritual life of the child must begin at once with birth,
and must be directly connected with the care for his
bodily life. It must give higher significance and sacred-
ness to the latter, so that the child may feel and perceive
both at the same time in the giver, and, consequently, as
I have already said, the idea may early come to the child
that the bodily care and fostering have besides the outer
meaning also a deeper inner reference.
We must therefore with the deepest earnestness state,
and for the good of all the relations of life demand, that
114 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
the careful fostering of the spiritual inner life of the child
begin far earlier than the precise effects of that life be-
come outwardly manifest, and before the inner delicate
sense of this life be disturbed, or even choked up, by any
kind of influence from without ; for the inner spiritual
perceptions of the child, only too often withdrawing from
our notice, are usually far in advance of their outward
manifestations and effects ; therefore it is frequently much
too late to exert spiritual influence on the child and man
at the time when we believe ourselves still able to pro-
duce the effects of that influence. Parents would indeed
later, as we often hear in life, only too gladly reawaken by
words in the child that higher human sense, that sense of
love and respect for the highest ; but how can the out-
ward inciting word help and fructify when the feeling
not only active but shared with others is lacking as a fact
of life inwardly perceived by child and man ?
One proof of all this is, that it is possible early to ac-
custom the child to purity of heart as well as to cleanli-
ness of body, in the former case discovering itself in feel-
ing and word, as in the latter case, in bodily appearance
and act.
Thus, first of all, before any other reflection aroused in
him from without come to the child, the following obser-
vation as the sun of his whole future life must shine upon
and warm him — the reflection that " the fostering care,
the development and formation, the realization of my
inmost life as a whole in itself, and as a member of a
greater living whole, is the object of all which is done
for me from without ; of all which is done for me by
older people, and especially of all that is done for me by
my parents." If now the lively appreciation of what has
been done to cultivate his inner world by parents and
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 115
other people fill the soul of the child so that he may feel
and find himself at the same time a whole and also a
single member of a higher life unity, then will true love
and gratitude toward his parents, respect and veneration
for age, germinate in the mind of the child. Then will
the vivifying anticipation of the lovingly pervading unity
and fount of all life blossom in his soul, bear imperish-
able fruits in his character and be an abiding quality of
his action. It would be a sign of the unnaturalness of
the child were it otherwise.
To assist parents and children to obtain these highest
gifts and blessings of life is the single and innermost aim
of these plays, of these means of employment. To the
application and suitable use of these we leave the busi-
ness of proving and the manner of demonstrating the
same. We bring forward but one thing more as essential.
If we look into life as it is, we see how the heart and
inner life of mankind, but especially that of the adult, is
now further from that of children than ever, and more
foreign to it. And this is principally because the family
life, and especially the life with the children, the treat-
ment of childhood and youth, is no longer in harmony
with the attained stage of insight into Nature and life or
with its requirements for the development of humanity.
But now man, especially the adult, is to feel his mind
and inner life again approach to unity with the life of
childhood ; so the union of life and mind must grow forth
anew from the innermost life kernel ; and this we hope to
hasten through the nurture of children and childhood
here advocated, since the spirit from which these plays
proceed, and in which they are carried out, is the spirit
of the unity of all life.
It is true that to the first of these plays objection has
116 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
been made, and it has been pointed out as an imperfec-
tion, that in it the child may appear not to have sufficient
voluntary action outwardly and bodily. But much of this
may arise from the fact that the play is as yet only known
in its beginnings, but not in its more extended use and
its further development. But then it may be considered
principally on account of the just stated more compre-
hensive view of the too dependent and too closely uniting
life — by no means as not corresponding to the aim of
these plays if, especially with the first of them, and yet
only in the earliest time of employing them, the child
does not appear to be at once fully and separately occu-
pied bodily and outwardly, but the adult often appears
outwardly more employed than the child. For just this
connecting, outward associated activity between adult and
child is very important, in order that thereby the associ-
ated inner life between them, which is indeed primordial,
but as yet slumbering in the child, may be aroused and
fostered. Besides, it depends first of all on the suitable in-
citing and fostering of the mner, spiritual, voluntary
self-employment of the child in a manner corresponding
to the inner as well as to the outer world of the child,
and to the nature of mankind in general, in order to
make his spirit free, but not on account of the merely
outward activity of his body and limbs. The child's
course of development teaches us this, since the child
comes to the free use of his senses sooner than to that
of his limbs. But if now this inner spiritual employment
is begun in the child — is, as it were, born in him ; if he
has found within himself even in its first germs the art
(high, indeed, but yet lying near the child) of employ-
ing himself in a manner suited to his inner nature ; and
if he has discovered by and in himself the use of this art,
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. II7
then follows directly through it the art of outward and
bodily employment by means of which the child himself
represents and accomplishes, and, indeed, just as was pre-
scribed, proceeding from the spiritual and referring back
to it ; and thus will be attained the object which is the
sole one in the fostering of childhood — viz., development
and vivification of the inner world of each human per-
sonality, and so for the pure, common life of humanity
in mind and spirit, and for the innermost union with all
which is called life, therefore pre-eminently with the fount
of life, the unity of life itself.
If now in this way even the two former play gifts, of
which, however, the second was only partially brought
out in its full extension, quite essentially contribute to
the attainment of all the exalted blessings and gifts of
life above mentioned, and indeed to the foundations of
life, this occurs more variedly in the third play gift which
we here lay before the parents and friends of children for
use and examination. Because this gift includes in itself
more outward manifoldness and at the same time makes
the inward manifoldness yet more perceptible and mani-
fest.
Let us, therefore, first of all hasten to place ourselves
together in the children's play-corner of the family room,
or at the play-table of the nursery, and there seek to dis-
cover what attracts the child to it in the beginning of his
employment of self, or rather by what and whither he is in
himself attracted, what he conformably to this attraction
would like to represent outwardly, and what he needs for
the purpose. Let us take our place there as quietly and
as unnoticed as possible, observing how the child between
the ages of one and three years, after he has contem-
plated the form and color of the self-contained body
\
118 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
which he can handle, has moved it here and there in his
hands, and experimented upon its solidity, now tries to
pull it apart, or at least to alter its form in order to dis-
cover new properties in it, and to find out new ways of
using it. If the little one succeeds in his attempt to
separate the object, we see that he then tries to put the
parts together to form the whole which he at first had, or
to arrange them in a new whole. We see that he will
unweariedly and quietly repeat this for a long time.
Thus, after comprehending the outside of the object,
the child likes also to investigate its inside ; after a per-
ception of the whole, to see it separated into its parts ; if
he obtained a glimpse of the first, if he has attained the
second, he would like from the parts again to create the
whole.
Let us linger over this expressive phenomenon, and let
us seek first of all to recognize through it what we have
to furnish to the child from inner grounds and without
arbitrariness, as a plaything for the next play, after the
self-contained ball, after the hard sphere, every part of
which is similar, and after the single solid cube. This
is : something firm which can be easily pulled apart by the
child's strength, and just as easily put together again.
Therefore it must also be something which is simple, yet
multiform ; and what should this be, after what we have
perceived up to this point, and in view of what the sur-
rounding world affords us, but the cube divided through
the center by three planes perpendicular to one another,
as the third gift of the children's playthings.
The Nature of this Gift. — With this plaything we now
begin a whole series of such playthings, each of which, as
was the case with those that preceded, necessarily evolves
from the preceding one, viz., the series of cubical rectilin-
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 119
ear solids and those which are naturally derived from
them. The principal cube appears separated by the men-
tioned division in this play into eight equal cubes. The
child thus distinguishes here as a given fact, and without
any words (purely as the perception of an object), a ivhole
and a part^ for each component cube is a part of the prin-
cipal cube. The component cubes have the same form as
the principal cube ; thus what the principal cube shows
once in respect to its form^ the component cubes show
together as often and as repeatedly as there are cubes.
This is uncommonly important for the child as a strength-
ening exercise and a review for clearing up the subject.
He thus again distinguishes purely as a perceptible fact
the size from the form^ for each component cube shares
indeed the cubical form of the principal cube, but not
its size. However, one and the same size is again shown
by each of the component cubes, hence again as often as
there are component cubes. Therefore, by this simple
play the ahoye-mentioned fundamental perceptions, whole
and part, form and size, are 7nade clear by comparison and
contrast, as well as deeply impressed by repetition. The
child further perceives, as a fact, position, and, what is
yet more important, arrangement (compare Plate III,
No. 1) ; for before him is shown an above and below,
an over and under, a behind and before, etc. Hence,
one upon the other, one behind the other, and one beside
the other, etc.
The child distinguishes, as a perception of fact, outer
and i7i7ier — indeed, he can make the inner outer, and the
outer inner. This important perceptible fact is shown
to the child, and the child can repeat it as often as he
pleases. The inner, as soon as it becomes perceptible to
the organs of sense, becomes immediately the outer ; the
S
120 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
inner as inner, on the contrary, can never really be per-
ceived by the outward senses.
We see thus already, from these few examples, that
this simplest of all the playthings which contain a truth
includes in itself also for the child a constantly and
progressively developing series of perceptions suited to
the increasing inner development of the child. We shall
yet find occasion, in the course of the exposition, to ren-
der prominent several of these. For the longer and more
profoundly we employ ourselves with this first divisible
plaything in child life, so much the more manifoldly and
symmetrically there unfold themselves in it the properties
and nature of the outer world in exact proportion to the
capacities of the child, to his stage of inner and outer de-
velopment, and to the degree in which that world dis-
closes itself to him. And this plaything appears to the
child as a key to the outer world — as an awakener of his
inner world.
Let us consider this for a moment, for it is as impor-
tant for the comprehension of the course of development
of the child as for the recognition and comprehension of
the outer world.
How and through what now is the latter first of all
accomplished ?
By the use of this gift are recognized, comprehended,
and represented, gradually and increasingly, the general
in the particular (for example, in the center of each par-
ticular cube surface, the center of every square surface) ;
the most general in the most particular (for example, in
a particular corner poijit of the cube, the point in and
for itself) ; unity in the individual (for example, in that
particular cube, the properties and nature of bodies which
occupy space) ; the simple and unital in the various and
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 121
manifold (for example, in the various edges of the cube,
the nature of the line, its directions, and the points from
and to which it is drawn).
But now how does this gift awaken and develop the in-
ner world ? In this way, that by means of it become percep-
tible the general as a particular (for example, the straight
line as one particular edge) ; the single as an individual
(for example, the point as such, as a particular corner
point) ; the inner as an outer (for example, the inner prin-
cipal dimensions of the cube, as outer edges) ; that which
is felt and thought, as a thing which has shape (for exam-
ple, the whole as a cube) ; and the unity, the simple, as a
plurality, a manifold thing (for example, each of the
three inner principal dimensions, 'dsfour edges which are
parallel to one another) ; and thus the invisible beco7nes
perceptible in the visible.
This apparently insignificant gift, the first in the series
of divisible gifts composed of parts, corresponds to this
high demand for the development of the human being,
and finally of humanity, as well as for the knowledge of
Nature ; and thus through both, and united in both, for
the genuine kiiotuledge of God. But as its fundamental
form is not only rectilinear, but is more precisely a right-
angled parallelepiped, the plaything shows also the ulti-
mate type of most of the shapes which surround the child
as quiescent, stable, and firm, especially the ultimate type
of structures put together by human hand which stand
in their substantiality around the child. Hence this
play becomes to the child the key to the outer world.
But this play, through this great generality of form, and
the capacity of its parts for being easily put together
and joined, which is due to this generality, is also an
equally excellent means of awakening the inner world.
122 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
For just this play in its adaptability to the child makes
it possible not only that the invisible thought may be
formed, but also that the inner simple thought may be
represented visibly in an outward manifoldness.
Here, then, we meet as a very great imperfection and
inadequateness — indeed, in reference to the inner develop-
ment of the child an obstructing, and in reference to its
outer knowledge a disturbing element, and in both cases
an element actually destructive to the child — an element
which slumbers like a viper under roses, in that which is
now so frequently provided as a plaything for children ;
it is, in a word, the already too complex and ornate, too-
finished plaything. The child can begin no new thing
with it, can not produce enough variety by means of it ;
his power of creative imagination, his power of giving
outward form to his own idea, are thus actually dead-^
ened ; as when we provide children with too finished
playthings we at the same time deprive them of the in-
centive to perceive the particular in the general, and of
taking the means to find it (for example, to see in the
general cubical form, and in the grouping of the parts
now a piece of furniture of a house or room, now an
animal, etc.).
The plays, the first of which is here given, not only
avoid this just-mentioned fault, and supplement this just-
recognized incompleteness, but they contain more by far,
as even this first play of this stage already shows.
We have repeatedly said, and every one can observe,
that the nature of the child is to feel and experience^ to
act and represent^ to thi7ik and to recognize, and that in
this threefold yet single nature are included the totality
of his expressions of life and of his activities.
The plaything in question corresponds to and wholly
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 123
satisfies this threefold expression of the human nature (in
itself single) and of the child's life by rendering possible
the representation and construction of forms of heauty,
life^ and knowledge^ as was already intimated and indicated
even in the former review.
True knowledge of Nature and the outer worlds and
(especially) clear self-knowledge^ early come to the child
by this dismembering and reconstruction and perception
of real objects, although by no means as yet by verbal
designation of the various products of the activity and
of the inner life of children. Even the first plaything
of this series leads to clear and distinct, to general and
simple conceptions ; it leads to the clear arrangement of
the feelings, and to the supervision and control of the
emotions ; it leads to a productive, judicious use of energy,
and all this even when life still rests in undisturbed unity
within the child ; and so it ought to be. Perfectly suit-
able to the child is now
The Use of this Plaything. — By means of this play, as
of all following plays of the kind, incentive as well as ma-
terial is to be given to the child (now between one and
three years old) freely to develop and to exercise of his
oivn accord the whole of his powers and talents in a
manner suited to the corresponding stage of life and
culture.
In order to furnish to the child at once clearly and
definitely the impression of the whole, of the self-con-
tained (from this perception, as the first fundamental
perception, all proceeds and must pi;oceed), the play-
thing, before it is given to the child for his own free use,
is taken out of its paper covering and again arranged in
the box which belongs to it ; the cover of the box is now
drawn out about a quarter of its length, the box is turned
11
124: PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
over, placed with the partly drawn-out cover on the table
before the child, and then the cover is wholly drawn out
from under the box. The cube contained in it will thus
sink on the surface of the table. The box is now raised
up carefully in a vertical direction from the plaything,
which will thus appear before the observing child as a cube
closely united, yet easily separated and again restored. This
first careful presentation of this plaything in conformity to
its aim, and in respect to the child and his inner nature, is
by no means incidental, but, on the contrary, quite essen-
tial ; for the child receives by means of it the clear, definite
impression of a self-contained whole, which, as he soon
perceives, is nevertheless separable into its component
parts. Since now the child . is intent on seeing the new
play, the first impression of it will be full of life, and so
an abiding one ; and nothing is more important for the
child than that his first impression of each thing should
be that of a body reposing on its own basis, all of whose
parts belong together. Therefore the first and earliest
impression of the neatness and order of the family room,
or even of the children's room, the nursery, is so pre-
eminently important for the child.
We can not here pass over unmentioned the remark,
essential for the whole life of the child and his course
of development, that phenomena and impressions which
seem to us insignificant and are often mostly unnoticed
by us have for the child, and especially for his inner
world, most important results, since the child develops
more through what seems to us small and imperceptible
than through what appears to us large and striking. Let
us thus recall vividly to our remembrance, and for the
welfare of our children let us never forget, that from its
beginning in the smallest and most imperceptible there
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 125
goes forth into Nature and into life and development of
child and man as a whole and a member, what later on
has such great and comprehensive effects ; hence — wholly
contrary to the commonly prevailing view at the present
time — the observation of that which is small, and even
imperceptible^ is notvhere more important than in the
children's room, and therefore in the family room.
We can not permit ourselves here to suppress two
other remarks not less important to us in their deep
foundation. The first is, that to the child the outer
world develops, advances, and improves according to the
same law, and in similar order with the creation of the
world, and, above all, of the earth, as we are informed
by the Holy Scriptures. The second remark is, that the
child's garden of paradise, its Eden, is the nursery and
family room, the father's house and premises.
We can, however, here not carry further these passing
remarks — to which at some later time particular atten-
tion will be devoted, but whose importance, here only in-
timated, is already explicitly admitted by each parent or
nurse — but we must return to the use of the plaything in
question.
The cube, which is divisible into parts, lies as a whole,
as a unit, before the child. The child wishes to touch, to
handle what it sees ; one of the component cubes is dis-
placed, and it or another falls finally in consequence;
but the cube appearing as a whole is to be examined as
to its contents and its separability, and so begins the
arrangement of the parts separately and afterward, to-
gether in the most varied ways, according to the require-
ments of the selfhood and individuality of the child;
and here again the parts are placed now one on another,
now one behind another, and now one beside another.
126 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Experience has shown that healthy, vigorous, and also
lively children have employed themselves quietly and
thoughtfully by themselves for a considerable length of
time arranging the cubes together on different plans, but
the plan once chosen is adhered to.
What shall now the true, careful nurse do with it ?
She ought to let the child, as long as he will, play quietly
and thoughtfully by himself. If the child demands sym-
pathy with look and voice, what he does should be point-
ed out by words ; for example, as the child piles one cube
on another, she says, " Up, up, up " ; if he places them
beside each other, she says, " Near, near, near " ; so with
" behind " and " before," so with " from " or " down," etc.
But she can also sing this in changing notes, " Near, ilear,
near," or " Up, up, up," singing " up " with a rising tone
and " down " with a falling tone.
Soon after this it will give the child pleasure to con-
nect with one another separation and union, arranging
together and separately ; this also is accompanied with
the words and the measured singing tone, " Up, down ;
up, down " ; or " To and fro ; to and fro," etc. ; or with
more extended change of tone, " Up there, down here ;
up there, down here," etc. This change of the tone not
only outwardly accompanying but even directing his ac-
tion and so vivifying his play, this play of word and tone
will soon please the child ; the little one will not only
wish and demand it, but even imitate and accom-
plish it.
If what the child does shows no precise relation to
space, and the nurse would like to accompany the child's
activity by the singing change of tone, she sings to him
in different notes of the scale :
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 127
1 2 3
" One, one, one,"
or
" One and one, and one again,"
or
1 2 3
" One, two, three,"
etc.*
If at another time she is carrying the child, and wishes
to quiet him, she sings a whole little song to him :
[2]
55 33 3255533 221
Up and down and | down and up, | up and down and | down and up;
or [2]
1 S^ — ,3 5 5 1 3^ — ,2 1
One, two, and | three ; | three and two and | one
or
B, — .8 7^ — .7 6,^^6 5 6^ — ^6 5,^^5
One and two and | three and four ; | one and two and (
[3]
4 4 3 2 5 1
Three and four ; | one and two.
The child will now no longer remain unaffected by
these little songs, but remembrances and perceptions will
become awakened in him ; and so he becomes at the same
time feeling, thinking, and reflective — that is, aroused in
all-sided life-harmony. So it comes to pass by degrees
that the child not only perceives the tone emotionally in
himself, but, I might say, hears it in and from the dumb
body.
Who does not see already from this what a rich vari-
ety is developed even from the simplest application of
* By the figures are indicated the tones which are to be sung to
the words, 1 representing the keynote, 2 the note which naturally
follows it, and so on. The figures at the beginning point out the
number of principal parts in each measure.
128 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
the first occupation with this plaything? Who could or
would exhaust even this ? Enough ; we see that the
child will be already educated, in the innermost harmony
of the life proceeding from God's own nature, to value,
foster, preserve, and exhibit that life from himself and
through himself, ivhich is indeed the ultimate and high-
est object of all education^ of all life. And we have this
aim clearly before our eyes and in our hearts by these
plays, even from the birth of the child.
The child will for a long time now indeed occupy him-
self, partly alone and partly in conjunction with his nurse,
in the simple arrangement of the blocks separately and
together, and with frequent repetitions ; but he wil^soon
be incited by the idea of combining, or arranging some-
thing (for example, a star), by moving the blocks to and
from one another, and will make the attempt.
The intelligent nurse now interprets this dim idea in
the child, and sees whether a something (for example, a
table, a bench, a chair, etc.), or a plurality of objects at
the same time (for example, two chairs, two benches,
chair and bench, or table and bench, etc.),* can be per-
ceived in what is represented. What is suggested by the
imagination and caprice of the moment is now expressed
by word and tone ; for example :
586351 585351
A table, a table, a table ; a chair, a chair, a chair.
But this now no longer satisfies ; the child, though as yet
very dimly, connects with the something the perception,
the idea, of a purpose for this something ; for example, he
connects with a chair or bench the idea that some one can
sit upon it. But still further, as the bare something does
* Compare the illustration on Plate IV, Pigs. 14 to 24.
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 129
not now satisfy the child, so also he is not satisfied by
the bare purpose of this something ; but he also demands
that this something stand in connection with himself, at
least with his life or with somebody or something in his
life, for example, the chair (Plate IV, Fig. 18) :
" This is grandmamma's chair, on which she sits and
takes the child on her lap when he is quiet, and tells him
a story. Come, grandmamma, come, there is the chair ;
you can sit down. Come tell a story to the child." So
says the mother, as it were, from the child's mouth, and
then goes on : ** The grandmamma is not there ; she is in
the kitchen making soup for father ; or she is planting
flowers in the garden, little flowers for sister."
" Come, grandmamma, bring the soup ; the table is
ready ; the benches also are standing by it " (Plate IV,
Fig. 17). The mother goes on talking for the child, and
so carries on a dialogue with him.
Another time the child himself arranges all the blocks
to form a well (See Plate IV, Fig. 24.)
" From the clear spring which flows in there, grand-
father draws water when he is thirsty; mother draws
water from it to water her flowers, or to wash her dear
child."
A slight alteration, and it appears the next time as a
drinking trough. (See Plate IV, Fig. 25.)
•' The drinking trough is so long that the cow and its
calf, the horse and its colt, may quench their thirst from
it at the same time."
There come the herdsman and the herd :
" The herdsman drives before him horse and cow, calf
and colt ; the colt is galloping after the horse, the calf is
frisking after the cow."
At a somewhat more advanced age little stories may
130 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
be told to the child which may be altered in the niost
various ways ; the whole cube, for example, is arranged in
the representation given in Plate IV, Figures 22 and 23.
They may be considered as ladders ; then the mother says :
" Father let his neighbor's son Fred pick cherries from
the tree in the garden ; he went there and wanted to get
the great heavy roof ladder ; but when he wanted to stand
it up, it fell and broke. ' See, there it falls ! ' The gar-
dener, Frank, saw it, and said, ' The heavy roof ladder
does not belong in the garden, but the light double gar-
den ladder.' Fred saw that Frank was right, and went
to get it. ' See, there it stands ! ' (Fig. 23.) And now
he climbed up high and picked beautiful cherries, but he
gave some to Frank and to mother and father."
Thus result for each design the most various percep-
tions and the most manifold applications to the life of
the child. We must here content ourselves with these
few hints, and in respect to the further details, we must
refer to the play, to the description, and to the directions
for its use, and to the text for the play itself. Enough !
the child is allowed the greatest possible freedom of in-
vention ; the experience of the adult only accompanies
and explains. Yet the nurse in charge may also request,
" Make a chair once more."
All this in reference to the forms of life represented
by the plaything ; these inventions of form may perhaps
more manifestly to the child's understanding be called
object forms, or forms of things ; for example, " Come,
we will make an object — a thing ^ " What kind of an
object^ what kind of a thing have you made ? " It is
here quite essential to remark that all the eight cubes
always belong to each design — that is, they must stand
in some relation to the whole. Thus the child could
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 131
indeed have made the design (Fig. 23), for example, so
that the ladder should be formed of two times three
cubes, and one above, connecting the two sets ; hence, of
seven cubes; in this case the eighth cube must be the
"hand basket in which the cherries were picked, and
which is now so full that nothing more will go into it."
So with this play nothing need ever exist without a
relation to something else, nor must anything appear
without relation, as also in actual life nothing ever exists
anywhere separate and without relation. Only our gaze
is often too weak, our eye too short-sighted or too far-
sighted always to notice and to recognize this ; but so it
ought not always to remain. And to develop man's inner
as well as his outer eye from an early age for the near
and distant relations of life, for perceiving them rightly,
and for seeing through their inner coherence, is one of
the ultimate and highest aims of these plays for the wel-
fare and blessing, for the joy and peace of the individual
human being as well as of humanity.
We now advance further in the exposition of the use
as well as in the introduction into the spirit of the play.
Another time the child makes from the whole eight
cubes a form in which there are none too many, none too
few ; each is in its right place ; but we can not say of the
design that it is any particular object^ we can not say it
is any particular thing ; only it is a something, for all the
eight cubes are used in it, and also the whole eight cubes
seem necessarily to belong to it. And so the design says,
as it were, silently and always anew to the inventor and
observer, "Take notice! take notice!" (HaV Acht !)*
and we observers do not know how to explain this to our-
selves ; we do not know whether the design means to say
* HaV Acht means " have eight " Hi well as " Take notice." — Tr.
132 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
to us that it has eight (Acht) members or parts, or if
it means to say to us observers that we should notice
(beachten) it. This much is certain, that it begins as
an external phenomenon, and becomes in us as a presenti-
ment; it wishes to appear something to us, and we say
involuntarily, " It is beautiful." * It appears to us some-
thing, but we do not know what is formed by it ; we
call it a picture, and it will look now like a flower, the
inner life of which blossoms out, as it were, in outward
appearance — its inner unity in outward manifoldness ;
now like a star, in which its inner individual being
breaks forth into the manifoldness of its rays. We can
do no otherwise than call these forms beautiful, or rather,
in one word, as they themselves are but one in themselves,
beauty -forms; or, in the mouth of the child, picture-
forms ; often, however, but not always, flower-forms, and
still less often ^^o^r-forms. It is enough that unity always
shines forth from them as the one light shines forth from
the star ; they are, to the inner nature, to the mind and
feeling, not only something, but something very delight-
ful, without, however, being a something, an object, a
thing of outward use in life.
But now how shall we bring to the child's perception
this inner unity manifesting itself in the form and by
means of it, as if the self- moving unit were a light with-
in the form ? To say, " That is beautiful " is indeed very
fine ; but what does our child know about it ? To say " It
is pretty " is indeed true, for it makes prominent one form
rather than another ; yes, it effaces the other. But how
* Here is another one of Froebel's puns or etymologies. What
appears scheint (shines), and this is schon, or beautiful. The same
punning is continued below in formed (gebildet) and picture (Bild).
— Editor.
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 133
^hall we make this perceptible to the child ? Just through
raising, through moving, as the light and the brightness
ray out and send their beams upon its path.
Let us also now go on this path ; let us move and re-
move what moves and removes itself by its own efforts,
although for the outer eye it stands still. For instance,
the stone always moves [inclines to move] toward the
depth [center of the earth], although it apparently lies
still before us ; as the bud or the blossom on the plant
always strives upward and actually rises constantly, and
yet to a brief observation can not be seen to move.
Although the child does not now understand the mute
language, the word expressed by the visible shape of the
object, " Take care," yet we will notice it ; since we en-
deavor to perceive the inner speech of things, the speech
of Nature and of living facts.
Practice and experience will later show that it makes
no difference here from what form we proceed, or whether
we go forward or backward from this form.
We proceed, therefore, to our lesson on Fig. 1, Plate
V. What do we now notice here? Four cubes stand
close together in the center. Four others stand around
them less close, and, we might actually say, movable. But
what now is shown to us by this relation of the four outer
movable cubes to the four inner quiescent firmly standing
cubes ? It shows that surfaces or sides join surfaces or
sides. But the cube shows also edges or lines. Just as
surfaces joined surfaces, or surface touched surface, so
can and must edges join edges, or edges touch edges.
But if, now, surfaces can join on to surfaces, edges on
to edges, and so always the like can join to one another,
so also, therefore, in the progressive course and completion
of the development and movement, opposites can and must
134 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
unite or join with one another, edges with surfaces a
surfaces with edges. Now, how is all this to be made per-
ceptible to the child in the simplest way ? As already
said, by moving and removing. We begin with the ar-
rangement of Plate V, Fig. 1 ; we move one after another
of the four outer cubes which now stand with surface
against surface, round to the left or right (application of
the earlier ball game), so that now edges come to end in
(i. e., touch) edges (see Plate V, Fig. 2) ; then further,
edges touching surfaces (Plate V, Fig. 3), and finally sur-
faces touching edges (Fig. 4, Plate V) ; and we have thus
attained and represented before the child's eye what we
wished : we have made manifest and clear the inner unity
of the shape in the manifoldness of the movements in and
through the change of shapes, and the child will soon
give evidence through lively gestures and looks that he
finds this dance of shapes beautiful ; he will soon find the
word beautiful descriptive of this dance, and will of his
own accord designate it as beautiful when repeated. How
now invite the child to the exhibition and consideration
of this change of shape ? By the thing itself : " Come,
child ! we will dance the cubes once more. But in order
that they may not be tired, always let each wait a little ;
now dance around to the right, now around to the left."
(Plate V, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4.)
" Come, child ! we must also sing for the dancing " :
ro-i 113 3 5 5 3
L'*J Face to face put ; | that is right, |
8 8 7 7 6 6 5
Edges now are | meeting quite ;
6 6 5 5 4 4 3
Edge to face now | we will lay,
2 2 115 5 2 1
Pace to edge will | end the play.*
* The figure 2 at the left hand means that there are two half-
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. I35
The same alterations that have been made with the
four outer cubes, or changes similar to them, can now also
be undertaken with the inner. The four cubes, hitherto
quiescent in the center, can now unfold their activity also.
(Compare on Plate V, Figs. 1, 5, and 8 ; also 3, 6, and 7 ;
2 and 10 ; 4 and 12.)
Singing can then accompany this action, thus :
Only the outer blocks
Seem now to go,
For the four inner blocks
No movement show.
But all this seeming is only show.
Inner makes outer this way to go.
Its rule is quiet, but we shall see
It makes the inner the outside be.
So, for example, with the above-described last develop-
ment of the four inner cubes (from Fig. 4 to Fig. 12),
one can now also return from Fig. 12 through Figs. 11
and 10 to 9 ; so that now again the four inner cubes re-
main standing unaltered ; and the four outer cubes, on
the contrary, move around the first in a dance, as it were,
either round to the right or round to the left, or alter-
nately to the right and to the left (Plate V, Figs. 12 to 9).
We deliberately give prominence to this example and
to this change of form in order to show that, with this
treatment of the child's plays, no undue pressure has been
put on the course of development of the child, or on the
expression of its inner nature in shaping and making
forms, but that, as in Nature, the whole can be compre-
hended from each point and continue to be developed
vitally and connectedly.
notes to each measure and the number over the words signify : the
1 = do ; the 3 = mi ; the 5 = sol, etc. — Editoe.
136 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
During the formation of these and similar series of
shapes, something like the following may now be sung
to the child :
rqi 5 8 7 6 6 5
L*^J In I joyous dance | going,
5 6 5 4 3
In I frohcsome | play;
3 2 3 2 5 5
We j unity | showing
3 5 5 4 2 1
Reveal the whole al- | way.
Or,
As in our dance we wind,
A garland now we bind.
In all our changes we
Keep unity, you see ;
And so our little play
Brings you much joy alway.
This may here suffice as a hint for the introduction to
the exhibition of the forms of beauty to the child's life.
For what concerns their more extended treatment I must
repeatedly refer to the description accompanying the play-
thing itself, and to the text.
These forms could also be called dance forms, as we
speak of the dance of worlds, of the dance of the seasons,
the dance of Nature in general. Dance forms are forms
possessing totality, total forms in which each individual
heeds and obeys the whole ; dance forms, wherein each
individual is there on account of the whole and the whole
on account of the individual. [That is to say, the posi-
tion of each one of the cubes is determined by the others
through laws of regularity, symmetry, and harmony ; the
whole determines the part.]
Yet in the progressive course of creative activity there
will originate from and by this activity forms which can
neither be classed with the forms of the first nor with
those of the second kind. These are to be designated
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. I37
neither as forms of life or object forms, nor as forms of
beauty or picture forms (for example, Plate III, Fig. 2).
Suddenly as by a blow or cut appear two in the place of
one : in the place of the whole appear parts — two parts. I
feel that the parts are exactly alike ; they are two halves,
two portions of the whole. What does this experiment
now tell me ? It tells and teaches me that I can separate
a whole, that I can separate it into two parts, into two
halves, into two portions. Bodies can thus have different
sizes ; bodies can have the same size ; moreover, the two
halves have a different form from the cube, though the
form of each half is like the other.
Again, in another lesson the whole is divided in a dif-
ferent direction, into two halves (Plate III, Fig. 3). Each
part is, in reference to the cube, the same as before.
Again, there are two parts which are equal parts, two
halves, and yet in reference to the person who creates
the new combination, exhibits it and observes it, all is
quite different ; there the two narrow sides, here the two
broad ones, are turned into view. The parts are placed
differently as well in reference to the cube itself as in ref-
erence to the observer ; it is therefore the different posi-
tion which here attracts attention. The cube, so arranged
and considered, teaches therefore that like parts can have
different positions'. And hence these different groupings
have taught us and brought to our knowledge the fact that
groups or bodies can be looked at and contemplated, first of
all, in respect to their /orw, size., and position., but, second-
ly, in respect to their comhination. For the two halves of
the cube remain the same two halves in respect to their size,
form, and position, even if their broad sides are again
joined to form the whole cube. But what the cube has
taught to the child by this, what he has learned and recog-
\
138 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
nized, is also true ; and hence, therefore, these forms may
be called forms of truths forms of knotvledge, forms of in-
structmij indeed, for the child they are most suitably
called forms of learning. But could forms of knowledge,
truth, and instruction and learning be for a child from
one to three years old play forms, and thus forms of cre-
ative independent activity ?
Well, why not ?
Arrange all the eight part-cubes together (Plate III,
Fig. 1), and say, " One whole." But divide it immediately
(Fig. 2 of the same plate), and say " Two halves ! " Re-
peat now the union and separation several times, singing :
One whole, two sides ; one whole, two sides.
Another time :
One whole, two parts ; one whole, two parts.
Again, another time :
One whole, two halves ; one whole, two halves.
What a variety of changes through this use of different
words and tones ! But the change of position can also be
brought into combination with it, for example :
One whole (Fig. 1, Plate III), two sides (Fig. 2, Plate III) ;
One whole (Fig. 1), two sides (Fig. 3) ;
One whole (Fig. 1), two sides (Fig. 4).
The next time " two parts " can be sung instead of
" two sides," and again a third time " two halves." More
variety still can be brought into the whole by changing
both word and position, for example :
One whole (Fig. 1, Plate III), two sides (Fig. 2) ;
One whole (Fig. 1), two parts (Fig. 3) ;
One whole (Fig. 1), two halves (Fig. 4).
Or comparing and connecting and describing ^y song at
the same time that the objects are manipulated :
Or
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 139
(Fig. 1) Look here and see ! One whole, two halves (Fig. 2) ;
One half, two fourths ; two halves, four fourths (Fig. 5) ;
(Fig. 1) One whole, four fourths (Fig. 5) ;
(Fig. 5) Four fourths, eight eighths (Fig. 8) ;
(Fig. 8) Eight eighths, one whole (Fig. 1).
Here are many, here are few ;
It's a magic way to do.
If piles are large, few will they be ;
If many, they are small, you see.
Now, pray, what can the reason be f
Or, in general :
Now large, and now small,
Now small, now large grown ;
Yet, dear, the cube has
A size of its own.
Or:
Now many, and now few ;
Now few, now many view,
This change is pleasant too.
Or bringing adverbs and prepositional words into use to
describe new relations in the play :
One half is there, one half is here (Fig. 2) ;
One half before, one back, my dear (Fig. 3) ;
One half above, one half below (Fig. 4) ;
Which I like best I scarcely know.
Or reversed :
One half above, one half below (Fig. 4) ;
One half before, one back will go (Fig. 3) ;
One half to left, one half to right (Fig. 2) ;
This changing is a pretty sight.
Or
The one half here, one there will go (Pig. 2);
One half above, one half below (Fig. 4) ;
One half before, one half behind (Fig. 3) ;
Thus finely word and act combined
Will into one another wind.
12 *.
140 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Similar and yet different forms can be on another oc-
casion represented with quarters (Plate III, Figs. 5, 6, 7).
The perception of the relations of position as forms of
knowledge admits of another beautiful play — viz., where
one, for example, in Fig. 2, turns the two inner planes of
separation to surfaces or sides outward, and,* on the con-
trary, the two outer surfaces or sides inward, and at the
same time sings to the child :
Inner to outer and outer to in,
Which of them, pray, by the change will win t
To think of that I must begin.
These hints concerning the use of the forms of learn-
ing as play may now suffice with reference to the text of
the plaything.
All these little songs and exercises in perception can be
introduced in very many other ways into the life of the
child, and indeed they may be quite generally employed
for quieting him — e. g., rocking him on your hands now
to the left, now to the right side :
From inner to outer, then inner at last,
Time in our playing will go very fast.
Or, now shutting the two hands together, now opening
both and the fingers on both ; then closing each of the fin-
gers on both hands, then again opening them, and singing :
Now but few, now many see ;
Now but few, now many see.
And now the finger-tips, starting from the little finger,
must be allowed to run, as it were, round one another, as if
one wished to count them, and the song must be continued :
It's a pretty play for me.
In the same manner observant and energetic nurses are
everywhere given opportunity to apply the lessons of the
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 141
play, derived from the dead blocks of wood, so that they
exert a direct influence on the life of the child ; for exam-
ple, the play of swinging the child up and down in the
arms, and at the same time singing to it :
Up and down, and down and up,
So do lively children run ;
Down and up, and up and down,
Up the hill and down again.
Now, what is the aim of all this? That the child
should never be surrounded by anything dead, but only
by what he himself is — namely, by life and by living
things ; that the child should never see nor hear what is
destitute of sense and significance, or what is empty ; but
that he should see, perceive, and discover sense, signifi-
cance, and connection in all things, as well as the fullness,
and harmony of life. It is thus by no means intended,
especially with the so-called forms of learning, that the
child should already definitely comprehend relations of
size and number, but that a certain tone be always con-
nected with a certain perception, and the tone, when it is
again heard, may recall a certain perception, and so any-
thing indefinite or empty may never come near the child.
We will later return to this subject when we have be-
fore us the child of two or three or four years old with
bodily powers quite developed, and with free use of his
limbs in walking, in lifting, in jumping and swinging.
And then the play with the ball, in harmony with the
bodily and spiritual development of the child, is seen by
us to be a means of education, training, teaching, and
learning, altogether as a genuine means of life. For what
is the highest gift to child and man ? — life. The use of
what gift is the most important for child and man ? — the
use of life I
\
142 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
What presents are the most prized by the child as well
as by mankind in general ? Those which afford him a
means of unfolding his inner life most purely, and of
shaping it in a varied manner, giving it freest activity
and presenting it clearly.
So it now seems to me we shall soon discover what is
meant by " Come, let us live with our children ! " Only
let us not shun the labor needed to lay a foundation for
life in the small, in the deep, and in the united. The
tree of life will surely blossom for us. The twigs will
wind themselves into garlands ; as the foliage will give
us a shade, so will the branches afford us fruit. Let us
only faithfully care for our children, and soon will grow
up around us a garden of God. Let us only loyally foster
the children, and nothing in heaven or on earth has such
high promise, such abiding blessing ; for God loves his
creatures, his human beings ; he loves his children ; and
we children, we human beings, should therefore love our
children as much ! Let us only show in life union, har-
mony, and singleness of purpose, and hence reveal the di-
vine. Soon will union, peace, joy, and the godlike incline
toward us, and hence toward our children ! If you can not
already perceive in the individual the totality and unity,
in the germ, the blossom, the fruit, the plant, you must
have faith in the seed, the soil, the sky, the gardener, the
whole, the harmony of life.
Would that this sketch, here given in outline, might
show in what all-sided relation to life we look upon the
child's plays and occupations ! It will show how they
ought to be, and are to us for the child the most centra]
point of all, and the point to which all the phenomena oi
his life relate,. so that the child may early also find in him-
self the inner central point to which all relate, and in
THE THIRD PLAY OF THE CHILD. 143
which all is united, the harmony and unity of life, of
his life, of all life.
THE MOTHER'S CRADLE SONG.
Rest ! rest !
Rest, my little son, rest !
Rest thou in thy motller's arms ;
Rest thou on thy mother's breast ;
While my love my baby warms,
My heart's delight, rest I
Rest ! rest !
Rest, my darling boy, rest !
Thy mother's care strict watch shall keep
That sister's loving gaze on thee
Shall not awaken thee from sleep.
For that would grieve both her and me.
Rest ! rest !
Rest, my trusting one, rest I
To listen to the life within.
The softly heaving breast to see,
Sweet looks of love and trust to win,
Oh, this is bliss indeed for me I
Rest ! rest !
Rest, my little heart, rest !
True, tender name ! Thou art a part
Of father, and of mother too ;
For father's heart and mother's heart
Have found in thine their union true.
Rest ! rest !
Rest, my little son, rest I
All life's finest gifts around thee
Spring forth from the loving heart :
Ever may these gifts surround thee,
Banish pain, and joy impart !
\
144 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Rest ! rest !
Rest, my little son, rest !
The peace of soul, the true heart-rest,
May I ever keep for thee !
These are the highest gifts, the best
For earth and for eternity.
Rest! rest I
X.
THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD, AND
THE SELF-UNFOLDING PLAY WITH THE BALL.
It has, in the course of these expositions, been repeat-
edly asserted — and indeed it was first asserted at the con-
clusion of the first of them — that the giving of a new play
by no means precludes the further use of the preceding
and earlier plays. But, on the contrary, the use of the
preceding play for some time longer with the new play,
and alternating with it, makes the application of the new
play so much the easier and more widely significant. On
the other hand, the practice of the new play following
has a retroactive effect on the more animated and thought-
ful, as well as on the more intelligent and freer use of
the preceding plays in general. It was also stated that
the plays are in themselves a whole, and, indeed, a whole
the parts of which develop from one another, and their
spirit is felt and recognized as a spirit of union and sin-
gleness of purpose. So also is the development of the
child himself felt and perceived, and therefore striven for
by himself as well as by his observant nurse, as a whole
constantly unfolding from itself ; hence it receives further
nurture.
Yet these playthings, or rather the comprehension of
the play and playing of the child as a great living whole
dependent upon Nature and life in all relations, show also
146 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
a different quality. They show, namely, that they con-
tinue to unfold in the progressive course of the develop-
ment and education of the child in a logical sequence ;
and yet, as it were in harmony with the growth of the
child, and unfold themselves anew and generate new
things from themselves in their use, in their application,
and in a manner suited to the course and the then exist-
ing stage of the child's development.
Let us now in this connection stop here at the first,
the simplest of the playthings, at the ball.
As the strength of the child develops, the use of the
ball becomes more varied, certainly freer, and I might
say more personal. So as, for example, the child in the
beginning merely lets the ball roll from the box on the
table and fall back into the box ; then next he lets the
ball run back from the cup into the box ; from the box
again into the cup, and lets it roll round in the cup (both
of these acts are frequently repeated actual facts of the
first child life and child play), so will the child also very
soon — as soon as he has perceived that he can hollow his
little hands like a cup — let the little ball run from one
hand into the other, (as the child, and especially the little
girl, later employs itself for a long time merely by pour-
ing water or sand from one vessel into another alternate-
ly). This activity of the child is now taken up and imi-
tated. It is repeated, and at the same time, extended by
letting the ball run from one hand into the other, but
also at the same time — in order to render prominent the
resting in the different hands — inclosing and hiding it
now in one hand, now in the other, but again showing it
alternately at rest now on one hand, now on the other.
The child (like the man) would like to learn the sig-
nificance of what happens around him. This is the foun-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 147
dation of the Greek choruses, especially in tragedy. This,
too, is the foundation of very many productions in the
realm of legends and fairy tales, and is indeed the cause
of many phenomena in actual history. This is the result
of the deeply rooted consciousness, the at first deeply
slumbering premonition of being surrounded by that
which is higher and more conscious than ourselves. In
this unconscious premonition the child calls upon all
which surrounds him, and particularly on the conscious,
speaking beings about him, to tell him this meaning, or
at least give him some information or hint concerning the
kind of relation which exists between things. Indeed,
the child demands even of the mute object that it tell
him its meaning, and let him perceive these relations.
This premonition and demand of the innermost child
nature shows itself to all who have the care of chil-
dren, and especially to the mother. By the satisfaction
of this premonition and this demand the child will grow
to love and reverence its parents, and acquire respectful
recognition of age and experience. The nurse may, there-
fore, when she brings the child's own play to his more
definite perception by imitating it, sing to him as follows :
Over there,
Over here ;
Now it is there,
Now it is here ;
Now it is far,
Now it is near ;
I see now no more
What just now I saw.
Or:
Go there, here; there, here; there, here;
Like a shuttle, wander, dear.
You have woven long enough
For a yard-long piece of stufE.
148 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
It is scarcely necessary to say that through this play the
interval of time quickly consumed in weaving is symbolized.
It is likewise by no means necessary, still less perhaps is it
required, that this should be expressed by the child, or even
to him. The significance lies open to the feeling, to the
emotion, to the perception of the child when the little one
complainingly or entreatingly comes to his mother, say-
ing, " Mother, the time seems long to me ; what shall I
do ? " He is briefly answered, " Weave " — that is, in other
words, " Busy yourself with the means around you." I
believe nothing more is needed for thinking and sen-
sible parents, mothers and nurses, in order to perceive
thoroughly the inner constant coherence even of the first
and smallest of the child plays with the later manlike
professional or business life of the human being now still
in the stage of childhood. Or the simple play can be ac-
companied by singing the words :
Over there,
Over here,
It quickly
Can spring ;
And clearly
I sing
A song to it, dear.
In this is indicated the harmony, the accord of the
inner, experiencing life with the outer, active life, and
the animating, delightful influence of the play.
Yet, before we advance further in the onward develop-
ment of the free play with the ball, we will first pause to
consider another side of the play with the ball, which is
in a certain respect related to it.
It will not have escaped the notice of the reader of this
book that whenever an opportunity presents itself to chil-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. I49
dren they throw the baH upon an inclined surface — for
example, on a roof — that the ball may roll down it, and
they standing below may catch it in the hand.
Seeing this, one can sing with the" child, and accord-
ing to his experience :
Off 1 send thee ;
Yet thou lov'st me,
And show'st to me
Thy constancy.
The shortest track
Will bring thee back,
Straight back to me.
The appearance and meaning of this play are inclina-
tion and union ; the straight path is under certain con-
ditions the nearest way, at least the straight line is always
the shortest. Or, further :
The higher goes my ball,
The swifter it will fall ;
And yet I always see
It coming back to me.
Object observed and meaning : the greater the space
through which it falls and the longer the unobstructed
line of its fall, the quicker is the movement, the stronger
is the action and power of the falling body. If one wishes
to point out this latter phenomenon for children somewhat
older, one can add, singing to the ball as if from the mouth
of the child :
Yes, the greater space
Does not destroy your force,
But makes it more, of course.
Did I not perceive it,
I scarcely would believe it.
Yet the child is delighted not only by the rebound of
the ball from the slanting surface and the catching it
150 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
again, but also with its rebound from the flat wall^ as
will be noticed everywhere where children are. One can
sing to the child again, as it were, from its own mouth,
the following. We will, however, let the little songs, for
better understanding, follow in descending series :
I throw my ball against the wall,
Back to my hand now flies my ball.
Again I throw it far away,
But far from me it will not stay.
ball ! what can the reason be.
Thou always comest back to me f
This is a hint of the elasticity of the ball, etc.
Or:
1 long to catch thee.
Quickly to snatch thee ;
Come like an arrow
Let loose from a bow ;
Come like the wind
Which from hill-tops doth blow.
Thou bringest to me
Much pleasure, much glee.
Or:
Fly from the wall,
Back to me, ball !
And as you spring,
Joy to me bring !
Hand,
Wall ;
Spring,
Ball.
Now, since the child has practiced itself in this way in
catching the ball, we return to the free manipulation of
it, or rather to the manipulation of it in perfectly free
space. We were considering above the play in which the
child threw the ball from one hand to the other ; now
Or, briefly :
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 151
we will also bring into the play the act of throwing it or
tossing it vertically into the air. The child first tosses
the ball into the air, then catches it again with the same
hand, tosses it into the other hand from this again back
into the first hand, which, as in the beginning of the play,
tosses it again into the air, and again catches it, then again
tosses it into the other hand, and so goes on as before.
Upon this one can sing to the child, and perhaps later
sing with him :
Go up,
Down fall ;
Fly off,
Come, ball.
Up to this point we have merely represented plays in
which the child played alone. But the pleasure and live-
liness, and, as the children themselves call it, the fun of
the play, will soon bring a second, a companion to the one
player.
They can then again begin with the simple tossing
back and forth to each other, and they can themselves
sing, or the nurse can at first sing to them or with them,
as above indicated :
Over there,
Over here.
Quickly
'Twill spring ;
Clearly
We'll sing.
A song to it, dear ;
A song to it, dear.
But this play can also soon, especially for skillful chil-
dren, receive a very simple but considerably extended
alteration. Instead of the tossing being done ffom the
right hand into the left hand opposite, or from both
hands into both hands as in the former play, it can now
152 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
be varied by oblique movements, for example, thus : from
the right hand of the first the ball goes in an oblique direc-
tion to the right hand of the second boy ; from this hand
again in a straight direction to the left hand of the first,
and from this again in a slanting direction to the left
hand of the second boy ; he now with his left hand throws
the ball back into the right hand of the first boy, who then
begins the play anew. To this can be sung :
There and here,
Straight across,
And then oblique.
There and here,
Straight across,
And then oblique.
We will tightly
Weave in playing.
Good work wins the
Mother's praises ;
But, alas ! now
All is in pieces.
A symbolical portrayal of an activity without any visi-
ble results.
But the first play, the simple throwing or tossing to
one another, may also be extended in the following beau-
tiful manner : While the two players toss the ball to each
other, they either alternately or both at the same time
recede from each other by a short step, and at the same
time, in proportion to the increasing distance, toss the ball
to one another in a higher and higher arch, and sing :
Going high, now,
Lightly fly now.
In an arc.
Always farther,
Always farther
Be the mark.
THE DEVELOPMENT OP THE CHILD. 153
A very beautiful alternation in the form of an exten-
sion to this play may be produced if two balls are taken,
so that each player holds one which he tosses to his fel-
low ; this play can be accompanied by the following
words, sung or spoken :
If now we balls are two,
We'll show you something new ;
See I now a race we try,
And in a race we fly,
Each to the other's hand.
But this play can be also sung alone by a child prac-
ticed in these exercises, in which case the conclusion of
the song is different, viz. :
Each to the other hand.
It can be seen from this how these plays are not only
precisely adapted to the developed strength and acquired
skill of the child, but that also both strength and skill are
developed by the plays, which are a measure of their de-
velopment.
But more than two, three, or four children, placing
themselves in a triangle or quadrangle, can at the same
time take part in this play, so that the first child always
throws the ball to the second child, the second to the
third, and so on. Since now a greater interval of time
elapses before the ball comes to be caught, the desire
is increased in the child that the ball may now also
come to him ; this the children can now again sing, for
example :
Ball, I have
A great desire
You to seize ;
Quickly come here,
If you please.
%
154 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
If there 2,xq four^five^ or six children or more, one can
sing to them, and they can sing to themselves, or rather
to their ball :
Gayly to wander
From one to another,
Ball, fly up so,
High in a bow.
For you to seize
Will me much please.
The expression of both is the yearning to subordinate
one's self to a higher general law of life, and to a higher
requirement of life.
When the number of the playing children increases to
six, or perhaps eight, and the ability to play has risen to
skillf ulness — indeed, to a high degree of accomplishment —
one can also bring into the play two or more balls in the
proportion to the number of children ; for example, a
green^ a red^ a yellow^ so that they, like flowers, may wind
themselves into a garland. To this may be sung :
Dear little balls.
Your places take,
Swinging and dancing,
A wreath to make,
You, like flowers
Intertwining,
Should be ready
For combining.
Here enters now especially the subordination to the
law of motion, which is Just what makes the orderly, con-
certed, and especially the circling movements and activi-
ties of all plays, not only so animating, but also so forma-
tive, so uniting. Being in harmony not only with the
higher life of Nature, but even with the higher human
life, and introducing the child into those phases of life
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. I55
these plays unfold to receive and become penetrated by
these two kinds of life, and they can not be too carefully
cultivated, and can not be represented with too much
purity, clearness, and accordance with the laws of life.
We now again return to the plays in which an outside
foreign object (for example, a wall) is brought into the
play. These plays admit of new adaptations, in which
two or more children take part, especially now since the
development of the whole system of plays has made some
essential progress. The familiar game of the apprentice
and master workman finds here not only a place quite
suitable for it, but it comes forth here wholly rejuvenated
from the living whole of the plays, and as a new thing.
We will assume that there are four children of about the
same age and development. The first, A (for example,
Augustus), begins to throw the ball at the wall, so that it
rebounds and falls into his hand, held open to catch
it ; he sings, meanwhile, and the rest accompany him
in chorus :
Tap, tap, tap !
Springing from the wall straight back,*
You to catch will well please me ;
An apprentice then I'll be.
One after another of the four players takes his turn in
throwing the ball ; those who could not catch the ball but
let it fall to the ground remain mere candidates, and
must begin anew with the next round of the game. We
will suppose this to have been the case with B (for exam-
ple, Bernhard).
Now the second round begins, or, in other words, the
new contest. The first player. A, sings ; the others ac-
company him, singing, or merely saying, in chorus :
* As it were, by its own volition.
156 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Tap, tap, tap !
Quickly * from the wall spring back ;
You to catch will well please me ;
One time, two times, three times, four times, five times,
Then a journeyman I'll be.
We will assume A to have also here again fortunately
succeeded and attained the rank of journeyman. But B,
who in the first round did not reach the rank of appren-
tice, but was obliged to remain in the rank of candidacy,
must now begin anew, as above said, and we will assume
that he now attains the rank of apprentice.
Now steps forward C (for example, Carl). He suc-
ceeds likewise as did A ; for he arose to the rank of an
apprentice in the first game, and we assume that he, like
A, now ascends to the rank of journeyman. D, however,
can not fulfill the requirements for admission to this rank ;
he can not catch the ball once during the singing of the
journeyman song ; but the ball sinks to the ground before
the song is ended, and hence D must remain in the rank
of apprentice. A and C alone have reached the journey-
man stage.
Now begins the third round. A again steps forth
first. The others accompany him, singing, or merely
speaking , in chorus :
Tap, tap, tap !
Springing from the wall far back,
You to catch will well please me ;
One time, two times, three times, . . . ten times,
Then I can a master be.
And A has now actually become a master. B must
repeat the song of the journeyman stage and fulfill its
requirements, which D must also afterward do. C also
* As if quickening its motion by its own power.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 157
raises himself to the rank of master. Thus A and C are
now masters^ B and D journeymen.
Now begins the fourth round.
A again first enters the lists ; he says or sings, and the
others accompany him in chorus :
Tap, tap, tap !
Springing from the wall high up,
You to catch will well please me.
One time, two times, three times, . . . twenty times,
A head master then I'll be.
But A has not fulfilled the requirement of the song ; he
yet remains at the master stage.
B sings the master song and rises to a master.
C attains the head-master stage. D only can not ful-
fill the demands of the master stage, but remains at the
journeyman stage.
What an image of life is now given to the child in this
simple play, carried out only in its pettiest connections !
What genuine education for life, and what an education
for genuine life ! What a comprehensive instruction
about life — about true life — taking the whole human be-
ing into consideration ! What an exercise for life as it is,
and is to be ! Are there yet directions needed as to the
details? Not only the developed but the harmoniously
developed strength, not only the dominion over the out-
ward but the unison and harmony of the outward with
the inward, leads to the beautiful goal of life.
But that the plays may lead to this, it is by no means
sufficient to resign the plays to the children ; but it is
above all quite essential that the spirit of these pliays, as
in general the genuine spirit of all plays and of each play,
should live in the observant mother or nurse, and, above
all, in the first genuine teacher. For only on condition
%
158 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
that in him lives the genuine spirit of play — i. e., the true
spirit of life — will he call it forth in the children. Through
this even the very neighborhood of such a teacher has an
educating effect — that is to say, it acts like a magnet,
drawing forth the nobleness, elevation, pure humanity
lying in the disposition of the child. Therefore now all
our thoughts and efforts, all our meditations and aspira-
tions, should be directed to educating and training moth-
ers and nurses for such fostering of childhood and hu-
manity. I shall be obliged to return to this subject at
the close of this article. I must now, first of all, complete
the discussion of the play lying before us.
That not only the strength called into activity leads to
the constant development of the whole life, but that the
strength adjusted in every direction to the requirements
of life, so as to produce a harmony, has the same result,
can be taught to the child by the simple play in which
the ball is thrown down to a level plane surface, and
bounding from this perpendicularly into the air, is driven
back again and again by the flat hand to the plane sur-
face. This play can be accompanied by the words sung
or spoken by the child, or by the attentive teacher :
Spring ! spring I spring !
You are a brave thing ;
On the ground you will not lie,
Always up from it you fly.
Your own force
Does, of course,
Take you up so high.
The child not only finds outside of himself in play,
indeed by his play, and indeed by his plaything the ball
(although it be a so called lifeless body), that use of the
strength increases the strength, and that orderly employ-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. I59
ment of the strength prolongs its use ; but he perceives
this fact of his own accord, and as a fact of his own
nature, and not merely as an external fact limited in its
application to his play or to his plaything. Therefore
the child now likes to sing at each suitable opportunity to
Its ball, playing with it at the same time :
How much ray ball I prize I
My strength I exercise —
All my strength on thee.
Joy thou bringest me.
To catch thee I must try
Quickly to spring, and high.
If I can succeed,
I am glad, indeed.
When to catch I'm ready.
Must my eye be steady.
And, in glad play, see
No other aim than thee.
My hollowed hands I learn
Always to thee to turn ;
If thou dost in them fall,
How glad I am, my ball !
How much my ball I prize !
My strength I exercise —
All my strength on thee.
Dear ball, stay with me I
Hence the meaning of the play is to apply a similar
procedure to a solution of the highest problem of life, and
to hold fast the one high purpose amid all the vicissitudes
of tiine and place.
Little as it has been possible for us up to this point to
present an exhaustive or complete view of the manifold
details of the plays and occupations already discussed and
tested in many of their applications, and to show them in
160 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
their influence upon the whole human being, in their de-
veloping and training effects on the human being as a
child, yet we hope that we have proved our thesis even
through this brief presentation from life, since it is de-
rived clearly and unequivocally as a strict consequence
from our insight into child nature. We have tried to
show that through such a childhood and child nurture as
that here aimed at and mapped out, the child is influ-
enced, developed, and cultivated, in the totality of his na-
ture and in the all-sidedness of his being and life. You
will also perceive how, through this, it will be quite suf-
ficient for the purpose of the education of children (and
this is the only true purpose) that there may be offered to
the child through these plays and occupations — that is,
through the free sway and action of their pure and unit-
ing influence (especially in the earliest and first founda-
tions of this education), and in such a form that he may
receive it into his life — all that we always yearn to obtain
for him as his portion on his long life-path.
It is therefore impossible for us longer to repress the
thought and wish that these plays might be an undisputed
possession of the child-world. And then with this the
genuine and original spirit of child life, and of humanity,
could make itself everywhere free, and through the spirit
of these plays be clearly recognized.
But now how shall we reach this result most effectively
and easily, and at the same time make sure that these
plays shall be also the possession of the individual fami-
lies, and that their spirit, above all, may be the spirit of
the individual family life, of the family sitting-room as
well as of the nursery ? Even through the introduction of
these plays and occupations into the numerous infant
schools already existing in many places, where the chil-
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 161
dren till now were too little employed, or not judiciously —
that is to say, not self-actively enough. Something essen-
tial could be gained by their introduction into these infant
schools, because the children would then bring these fun-
damental and culture-giving occupations home with them
from the school and introduce them into the family life.
These would serve for judicious and useful self-occupation
and further culture for themselves, as well as for their broth-
ers and sisters, and for their companions and playmates ;
and these things would even be worthy of the notice of their
parents. However, we must consider these plays in their
reference to the totality of human development, and on
account of their pure human influence, as a common pos-
session of the whole child-world. The mere introduction
into the institutions for the care of little children, and
the so-called infant schools now existing, gi'eatly as its
realization is to be desired and striven for, can there-
fore, in many respects, especially for the reasons just
given, by no means suffice. But these plays should first
of all become a common possession of those families
whose children (so greatly needing satisfactory care and
nurture) are not provided for by such institutions. There-
fore, in such places as are pointed out by the demands of
life as well as by the favorableness of the situation, there
should be established by the union of intelligent fami-
lies blessed with children of the proper age, such institu-
tions for the bodily as well as spiritual nurture of the
whole period of infancy, in which under the guidance of
one trained for the purpose, the activity of the children
should be carefully fostered and nourished in the way
here pointed out, although at first only during a few
hours of the day.
The children will thus be soon fitted quietly to carry
162 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
out and apply for themselves, although under the eyes of
the parents at home, what they learned in the institution.
In this way will suitable occupation for children influ-
encing the life of the child, as a whole, enter the families.
But in the families themselves, as a whole, true associated
family life, which is in itself as elevating as it is rejuve-
nating, will be again formed by the new, uniting, instruct-
ive, and hence entertaining, things which the children
bring home from this institution of nurture and employ-
ment. This reformation will be further aided by the sym-
pathy which (according to experience) they will find in
the parental and family circle, and thus the family will
become again the temple and sanctuary for the nurture
and preservation of pure human life. And this will be
made sure because the several families would unite them-
selves in this associated [ffemeinsam — describes what is
done for a mass or collective whole rather than for a sin-
gle individual — hence a school] nurture of life, and bring
together their children as if to a genuine family festival.
Therefore we make this precise, clear, well-established
proposition, and — according to the well-weighed facts
lying before us, and the needs of the children, parents,
and families, as well as of the collective whole of the rela-
tions of life, clearly recognized and proved by us — we most
earnestly summon all to the accomplishment of this plan.
Our plan is this, namely, that first of all, in the cities
best adapted to the purpose, families already united in
themselves and by their nature, inspired by the same
genuine love and care for their children, feeling them-
selves humanly connected with each other, having a re-
ciprocal human respect for one another, may also by asso-
ciation form societies for the establishment of institutions
which have for their aim and the point of union of their
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 1G3
collective life the careful preservation and harmonious
development of their children, especially by fostering
their impulse for activity in a manner worthy of hu-
manity. The beneficial results, the blessings of such in-
stitutions for the domestic as well as for the public life,
for the life of the citizen as well as for that of common
humanity, would be quite incalculable, and would develop
endlessly. For all that has now been done as well in pub-
lic life as in private associations and families for the fos-
tering care of childhood ; for the observation, develop-
ment, and guidance of the children in their first years of
life and up to the proper age for school, suits as little the
present state of human development, the present state of
social and civil life, as it suits the present state of human
knowledge or the advance of science, of art, and of the
trades. And it is so limited in respect to the true com-
prehension of the totality of human life, in regard to the
means of development, education, and training which are
at our command, that the necessary means must be sought
to provide what is more satisfactory for the guidance of
children from their first childhood up to the commence-
ment of the school period. But this means is simply the
voluntary association of like-minded families to form 07'-
ganizations in order to afford a system of nurture adapted
to the guidance and employment of those of their children
who are not yet fit for school — in short, to give such chil-
dren all that which they must require in accordance with
their nature ; and, indeed, what the parents must demand
for them, in conformity with the needs of the present life.
As now the situation of all the relations of life, with
the greatest earnestness, calls upon families to form such
united organizations for the associated (gemeinsam) guar-
dianship and guidance of their younger children, brought
164 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
together for the purpose at least for a few hours of the
day ; we recognize also the duty on our part to work with
them with all our powers, and to lend them a helping
hand in carrying out these organizations by elaborating
and presenting the means best adapted to the object, as
well as by training for it the requisite directors and teach-
ers. It therefore not only lies in the aim of this joint
undertaking on account of the high importance of the
object, but it even makes an essential part of it to call
into life an institution for the education or preparation
of teachers trained for the care of childhood. This should
be founded here at the same time with it — in accordance
with the needs repeatedly expressed to us for the purpose
often indicated, namely, the observation of the life of
children, and the preparation of teachers through this
observation, and especially through fostering their tend-
ency to creative activity and play — in other words, their
impulse to constantly busy themselves. Therefore this
would be a training school in which leaders and edu-
cators can directly have charge of a number of children
in the period before the school age, and for the inculca-
tion of the first elements and instruction of sense-percep-
tion. We will therefore willingly impart the necessary
information to parents, and especially to large associations
of families that may be inclined not only to take into
earnest consideration the ideas here expressed, but also
to carry them out. We would explain in this connection
that we have entered into association with women and
men who love children and childhood for the satisfactory
and comprehensive execution of this design. We have a
sufficient number of children of suitable age, and, in addi-
tion to this, the means required. The locality chosen for
the institution is situated in a favorable spot, surrounded
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 165
by rich and beautiful scenery, and the power of a pure,
human, associated effort will essentially favor the carrying
out of the idea and plan.
May the idea find deeply reaching accord as well as
genuine sympathy in its behalf, for the sake of the welfare
of the children as well as of the families ; may it benefit
entire communities and the entire human race, and thus
prove a blessing to the individual as well as to the whole !
XL
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD.
(See Plates VI, VII, VIII, IX.)
The Child ajud the Plat.
Before we give the child a new play, a new means of
fostering his tendency to employment, let us seek to make
ourselves familiar with the exact state of cultivation to
which the little one has been raised by the means of de-
velopment hitherto provided for him, and with the further
requirements of this stage of cultivation. Not only what
we give hereafter to the child may by such knowledge be
made actually to exert a beneficial influence in his life, but
also we, as conscious givers, may know what onward de-
velopment is to be effected in the child in harmony with
the development of his whole life by means of the gift ;
and the child may thus confide in us more and more, may
so much the more willingly receive our gift, and so much
the more compliantly take it into his life. For the deep,
though to the child himself unconscious, cause of angelic
purity, the confidence, peace, and joy with which in his
yet serene childhood he receives gifts from his parents
and from all those who love him, is that he trustingly
feels that they give him exactly that which for the mo-
ment is beneficial to his inner as well as to his outer life ;
they do not give him a hard stone instead of nourishing
bread ; they do not give him a poisonous serpent instead
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 167
of the joyous fish which gayly plays in the water and in
the sun. Parents, nurses, and kindergartners should spare
no effort to preserve this childish faith and confidence.
Their effort should be the more strenuous because the
child's feelings, are on the one hand, unconscious, uncon-
firmed, and unfortified, and, on the other, because precisely
these unconscious feelings are the soil from and in which
sprout forth and grow the most beautiful blossoms and
plants, the most glorious fruits of life.
But how is this result attained ? Manifestly through
the child's oft-repeated experience that what fatherly care
and motherly love now give him is precisely what he
needs for the fostering and development of his life ; and,
furthermore, that fatherly wisdom and motherly love
know how to adapt to his present condition and needs
even what befalls him through chance or accident. But
just as these experiences confirm faith, opposite ones de-
stroy it. If parents offer to the child at any stage of de-
velopment either what he does not then need (though it
be intrinsically good and useful), or if they offer it to him
in a form wherein he is unable to recognize that which
has a beneficial effect upon his life, they will inevitably
weaken and indeed destroy (though unconsciously to the
child himself) his belief that his parents bear within
themselves his whole life, and that they are interested not
so much in the outward aspects of that life as in the
child's inner nature and its necessary requirements. Such
a course of action has, moreover, other and even more in-
jurious effects. Through the child's effort to repel that
which is contrary to the needs of his life, indignation and
discontent are wakened in his soul; and, on the other
hand, from the fact that his normal desires are ungrati-
fied, they become inordinate and mischievous.
168 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
How may parents, nurses, and kindergartners obtain
means of opposing these evil results ? Most satisfactorily
through a threefold and yet single glance at life. Let
them first look into themselves and into their own course
of development, its phenomena and requirements; let
them recall their own earliest years, and their later stages
of development, and look deeply into their own present
life. Next, let them look as deeply as possible into the
life of the child, and into what he must necessarily re-
quire for his present stage of development. Having recog-
nized what the child needs, let them scrutinize his envi-
ronment, and observe, first, what it offers and does not
offer for the fulfillment of such requirements. Let them
utilize all offered possibilities of meeting normal needs ;
and when such needs can not be met, let them recognize
this fact, and show the child plainly the impossibility of
their fulfillment. Finally, let them clearly recognize what-
ever in the child's environment tends to waken antagonism
and discontent, to remove it if it be removable, and admit
its defect if it be not removable.
The child very often seeks for something without at
all knowing what he seeks; in like manner he repels
something without at all knowing why, for this some-
thing was dear to him, and is so still under certain con-
ditions. Yet the child does not for this reason turn away
accidentally, neither does he seek the accidental ; but he
seeks that which is indeed unfamiliar to him but still
suited to his present stage of development. Generally, it
is the novel for which he seeks, but not a novelty which
has no connection with what has hitherto been, for that,
should it appear, would obstruct development. He seeks
the new which has developed from the old, like the bud
from the branch. The child seeks a new, unexpected
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 169
turn ; a new, unexpected use of a thing ; new, unexpected
properties ; new and yet unconsciously anticipated de-
velopments ; a new, unexpected connection with his life ;
and thus, above all, a new connection of his life with that
of his parents, of adults, from whom he hopes for and
receives suitable life fpod. The child indeed seeks for the
new that is outside of himself, but not on account of its
externality. Really he is seeking the new, of which he
feels premonitions in himself in his own development.
Since, however, he does not yet know this and so can not
give an account of it, the child seeks especially for change,
in order, as has already been intimated, to gain a means
of growing up within himself and of growing forth out-
wardly from himself.
Above all, therefore, it is the old within the child
which clarifies, unfolds, and transmutes itself, thus de-
veloping that which is new. The whole process takes
place according to a definite law resting in the child him-
self, in his life, in life as such. Hence it is that the child
unconsciously (yet for this very reason positively) de-
mands that not only all may unfold around him accord-
ing to definite laws, but that this external development
shall make known to him its law, and thus the law of his
own life, the union or opposition of the two, and conse-
quently the higher relativity of life.
But for the attainment of all this it is, as already
stated, necessary that educators should always carry in
themselves, as a whole, the course of development, the
course of cultivation of the child.
But now how has the child developed up to this point?
How have the world, the objects, and things around him
developed?
How has the child developed himself , especially through
%
170 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
the means of play and employment whicli have thus far
been given to him ?
The brightening light in the child's mind illuminates
the objects around him. In proportion, therefore, as the
inner light increases, the nature of external objects grows
clear to him. In proportion as he perceives in his own
life a definite course of development, and recognizes it as
a law of development — in proportion as he perceives in
his own life a process of development — he will recognize a
process of development in things around him. In pro-
portion as he learns to reason from effect to cause and
from cause to effect within himself, will he recognize
causality in the external world. In proportion as he
recognizes within himself that the course of development
indicates a law of development, will he recognize this law
in its external manifestations. This process and law of de-
velopment is no other than that of progression from the
unlimited to the limited, from the general to the special,
from unity to individuality, from embryonic to structural
life, from the whole to the part, from an undifferentiated
to a membered totality.
In conformity with this law the child has been edu-
cated up to this point through the gifts already consid-
ered ; for the education which brings peace and blessing
to children and to human beings in general is that which
early suggests the truth that the outer world in its es-
sence does not hinder but helps the life of the soul. Such
help, however, is realized only in proportion as the inner
and outer worlds are comprehended in their essence, their
destiny, and their polar opposition. Thus understood,
the outer world not only corresponds wholly to the re-
quirements of the inner world, but even comes to meet
them, and represents the inner world in and through itself.
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. I7I
The man advanced in insight should be as clear as
possible in his own mind about all this before he intro-
duces his pupil or his child into the outer world. Even
when he gives the child a plaything he must make clear
to himself its purpose, and the purpose of playthings and
occupation material in general. This purpose is, to aid
the child to freely express what lies within him — to bring
phenomena of the outer world nearer to him, and thus to
serve as mediator between the mind and the world.
Recognizing the mediatorial character of play and
playthings, we shall no longer be indifferent either to the
choice, the succession, or the organic connection of the
toys we give to children. In those I offer them I shall
consider as carefully as possible how the child may, in
using them, unfold his nature freely and yet in accord-
ance with law, and how through such use he may also
learn to apprehend external things correctly and employ
them justly.
As the child's first consciousness of self was born of
physical opposition to and connection with the external
world,* so through the play with the ball the external world
itself began to rise out of chaos and assume definiteness. In
recognizing the ball the child moved from the indefinite to
the definite, from the universal to the particular, from mere
externality to a self-included, space-filling object. In the
ball, especially through the movement^ through the oppo-
sites of rest and motion, through departing and return-
ing, the object came forth out of general space as a spe-
cial space-filling object, as a body ; just as the child, by
means of his life, also perceives himself, his corporeal
frame, as a space-filling object, as a lody. The child has
* See, in Mutter und Kose Lieder, The Kicking Song.
14 ^
172 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEK.
thus obtained two important terms of comparison for his
first intellectual development : body and body, object and
object. But just on that account it is by no means un-
important what kind of an object, what kind of a body is
given to the child for comparison — that is, for play and
playing. He feels and perceives himself as life ; so he
may and does perceive the ball at least, outside of himself
in motion and as motion.
At the same time there begins in the child, as in a
seed-corn, a development advancing toward manifoldness.
For this reason he should receive a corresponding seed-
corn in the object which he first detaches as object from
the external chaos. Such object should, like himself, in-
clude an indefinite manifoldness, and be susceptible of a
progressive development. Such an object is the ball.
The second gift consists of a sphere and cube, and
illustrates the idea of a self-opposed unity. Through the
simplest of contrasting forms it calls the child's attention
to differences of form. In the sphere is accentuated unity
of form, yet it has the three dimensions of space and
contains the possibility of the threefold division which
the cube makes outwardly manifest. Thus the sphere
illustrates the undeveloped unity of form ; the cube, the
differentiation of form. This second gift, moreover, re-
tains and develops the movableness already illustrated
with the ball, and, what is particularly interesting, devel-
ops it chiefly through exercises with the very body (the
cube) which in its form embodies the idea of rest. (Com-
pare section 53.)
In the cube, divided once through the middle parallel
with its sides in all three directions, and so into eight
parts, each of the qualities of the whole or principal cube
is shown eight times (achtmal) ; thus requiring (as we be-
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 173
fore explained this numerical word), to rightly consider
(achten) [one of FroebePs etymologies or puns] each of
these qualities. Thus the three different kinds of inner
directions (surface, edge, and corner direction) come forth
very remarkably by means of the divided cube ; but, above
all, the three principal directions^ the three surface direc-
tions which stand at right angles to each other. These
three directions, however, are still undistinguished by
difference of dimension, and no inner variety is brought
to light. Hence, hy and through them, each can be
placed in the position of the other. Through the build-
ing and grouping of these eight component cubes, how-
ever, there is temporarily manifest a difference between
the three principal directions standing at right angles to
each other, as lengthy breadth^ and height (or as length,
breadth, and thickness), but as abiding properties deter-
mining the form these differences of dimension are still
lacking. (Compare section 7, page 1.)
Hence a new gift is demanded — a gift wherein the
length, breadth, and thickness of a solid body shall be dis-
tinguished from each other by difference of size. Such a
gift will open the child's eyes to the three dimensions of
space, and will serve also as a means of recognizing and
interpreting the manifold forms and structures with
which he is constantly brought in contact. Such a 'gift
is the cube divided into eight equal oblong prisms or
parallelepipeds. This is, therefore, the fourth gift of the
means of play and employment, which now follows.
Through this gift the child receives a fixed measure both
for permanent and vanishing forms, and thus he is able
to produce a richer variety of figures and to recognize
them in the forms which surround him. Hence the new
gift corresponds both to his increasing constructive ability,
174 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
and to his growing capacity to comprehend the external
world.
We beg those parents and friends who have atten-
tively followed us up to this point in the presentation of
our means of employment for children to pause here a
moment, in order to notice the simplicity and certainty
with which the process of development that has been
recognized as true is followed out, and the conditions of
satisfactory human education fulfilled.
One of the fundamental principles of such a process
of development is that each object given must condition
the one which follows ; each new gift fulfills and interprets
its predecessor, by making explicit what it implied. The
child must receive no new gift which was not suggested
by that which preceded it, neither must we require of him
anything not conditioned by his previous achievements.
Both these requirements find themselves wholly fulfilled
in the sequence of gifts furnished up to this point, as has
been already definitely shown in many points of view in
the foregoing pages.
Another requirement of a satisfactory human educa-
tion is this : that each object shall appear to the child as a
self-included whole, and at the same time, through a many-
sided connection, as a part of a greater whole. This re-
quifement is also met clearly in each of the means of play
hitherto furnished ; each is in itself a complete whole ;
each stands in active connection with those which precede
and follow it ; each bears them partially within itself,
presents them from itself, and -can develop them.
Another fundamental idea is, that all knowledge and
comprehension of life are connected with making the in-
ternal external, the external internal, and with perceiving
the harmony and accord of both. As the sphere (and still
THE FOURTH PLAY OP THE CHILD. 1Y5
more the cube), makes more aad more externally percepti-
ble its own internal being, and that of other objects (for
example, middle and directions, etc.), so, on the other
hand, the child through its use learns to recognize both
its own internal characteristics and the internal charac-
teristics of external objects in general, and through such
recognitions rises into knowledge of the world and of
himself.
What a quiet, clear advance in the development of the
child, as well as in the unfolding of the outer world, is
thus given ! How would it be possible to render promi-
nent on all sides even an intimation of it in its particulars ?
The Cube divided ikto Eight Building Blocks —
THE Fourth Gift of the Series— its Nature.
Plaything and play receive a quite new significance
by the above-given alteration, which is not only simple
but even almost insignificant — namely, that the inner dif-
ference, intimated in the three perpendicular axes of the
cube (and the sphere), now becomes externally visible and
abiding in each of its building blocks as a difference of
size.
While the forms produced with the preceding gift
were massive and space-filling, those produced with the
fourth gift incline toward surface forms, may be given
either a horizontal or vertical position, and are space-
bounding and inclosing.
These forms are also divided into forms of life^ of^
heauty^ and of knowledge. Especially in comparison with /
the forms of the preceding play, the latter have the pecul-
iarity that they show more the extension of surface and
length ; 'yet all forms — a few square surfaces excepted —
are confined to rectangles. Thus the relations of form
176 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
and size of the square and rectangle especially are here
presented to the perception. (Compare Plate VI, which
contains about half of these forms.) In addition to these,
two more new phenomena come forth with this play:
these are equilibrium and self-propagating movement.
Use of the Play.
Necessity, accident, or, in short, free play as such, re-
ceives here also its due. The only requirement is that a
name be quickly given to what has originated under the
hand of the child. The name defines the object produced
by connecting it with something familiar. Thus the first
forms are often a small house, a room, a table, chairs and
benches, etc. But pleasure is given even by merely build-
ing up the blocks so that the form may be kept in place
by equilibrium and gravity ; and it is then a high tower, or
perhaps the staircase, which pleases the child. He is also
pleased by the fact tliat what is built up separates easily
into its parts again. Let no one doubt that the child's
inner development is furthered by these building exercises,
though no abiding result in the way of outward represen-
tation is obtained. By this building the child compre-
hends the form and use of the single part just in propor-
tion as he receives into himself an abundance of perceptions
and conceptions. We must, however, never forget to talk
with the child about what he does, or at least designate
the result clearly and precisely, with suitable words, so
that through the name the child's thought may be
aroused, and he may never play heedlessly even when he
plays alone. In other words, let us form such habits of
attention that the child will never play without precisely
grasping and comprehending inwardly what he has out-
wardly represented.
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 177
As all representations are connected with an inner
precise condition^ so here. This condition is simply iXvdt
before expressed, that for every representation, whether
simple or compound, whether the parts are connected or
separate (as, for example, a monument, a garden wall, or
a village), all the blocks should be used, or, at least, be
put in connection with the form. The aim of this con-
dition also, as has been already clearly stated, is manifold :
firstly, that the child should not busy himself thoughtlessly^
but should have in view a definite aim for his action, or
at least be incited to perceive an aim ; secondly, that he
should view the object to be represented in many-sided
references and connections, which is necessary when, for
example, an unused block is to be put in necessary con-
nection with the object already represented ; thirdly, and
lastly, that the child should employ all the material before
him, and leave nothing unconsidered and unused. Through
fulfilling these conditions the child develops on the one
hand his powers of perception and conception, and on the
other the more spiritual powers of fantasy and inner con-
templation.
We have above stated that necessity, accident, or free
play determines the first use of the new gift. We will
now indicate the next thing to be done. The mother
takes the play-box, reverses it, placing it with the cover
on the table, draws out the cover from under the box and
raises up the latter, so that the cube (Fig. 1, Plate VI)
stands before the child. The representations may be most
satisfactorily made on a board or paper provided with a
square network, each side of the square being of the same
size or length as the width of a building block. The
mother transforms the cube, as she speaks, into a fireplace
in the kitchen, at which she prepares the soup for the
A
178 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
hungry child and cooks the food for the father when he
comes from his work. The fire burns in the middle of
the fireplace, on the fire-iron. One can go round the fire-
place in order to poke the fire better, in order to cook the
food more carefully.
The soup is ready, the food is cooked. The mother
and child give the fireplace a push, and it separates into
stones for building. The fireplace consists of building
stones of equal size.
The child wants the soup. The father comes ; he de-
sires to eat, but there is no table. The material is imme-
diately changed ; the building stones become building
blocks^ or boards, and there stands the table (Plate VI, Fig.
11). But the bench is now lacking ; the chairs^ the benches
are wanted, so that the mother, with the child and the
father, may sit down to eat. The table (Fig. 11) is
generally too large, and one half of it (or rather one
half of its material) is quickly changed to a bench
(compare Fig. 14, Plate VII) or to two such benches.
On the one bench the father sits and eats his food; on
the other the mother sits with the child and gives it
its soup.
Again, the fireplace is separated into parts ; the ma-
terial does not change. It is summer ; it is a beautiful
warm evening. The child plays in the yard at the stone
table or on the stone benches (Plate VII, Fig. 19). The
father comes and sits down by the child; the mother
brings him his food and the child its soup. On the
bench at the right the father sits; upon the one at the
left the mother sits with the child. The mother tells
the father how nicely the child has played, how quietly
he has occupied himself with his blocks, and thus given
her time to prepare the food. The father brings the
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 179
child a beautiful blue flower from the field. " See, dear
child, here is the flower."
Or, again, another time the stone table and benches are
viewed as a turf-table and benches ; they stand now, not
in the yard but in the garden. When the father hears
that the child has pleased his mother, he goes and picks
for him the beautiful red flower which nodded to him so
kindly.
As two benches (Plate VII, Fig. 13) were formed from
the one half of the large table (Plate VI, Fig. 11), so two
more benches are- now made from the other half. In the
middle of the garden is a round plat ; around this stand
four lenches turned toward it (Plate VII, Fig. 20). See !
five little children are playing " Rooms to let." One child
asks now of one, now of another, " Is there no room to be
had?" "No chamber to let?" "Is no place open?"
" All are occupied." See ! there two neighbors change
places, and the questioner has quickly taken the place of
one of them.
Another time the children play " Visiting." Each of
the benches or seats becomes a little house. Or, again,
the child builds itself a little house or open garden-hut
(Plate VII, Fig. 23). Visits are paid or received ; or the
mother sits with the child in one corner. Either she tells
him something about the carpenter or joiner who has built
the house of boards and laths, and made it so strong that
they can sit in it quietly, or the tired child sleeps in the
mother's arms or on her lap, and she sings to him a little
slumber-song :
The child has tired itself of play ;
Its eyelids droop at close of day ;
It lies upon its mother's breast,
To children a sweet place of rest,
Willingly — j^s, willingly I
180 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Another time, the mother goes to walk with the child
in the garden ; but the wind blows strongly, the rain beats
down ; so she hurries with the child into the " opened
garden-hut." That has doors, which the mother can shut.
Now both are safe, for the hut has a roof, so that it can
not rain in, and doors, so that the wind can not drive the
rain in.
In like manner, if some manifestation of the child
gives occasion thereto, the fact may be brought out that
the wooden benches and chairs have backs, but the stone
and turf benches have none.
It is quite important for the child, and it greatly
pleases him, to notice how one object springs from another,
and can be turned into another ; for example, a table (Fig.
11) into a table and tivo benches (Fig. 13) ; these into four
benches (Fig. 20), etc. Through such transformations
" the bench with high back and arms " may be produced
from the throne (Plate VII, Fig. 22) ; from this bench
may be made the bench with back, arms, and foot-rest ;
from this, again, the open garden-hut, etc. This chang-
ing one thing into another, and so being able to see one
in another, is what gives the children pleasure and brings
life into their employment and play. The anticipation of
a certain necessary inner coherence in the thing, whether
it be in its form or in its purpose — this manifold percep-
tion of a certain inner life throughout — not only awakens,
but fosters and forms the life of the child. Isolation and
exclusion destroy life ; union and participation create life.
But living objects also may be represented with the
blocks ; for example, " six blocks form an avenue ; father
and mother, brothers or sisters, go to walk in it." Another
time, " two blocks, laid one on another, with their broad
sides touching, form a cow, or one standing alone, a calf ;
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 181
in the same manner, three or more blocks form a horse
and its colt; two blocks joined like a cross represent a
herdsman" — thus the child has the herd and herdsman.
Then the herd may be driven in, and presto, change, six
blocks form the stable with two stalls ; the two remain-
ing blocks are two cows, etc.
These representations are, indeed, not found on the
lithograph leaves, but we indicate them up here in order to
show how life itself may be connected with and represented
by inanimate objects. The scope of this work makes it
unwise to enter into further detail with regard to the life
forms which may be produced with the fourth gift In
the actual use of this gift with children many more forms
will be produced; indeed, they have already been pro-
duced, and shall be indicated hereafter.
That the salient characteristics and organic members
of the life forms may be thrown into relief by means of
stories and talks we have already sufficiently shown, both
in connection with this gift and with the third gift. What
has been written should, however, be carefully connected
with actual use of the gift, and this is especially important
in those cases where a moving force is manifested out-
wardly, as equilibrium or as self-propagating activity.
Self-propagating activity, moreover, may be simple or in
one single direction, divided or having different direc-
tions. It may also be uniform or accelerating. [Froebel
is referring to those exercises with the fourth gift where,
by arranging the blocks in different groups and striking
the first block of each group, force is passed along a
straight line, around a circle, etc.]
Let us now turn to a new consideration — to the ob-
servation of the forms of knowledge.
The whole eight building blocks of the fourth gift,
182 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
I
taken collectively, resemble the cube of the third gift;
therefore its parts (as can be seen at the first glance) sepa-
rate into equal and proportional parts. This fact is made
yet more manifest by the play with the blocks. Thus the
one bench (Plate VI, Fig. 12) is divided into two equal
benches (Plate VII, Fig. 14), and the bench with the foot-
rest (Fig. 15) into the two equal benches with foot-rests
(Fig. 17); likewise the table (Plate VI, Fig. 11) into two
halves, of which the one gives again a table, while the
outer half appears divided into two halves in the two
chairs or benches (Fig. 13). So, the fourth gift illustrates
almost the same relations of size as the cube divided once
through the middle on all sides, or, in other words, with
the third gift. Should the relations of size, learned by
observation and abstracted from the forms of life, be
looked at purely as relations of size, they would appear in
the fourth gift more as relations of surface and its exten-
sion, while with the third gift they appeared as extension
of solids and as relations of solids. (Compare Plate VIII.)
The " high wall " (Plate VI, Fig. 8), which one can
think of when lying on the horizontal surface as a
" floor " and can actually place thus before the child,
makes the easiest transition from forms of life to forms
of knowledge. The treatment of these forms has been
already shown in general in the illustrative exercises with
the third gift. The fourth gift, however, throws into re-
lief the perception of size by showing similarity of size
with dissimilarity of dimension and position. For exam-
ple, the gift as a whole may be shown first as a cube (Plate
VI, Fig. 1), then as a tablet (Plate VIII, Fig. 1). Changes
such as these between the representations of solids and
surfaces give the fourth gift a peculiar charm for the
child :
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 183
As cube I stand here in my place ;
. As surface now, I show my face,
Yet always am the same —
I like this pretty game.
Now without delay
Divide me in your play;
Making fleetly,
But yet neatly.
Two quite equal parts.
While the mother or kindergartner sings this [or some
better] rhyme, she divides the whole cube by one motion
into two equal parts. The division may be made either
vertically or horizontally. In both cases the result is the
production of two square prisms, the positions of which vary
according to the manner of division. While the mother
represents these, she sings in the person of the square to
the child :
From above if you divide me,
Both the halves will be upright ;
Straight across if you divide me,
Halves recumbent meet your sight.
In position not the same ;
But in size they are the same.
Each is like the other half.
If one now wishes to represent more strikingly to the
child that the size and form remain the same in different
positions, one places the halves with their broad sides now
upon one another, thus doubling their height ; now side
by side, thus doubling their length. In both cases the
action is interpreted by song :
Place one half upon one half,*
The form is high, we see.
Lay one half beside one half (Plate VIII, Fig. 8),
A long form this must be ;
* This illustration is lacking in the plates.
184 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Yet equal form and size do show
In each position, as we know.
The upright rectangle may also be turned by degrees
on the horizontal plane, as it were, around its middle, or
like the hand of a clock or watch around one of its ends,
till it assumes the horizontal position.
Whether I am high or low,
Equal form and size I show.
Then different form with equal size :
Place one half before a half,
It shows the square complete (Plate VIII, Figs. 3, 5).
Place the half beside the half.
And an oblong shape we meet (Plate VIII, Figs. 8, 9).
Though different the forms may be,
An equal size in each we see.
That objects identical in form and size may be pro-
duced in different ways may also be illustrated in the play
with the fourth gift. The child's attention should be
called to all these features of his play 2^^ perceptible facts,
and nothing should be passed over heedlessly.
Place a half beside a half,
It shows the square complete (Plate VIII, Figs. 2, 5).
Place a half before a half,
A square form still we meet (Plate VIII, Figs. 3, 6).
Though made in different ways, 'tis clear
Equal the size and form appear.
A new variation of these exercises may be made by
dividing the square prism into two equal halves and giving
to one a vertical, to the other a horizontal position. The
two may then be compared with one another :
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 185
Now 1 will give you something new,
Something you will like to do :
Tvnce as long and half as wide (Plate VIII, Fig. 3),
Half as long and twice as wide (Plate VIII, Fig. 2),
The same size are we two (Plate VIII, Figs. 6, 8).
From this representation of the whole as a square
tablet^ from halving it in two different ways, and from
the different possible combinations of these halves, it is
evident that the fourth gift offers a far greater number
of forms of knowledge than its predecessor. The plates
illustrating this gift show a much greater variety of
forms than is indicated in the text ; and in the descrip-
tion of the gift others will be mentioned. The hints here
given suflBce to show that the forms of knowledge are
adapted to children of three and four years of age, and
that they incite plays which are both spontaneous and
nourishing to heart and intellect. Yet more than has
been here presented is represented by the tablet itself,
and yet more is rendered prominent by the description of
the play. Yet these few indications for the use of the
forms of knowledge as play must here suffice; for they
already show with quite sufficient clearness how their
contemplation and comprehension are perfectly suited to
the life, mind, and spirit of children three and four years
of age, and so wholly adapted to actual free play which
forms both spirit and heart. The comprehension and
treatment of the gift by the motherly spirit, and the
representations and perceptions to which such treatment
gives rise, will impart to the play a life it is impossible to
indicate by the lifeless word. When, however, the word
and play are used to throw light upon each other, the
exercise is refreshing, elevating, and life-giving. Such
exercises, moreover, give the child a presentiment of the
186 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
^
inner harmony of Nature and life. To lead to compre-
hension of this harmony is, in a certain sense, the true
aim of education.
We now turn to the consideration of forms of leauty^
or picture forms, or, as they might be called in a figura-
tive sense, harmonious forms; and perhaps this name
might also have its good and its developing effect, since it
is certainly acknowledged that the true comprehension of
a thing proceeds especially from its connection with its
opposite ; thus, in this case, from the connection of the
visible and the audible, of quiescence and movement.
The transition to the forms of beauty (picture forms,
or, as we have just called them, harmonious forms) is
most suitably effected through the forms of knowledge.
I consider it very important to retain this transition in
general, and more especially in the life and play with the
still quite small children.
If, for example, the four fourths in Fig. 1 or 5, Plate
VIII, are separated from one another, as in Fig. 4, they
appear, in a certain point of view, already as a form of
beauty, since, as the parts appear more manifestly as mem-
bers of a whole, so also the middle and the unity to which
they refer in common become more prominent. Now, if
each of these four members is turned into the, opposite
position, so that the corner of each square or member
comes to lie where its side lay before, and thus appears
as an opposite square, and the corners touch at the same
time, the whole becomes still more definitely a form of
beauty.
If, now, each of these four members is further sepa-
rated into two, and thus the whole four members into
eight, and they enter in this way into symmetrical refer-
ence to the invisible but nevertheless determining middle,
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 187
the unity and (by the connecting greater manifoldness)
the inner beauty of the whole are rendered yet more
prominent. (Compare Plate IX, Figs. 1, 2, 3.) But this,
again, conditions a double variety : either the broad sides
are turned toward the middle (Figs, la, 2a, and 3a), or
the end surfaces (Figs, lb, 2b, and 3b). In the latter case
the form appears radiate; in the former case, circular or
inclosing. These forms are counterparts.
The appearance of forms which are at once antithetic
and related calls for mediation or transition from one to
the other. Hence the radiate form must be connected
by intermediate forms with the circular (see Plate IX,
Figs. 4a, 4b, 4c). Such connecting forms are of two
kinds : in one kind the radiate form is within the circular ;
in the other it is outside the circular (Plate IX, Figs. 4a
and 4b). These transitional forms demand a fresh media-
tion ; hence the figure (Plate IX, Fig. 4c) where the radi-
ate form both contains and is contained by the circular.
(Compare with 4a and 4b.)
But now what takes place with the building blocks,
when they rest on their hroad faces as in the cases indi-
cated (Figs. 4a, 4b, and 4c), takes place also when they are
placed on their lorig^ narrow faces (see Figs. 2a and 2b),
and appears again when they stand upright on their ends
(see Figs. 3a and 3c, where the forms on this as on the
preceding plate are represented in a ground plan ; thus
as only perceived and comprehended from above). Each
change of position gives rise to five new forms, and thus
fifteen forms are produced by placing the blocks first on
their broadest faces, next on their long, narrow faces, and
finally on end. If these three different kinds of position
are connected among themselves, over a hundred new and
constantly differing forms may be by degrees produced
15 \
A
188 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
in the course of fostering the child's impulse to develop-
ment, and can be represented by him, for child-life gives
time and opportunity enough for this. So originates a
blissful filling up of many hours which were before un-
employed by the children ; or, at least employed in un-
meaning and worthless activity, since in each individual
form, and yet more in each particular series of forms, lis
laws of life, of Nature, and in general of formation, which
in that course of the development of the human being en-
ter into his consciousness in the comparison with Nature
and life.
We must now glance at another consideration, differing
from the preceding, but not less fruitful for child and
play as well as for the adult playmate.
If we survey the forms of beauty produced with the
fourth gift in their totality and in connection with the
unity from which they are developed — if, in order to at-
tain yet greater unity, we compare them with the forms
of beauty produced with the third gift — it strikes the eye
very significantly that all these forms and structures rest
inclosed, wrapped up, as it were, in the form of beauty of
the third gift as in a bud. We have taken, as a proof of
this, the form on our Plate IX, Fig. A. The first com-
paring glance at this, and also at the remaining forms of
the plate, shows how all forms (and chiefly Figs, la and
lb. Figs. 2a and 2b, and Figs. 3a and 3b) are conditioned
— one might say contained — in Fig. A as in a germ or
bud. But also Figs. 4a, 4b, and 4c, and those correspond-
ing to them which proceed from the fundamental form
Figs. 2a and 2b and Figs. 3a and 3b, as well as the yet
remaining for;ns which it is possible to develop by the con-
nection of these two fundamental forms, all rest, as it were,
veiled in the form of union and unity, Plate IX, Fig. A.
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 189
In and through what characteristic of the fourth gift
is grounded the vast number of different forms which
proceed from the single germinal form A ? Is it not be-
cause the three principal dimensions of space, which in
the cube only make themselves known as differences of
position in the fourth gift, become more prominent, and
manifest themselves as differences of size f These three
relations of size are in the fourth gift as abiding and
changeless as the position of the three principal direc-
tions was before and still is.
If we now admit that every one of the forms of beauty
produced with the fourth gift may be regarded and used
as a fundamental form just as well as Fig. A, we can per-
ceive what a number of forms of beauty (scarcely calcu-
lable, and yet more difficult to survey at a glance) may be
produced with this gift, and how, nevertheless, the con-
ditions for the representation of each longer or shorter
series may always be given in the most exact and definite
manner. To illustrate : We may require the child to pro-
duce either forms whose sides are all equal, or again forms
whose sides are unequal. Confining our attention to the
former class, we observe that these may be either encir-
cling, radiate, or made up of the two. Restricting our-
selves again to this third variety of figures, we may still
further narrow our activity by requiring that the com-
ponent blocks be placed either on their largest, smallest,
or intermediate faces. Placing them upon their largest
faces, we produce the figures shown in Figs. 4a, 4b, 4c,
Plate IX. Finally, each of these forms is susceptible of
manifold alteration. Hence the fourth gift combines
universality, boundlessness, and freedom, with restriction
and limitation. In this play, indeed, law and coherence
emerge even from the apparently capricious and acci-
\
190 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
dental, for, by following the path of development indi-
cated, each particular form appears as a member of a
relatively higher and more inclusive unity, until finally
all forms are related to the germinal form. Fig. A, Plate
IX. In the visible connection of the pure antitheses lies
the formative and instructive influence of this gift for the
child. The child early anticipates, perceives, and recog-
nizes how intimately the finite and infinite, necessity and
freedom, law, and free will are connected with one an-
other ; how inner limitations and law lie at the founda-
tion even of accident, if we are only in condition to
perceive and solve all the limitations and connecting
links and combinations given at the same time in and
with it.
The illustration of this universal law by means of per-
ceptible phenomena is, in our judgment, as important for
the heart and soul culture of the child as the absorption
of light and color through the day, and the inhalation of
air from the atmosphere.
How shall these representations of forms of beauty be
carried on with the children ? Precisely as has been al-
ready explained in the original delineation of these plays :
in the same way as mothers play with their children, of
their own accord, and guided by motherly love and
motherly feeling. Mothers observe some kind of a thing
which they believe will captivate the child's mind, be it
only for an instant, and they try forthwith to retain it for
the child's observation. Some particular object which has
a symmetric form has been represented by the mother or
the child, or by both together. Through its symmetry it
captivates for an instant the child's attention. Let us
assume it to be any one of the forms, Figs, la, 2a, or 3a,
Plate IX. The watchful mother perceives the fascination,
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 191
and seeks to heighten and retain it through words spoken
or sung — e. g. :
This is a very pretty play,
All our blocks in a wreath to lay.
If, on another occasion, the accidentally originated
form should be one of those represented in Figs, lb, 2b,
or 3b, the mother might throw it into clearer relief by
singing or saying :
Now all our blocks toward the middle go,
And clearly a beautiful star they show.
Again, if forms arise like those represented in Figs.
4a, 4b, 4c, the child's attention might be called to them
by the words :
When the stars and circles meet,
Then we look like flowers sweet.
Occasionally forms are produced which, though sym-
metrical, are not alike on all their sides. Thus the reader
will remember that with the third gift were produced
forms whose opposite sides were equal but whose adjacent
sides were unequal. Such figures as these may be inter-
preted by words calling attention to the positions of the
sides and the number of blocks :
Place three blocks on the left,
Place three blocks on the rights
With one above and one below, the left and right unite.
Any mother or kindergartner who sympathizes with
the child's habits of thought may with a little experience
learn to rhyme all his activities and their results. Through
her jingles she will make clear to the little one what he
has done, and thus his accidental productions will become
a point of departure for his self -development. Word and
\
192 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
form are opposite, and yet related. Hence the word
should always accompany the form as its shadow. In a
certain sense, giving a form a name really creates the
form itself. Through the name, moreover, the form is
retained in memory and defined to thought.
In addition to wreath, star, and flow-er forms, the blocks
of the fourth gift may be used to produce wheel forms.
These wheel forms are transitional, and mediate the forms
of beauty and the forms of life. This transitional or
mediatorial character should be indicated to the child,
and through this and similar experiences he should be
given a presentiment of the truth that in all the phenom-
ena of life there is a connection of antitheses or media-
tion of opposites. An early foreboding of this truth is,
in our judgment, of the highest importance to the true
development of each human being, for thereby all the
phenomena of life are connected into a living and life-
giving whole, and nothing remains isolated and insig-
nificant.
The fourth gift has now been considered in sufficient
detail, and its practical use indicated in the three essential
directions [forms of life, knowledge, beauty]. Two points,
however, need further consideration : First, the play itself
and the adult playmate ; second, the relationship and con-
nection of the different gifts.
The Play and the Adult Playmate.
How rich is the material afforded by this fourth gift
for spiritual and intellectual activity, for correct appre-
hension of the life of childhood, and for the develop-
ment of that life, has been so clearly indicated in the
preceding pages that it need not further be dwelt upon.
Nothing of abiding importance for the human being is
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 193
untouched by it. It throws light upon life and Nature,
touches the springs of feeling and thought, incites action
and achievement. It illustrates the laws and conditions of
human development, reveals its inner spirit, illuminates its
outer manifestations, and throws into relief its successive
stages.
Thus it leads to the attainment of the peace of life
and of the joy of life. It elevates the family into the
guardianship of peace and the promotion of happiness, for
through it means are given by which all that has living
worth may be drawn within the circle of family activi-
ties. Hence to the thoughtful adult this little play may
become a mirror which reflects the essential law of life ;
a point of departure and comparison, through which the
phenomena of life may be interpreted ; a bridge, which
shall connect the inner being of the child with external
phenomena, and conversely shall interpret external phe-
nomena to the heart and imagination of the child. Thus
our fourth gift becomes in the hands of a reflective per-
son a wonderful means of education; for through sen-
sible facts and experiences runs the path to heart and
mind, to will and deed.
The Relation and Connection of the Different
Gifts.
It was pointed out, in the commentary on the second
gift, that the introduction of this gift to the child should
not supersede the use of its predecessor, but that, on the
contrary, the two gifts should be played with alternately,
the one thus assisting to produce a clearer apprehension
and more varied use of the other. The same statement
was made in the commentary on the third gift, and its
relationship to the second gift in particular was clearly
194 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
shown. It must, however, be repeated again, for the
third and fourth gifts complement each other in a strik-
ing manner, and their alternate use gives new life and
freshness to each, and is most strengthening and develop-
ing to the spirit of the child. Hence, if several children of
about the same age (from two to four years old) are play-
ing, some with the third and some with the fourth gift,
they may occasionally exchange boxes with each other.
Each child should pass his box in good condition to his
neighbor. No one should be allowed to push the contents
of his box in a disorderly confusion to the child with whom
he exchanges gifts. This requirement is essential both
to the retention of the child's respect for the plaything
and to the awakening and nourishing of his own sense
of order. A similar requirement must be insisted upon
when the child, playing alone, wishes to change from one
gift to the other. He must combine his component cubes
into a large cube, place the box over this, then close and
put away the box, before he is allowed to receive the new
gift. Such treatment of each gift as a separate and dis-
tinct whole is especially important, because thereby the
common and unifying elements of the different gifts are
accentuated. In like manner, when several children are
playing at the same time, with the same gift of the series,
it is important that each eight blocks or bricks should
have their own box. They should be taken out of this
box at the beginning of the play and put back into it at
the conclusion. They should never be kept in or taken
from a common box or receptacle. Unimportant as these
little rules may appear, they are essential to the clear and
definite development of the child, to his orderly appre-
hension of external objects, and to the logical unfolding
of his own concepts and judgments.
THE FOURTH PLAY OF THE CHILD. 195
In a word, the play box should always be treated as a
loved, esteemed, and worthy companion. These three re-
quirements hang together.
In a word, the box of building blocks should be re-
garded by the child as a worthy, an appreciated, and a
loved comrade. The three feelings are intimately con-
nected.
When the child has learned to use each of the gifts
separately, and has seized their essential and distinctive
characteristics, he may be allowed to use them together.
This joint use of his playthings is particularly important
in the case of the third and fourth gifts.
Since, however, the combination of the third and
fourth gifts creates an expansion of the child's play, and
requires from him increased power of perception and
increased creative ability, the two boxes should not be
used together until their separate possibilities have been
thoroughly mastered.
XII.
SECOND REVIEW OF PLAYS. — A FRAGMENT.
Petitions for a more thorough elaboration of my play
and occupation material have reached me from many
quarters. I am also requested to state in summary their
inner and outer connection. As one essential class of
these gifts has now been developed in several series, which
have been in use among children long enough for me to
observe their fruits, I gladly comply with the wishes of
those who have shown sympathy with my efforts. I shall
endeavor to connect what I have to say with the summary
previously presented. Since, however, the careful reader
is by this time in possession of many additional experi-
ences and insights, I shall enter more deeply into my
subject, and try to present it from more varied points of
view.
Let us take nature as our guide-post and example.
Let us endeavor to find the essential nature of material
objects and the conditions under which this nature un-
folds. In a word, let us study the process of natural de-
velopment ; for the process of development exhibits the
essence of the developing object, precisely as the actions
of a man exhibit the inner disposition which is their
moving spring.
In nature each object develops after its own kind.
SECOND REVIEW OP PLAYS.— A FRAGMENT. 197
Seeking for the ground of this phenomenon, we come to
the following threefold result :
1. Each object develops in accordance with the high-
est and simplest laws of life ; hence, in unity and har-
mony with these laws and their aboriginal cause. Each
living object, therefore, reveals these laws in their partic-
ular manifestation and in their totality.
2. Each particular object develops in accord with its
own individual nature, and in conformity with the specific
laws of that nature.
3. Each particular object in nature develops under
the collective influence of all other objects. If any ob-
ject appears to be withdrawn from this collective influ-
ence, such withdrawal is mediate, not immediate — as, e. g.,
when the object is shielded by a roof from the hot sun.
This withdrawal itself, moreover, is grounded in the
nature of the influence from v/hich the given object is
protected — hence may be said to be a phase of this influ-
ence itself.
If, now, we strive to grasp in a common unity this
threefold process of development, we find an element
which, corresponding to ascending stages of development
is called force, tendency, life, impulse, energy, and which
in each particular object manifests itself in the following
forms :
1. As a germinating and developing power (working
from within outward).
2. As a receptive power [from without inward].
3. As an assimilative and formative energy [synthesis
of the preceding powers].
Thus the pivot upon which all turns is recognition of
life or activity, which is in union with the source of all
life — i. e., God. The condition of all manifestation of
198 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
completeness in nature is the retention of this life-unity
{Lebens-einheit). We must see clearly the conditions of
complete development in nature, and then employ them
in human life. Thus only can we help men to attain,
upon the plane of human development — which means
spiritual development — a degree of perfection correspond-
ing to that which the forms and types of nature show
upon the plane of physical development. This dwelling
in life-unity is necessary even for the wisest of the wise.
Man, however — the all-surveying man — must rise
through ascending degrees of consciousness to perfect in-
sight into the ground, conditions, and goal of his life.
We observe in nature that each successive stage of
development does not exclude its predecessor, but en-
nobles, transforms, and develops it. Man, likewise, must
unfold and develop in unity with nature, and thus in un-
disturbed harmony with the life of the whole, with the
unity of this total life, and with its source. He must also
attend carefully to the manifestations of his own inner
life, and must nurture this inner life. He must recognize
that the universal and divine laws of life and existence
work also in him and manifest themselves through him.
Finally, through free choice and free self -activity he must
reproduce — first in feeling and later with clear conscious-
ness — the divine and unifying life.
Therefore we must endeavor to make our children per-
\ ceive in nature the divine unity of life. We must also
aid them to represent this unity in their own lives. Thus
shall nature and life interpret each other.
Force and life manifest themselves as formative and
constructive energies. We know this to be true of light,
heat, and other forces. Even more emphatically true is
it that life manifests itself and its accord with law in its
SECOND REVIEW OF PLAYS.— A FRAGMENT. 199
forms. Specific life shows itself in specific structures,
conditioned by form and size. Form, again, manifests its
nature in the systematic arrangement or articulation of
its component parts ; size shows itself in its divisions.
Both size and form have multiplicity and divisibility;
hence both imply and depend upon number. •
In order, therefore, to aid the child from the very dawn
of consciousness, and through the first exertions of activ-
ity, to rightly apprehend his environment, we offered him
as his first plaything the ball ; for the ball meets all the
conditions above enumerated, and hence may be consid-
ered as a representative or type of all things severally and
collectively. It is in a certain sense, therefore, a symbol
of the universal life.
In the plays with the ball the universal qualities of
material objects are thrown into relief. Hence through
these plays the child learns to recognize the qualities com-
mon to all things in his environment — i. e., material,
weight, force, cohesion, elasticity, etc. In the structure
of the ball he recognizes form, size, and number in undi-
vided unity — a three in one. Thus the ball becomes a
key to the child's environment, and a guide to and inter-
preter of nature both as regards her outer manifestations
and her inner life. The illustrations given in this book
show how both these results may be attained. In the
hands of thoughtful mothers and kindergartners the ball
becomes a help to the child in grasping the objects which
he sees around him, in their unity and indivisibility, and
it also helps him to make a right use of them. The means
to this twofold end are the differing and contrasting
qualities which the ball illustrates. The nature and rela-
tionship of these contrasts are accentuated through the
development of the sphere and cube from the ball.
200 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
From this point we connect our second review of the
gifts with the review already given.
In order that the child may get clear conceptions of
the sphere and cube they should be given him sometimes
separately and sometimes together. To give them to-
gether is especially important, because, as has been so
often stated, they help the child to seize the contrasts in
the objects of his environment and to find their recon-
ciliation ; for the sphere is predominantly the image and
type of outwardly manifested and yet really veiled inter-
nality ; the cube, on the contrary, is predominantly the
image and type of an internality which, though only 'par-
tially manifest, is actual and unveiled in this partiality.
Thus the two forms are complementary. The plays with
the ball lead the child through the universal qualities
which the ball illustrates to a general (though vague?)
knowledge of particular bodies of nature and of life.
The plays with the sphere and cube, and particularly
those plays which incite to comparison of these contrast-
ing forms, lead to more specific knowledge of these several
subjects.
XIIL
THE FIFTH GIFT. THE CUBE DIVIDED EQUALLY TWICE
Ilif EACH DIMENSION AND WITH OBLIQUELY DIVIDED
COMPONENT CUBES. EVOLUTION OF THIS GIFT FROM
THE PRECEDING GIFTS, AND FROM THE NATURE OF
THE CHILD AND HIS ENVIRONMENT.
(See Plates X-XIII.)
In accordance with a simple, necessary, and self-con-
ditioned law of life, the development of the child proceeds
from a definite, invisible, unchangeable, implicit unity,
which is in harmony with a corresponding unity in the
cosmos, toward a goal or consummation characterized by
the conscious realization of unity in particularity and in
manifoldness.
The means of adumbrating to the child his own nature
and life, and the nature and life of the cosmos, are his
plays and playthings.
Proceeding in this manner and with allegiance to the
demands of his nature, we have directed the activity of
the child by presenting him with gifts moving from a
necessary unit and developing according to inner and im-
mutable laws. These gifts have moved from the simple,
uniform, soft, elastic ball to the sphere, which, though
equally simple, and conditioned by an apprehensible
though invisible center, is relatively to the ball fixed and
inflexible, yet even more easily movable. From the soft,
202 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
elastic, quiescent ball, and the hard, inelastic^ easily mov-
able sphere, we advanced to the undivided cube, an object
which to the uniformity of the sphere opposes the mani-
f oldness of its faces, corners, and edges, and in contrast to
the movableness of the former embodies the tendency to
repose. From the undivided cube, whose form was con-
ditioned by contrast to the sphere, we proceeded to the
cube divided once in each dimension, and hence consist-
ing of eight component cubes ; and from this, in accord-
ance with requirements already fully explained, to the
fourth gift, a cube divided by one vertical and two hori-
zontal cuts into eight bricks [rectangular parallelopipeds].
Casting a scrutinizing glance upon this series of toys
we discover the following law of progress :
The Ball — A whole complete in itself ; a body round
yet easily alterable. [Froebel means that the soft ball is
easily changed in shape by pressure.]
The Sphere. — A fixed, inflexible, unmodifiable round
body, in which straight lines [axes] having different direc-
tions may be conceived although they are not visible and
are interchangeable.
The Cube. — The invisible and interchangeable straight
lines conceived as the axes of the sphere have in the cube
become outwardly visible and fixed. They retain, however,
equality of length.
The Cube divided once in every dimension (third gift).
— In this gift the straight lines and surfaces, which are
manifest in the undivided cube as faces and edges, are
revealed in their inward nature. Moreover, what the un-
divided cube showed once, is here repeated in each com-
ponent cube. Finally, in building with this gift the child
has now and then experiences of straight lines of different
lengths.
THE FIFTH GIFT. 203
Buildhig Bricks (fourth gift). — In this gift the right
Hnes of unequal length, now and then manifest in the
combinations of the third gift, become a fixture.
This review shows clearly that each successive gift in
the series is not only implicit in but also demanded by
its predecessor. Hence the fifth gift, to which we now
advance, must be indicated in and demanded by the gifts
already considered. We need, therefore, only to consider
their process of development in order to discover what
must be the character of their next successor.
The original gift in our cubical series was a cube
divided once in each dimension. The natural progress is
from one to two, hence our new gift must be divided
twice in each dimension. Each one of its faces will
therefore show a division into three equal parts, and the
whole cube will be divided into twenty-seven component
cubes. This division by threes yields an increase in the
number of parts, but not a developing extension in the
nature of the gift itself. A new feature must therefore be
added to this gift, and it must be one which has been met
with occasionally in the combinations made with the pre-
ceding gifts. This new feature is the diagonal.
The diagonal is demanded. Vertical and horizontal
lines are both straight lines. They are also in their direc-
tions contrasting lines. Contrasts in accordance with the
universal law of development imply mediation. The di-
agonal mediates the contrasting right lines, and hence is
demanded by them.
The diagonal is also suggested in the preceding gifts,
germinates therefore in them and sprouts from them.
Whenever, either in forms of life or forms of beauty, sur-
faces and edges meet, the oblique is transiently shown.
The demand of the new gift, therefore, is that the
16 ^
204 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
all V^a. 1
oblique line hitherto only transiently indicated shall be
come an abiding feature of its material. The oblique line,
moreover, in accordance with previous indications, must
be the diagonal of a square. Now, how shall this de-
manded diagonal be produced ? Simply by cutting the
cube through opposite edges, thus dividing it into two
parts, each of which is a rectangular column whose ends
are equal triangles [triangular prisms].
This division of the cube is demanded both by internal
and external considerations. The question next arises.
Shall the cube be divided diagonally once, thus yielding
only halves, or shall it be twice divided and yield quarters?
Manifestly it must be divided in both ways. Finally, we
ask ourselves. How many of the component cubes shall
be thus divided ? As the fundamental number in this
gift is three, it would seem right that three component
cifbes should be divided into halves and three into quar-
ters. Through this division in one third of the cube,
three of the component cubes remain whole and undi-
vided, three are divided into halves, and three into quar-
ters. Hence the fifth gift is composed of twenty-one un-
divided component cubes, three cubes divided diagonally
into halves, and three divided diagonally into quarters ;
the whole, therefore, is made up of three times three times
three, or twenty-seven small cubes.
So much in explanation of the essential nature of the
fifth gift, its outer form, its composition, and the law of
its evolution. Let us now advance to
Its Use.
Before beginning his play with this gift the child must
apprehend it as a symmetrical whole, complete in itself.
The component cubes should be so packed in their box as
THE FIFTH GIFT. 205
to bring the divided cubes undermost; it is also essential
that cubes similarly divided should be placed in a row.
In conformity with this demand the bottom of the box
must be occupied by one row of undivided cubes, one row
of halved cubes, and one row of quartered cubes. The
eighteen remaining undivided cubes fill the rest of the
box.
If the cubes be thus arranged in the box and covered
with the lid, it is only necessary to place the box on the
table with the cover downward, then to draw out the
cover and raise the box with a steady hand. When the
box is withdrawn the whole cube, with its parts well ar-
ranged, stands before the child.
This procedure is by no means intended merely to
make the withdrawal of the box easy for the child, but,
on the contrary, brings to him much inner profit. It is
well for him to receive his playthings in an orderly man-
ner — not to have them tossed to him as fodder is tossed
to animals. It is good for the child to begin his play with
the perception of a whole, a simple self-contained unit,
and from this unity to develop his representations. Fi-
nally, it is essential that the playing child should receive
his material so arranged that its various elements are dis-
cernible, and that by seeing them his mind may uncon-
sciously form plans for using them. Receiving his mate-
rial thus arranged, the child will use it with ever-recurrent
and increasing satisfaction, and his play will produce far
more abiding results than the play of one whose material
lies before him like a heap of cobble-stones.
Since the right use of all objects, whether physical or
spiritual, implies primarily division and recombination,
or analysis and synthesis, according to definite aims, let
the first use of the fifth gift be
206 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
The Eepresentatioi^ of Forms of Knowledge.
The simplest of these forms of knowledge are obtained
by division. The simplest form of division is that which
separates the whole cube into equal parts of the least
number, and having the greatest similarity in form to the
whole cube. Therefore the first division of the fifth gift
is into three equal square prisms.
It will be remembered that the third gift was divided
in three different ways, but that the parts thus divided
differed only in position. In two of these divisions the
plane of division was vertical ; in one it was horizontal.
The two vertical planes differed by extending in one case
from right to left and in the other from front to back.
In the fifth gift this threefold division is repeated, and is
now accompanied by variation in the arrangement of the
component cubes. In other words, when the fifth gift is
divided horizontally all the divided component cubes will
be found in one of its thirds. When it is divided verti-
cally from right to left, the halved cubes will be found in
one of its thirds and the quartered cubes in another.
When it is divided from front to back, one of the halved
cubes and one of the quartered cubes will be found in each
third.
Perceptions and recognitions which are with difficulty
gained from loords are easily gained from facts and deeds.
Through actual experience the child gains in a trice a
total concept, whereas the same concept expressed in
words would be only grasped in a partial manner. The
rare merit, the vivifying influence of this play material is
that, through the representations it makes possible, con-
cepts are recognized at once in their wholeness and unity,
whereas such an idea of a whole can only very gradually
THE FIFTH GIFT. 207
be gained from its verbal expression. It must, however,
be added that later, through words, the concept can be
brought into higher and clearer consciousness. Rhythmic
or harmoniously membered speech especially tends to pro-
duce this result. Hence all perceptions should be con-
nected with words, that thereby they may be more clearly
defined in thought.
Therefore the division and recombination of our cubes
may be accompanied by the words —
One whole, three thirds ;
Three thirds, one* whole.
If, in addition to connecting the act with its interpret-
ing word, we connect with the words the rhythmic form,
then to sense-perception and intellectual apprehension we
shall give the apprehension of the heart, or, in other
words, we shall influence the whole nature of the child as
a triune being :
15 5 3 11
One whole now, three thirds see ;
1 5 5 3 11
Three thirds now, one whole see.
This very simple division- of the cube gives occasion
for a great variety of representations ; the three table-
shaped parts produced by the horizontal division can be
joined so as to form a rectangular prism, whose greatest
length may be either vertical or horizontal (Plate X, Fig.
1). In either case the rectangular prism may be again
divided into three beam-shaped parts [square prisms] —
i. e., in beam-shaped parts having a horizontal position
(Plate X, Fig. 2), and into beam-shaped parts having a ver-
tical position. To the child these differences of position
make the beams seem as different as an oblong whose
greater length is horizontal seems to him different from
20B PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
an oblong whose greater length is vertical. Here, again,
division and recombination are accompanied by word,
accent, and song :
One table — three beams ;
Three beams — one table.
Again, we may consider the rectangular prism formed
by uniting the three square prisms (Plate X, Fig. 1) as
one long tablfe, and, as we alternately divide and recon-
struct it, say —
Long table will three small ones make ;
To form long table three small ones take.
Or, more briefly —
Long rectangle, three squares see ;
From three squares, rectangle make for me.
In • this case direct attention to upper face of prisms.
Or—
One oblong, three squares ;
Three squares, one oblong.
In this case the oblongs in different positions are recog-
nized as having the same form.
The same law must be observed here as in all other
plays — the law which permits the child entire freedom in
developing from a given point of departure. Thus pro-
ceeding from the rectangular prism the child may, ac-
cording to his own impulse, develop the rhomboidal prism
(Plate X, Fig. 4) to the trapezoidal prism (Plate X, Fig. 5).
These forms lead on to the hexagonal and pentagonal
prisms (Plate XI).
[Froebel omits any consideration of what the child
might do if his impulse did not move him to make these
forms.]
In all cases, however, it is an incitement to thought
THE FIFTH GIFT. 209
and feeling if simple words and melodies are used to de-
•fine the child's doings. Through such interpretation the
act recoils with more developing power — e. g. :
My cube I can handle
With ease, and you'll see
Six corners, where four
Or where five used to be.
Or—
How easy 'tis ray cube to take
And from one form another make I
It is both edifying and enjoyable for the child to dis-
cover and repeatedly represent how one form proceeds
from another by lawful evolution, as has just been illus-
trated in the series moving from the rectangular prism
or parallelepiped to the hexagonal prism. It is also im-
portant for the child to define each form in words — e. g. :
A rectangle has four right angles, etc. ;
A rhomboid has two sharp and two blunt angles.
Definitions of this kind must be given without any
proof, and simply as verbal expressions of perceptible
facts. They should be uttered rhythmically, and should
be interpreted by pointing with the fingers to the angles
indicated. Thus the words, " Two sharp angles, two blunt
angles," should be repeated alternately, and the angles
touched as they are named.
Even these definitions may be made rhythmic :
Scan well these forms, always four angles you will find,
Yet ever different are their sides inclined.
So when the angles are similar but have different posi-
tions, the following words may be said :
Though these angles alike appear,
In position they differ here.
210 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
[That is, the two equal angles either on different sides
(rhomboid) or on the same side (trapezoid).]
In further explanation may be added the following
words :
The two that are blunt are the larger angles ;
The two that are sharp are the smaller angles.
And further [in case of such trapezoids as are illustrated
in Plate X, Fig. 5] :
Blunt angles on the shorter sides we see ;
Sharp angles on the longer sides must be.
In all that is done, however, the aim must be to follow
simply, quietly, and thoughtfully the requirements of the
child's inner nature — an aim which these gifts make it
easy to realize. The child's representations must be lifted
into the clearness and precision for which he longs, and
finally his productions must be clearly defined in words.
From this digression, to which we have allowed our-
selves to be led as in play by the child, we return to the
division of the cubes.
As the division of the cube into thirds was made in
three different ways, so the thirds may be divided in
three different ways into ninths, and these into twenty-
sevenths.
Again, the component cubes may be united so as to
form a rhomboidal, a pentagonal, or a hexagonal prism, and
divided in several different ways into two, three, four, six,
and more equal parts ; the shapes of these parts will be
four, five, six, and eight sided prisms. They are always,
however, right prisms — i. e., prisms whose lateral faces
form right angles with bases. The use of the cube makes
these facts so apparent, that they need only be indicated
for each person to discover them for himself and to lead
children to discover them.
THE FIFTH GIFT. 211
The children may be incited to effort and discovery
by rhymed question and suggestion :
Who can now the large cube change,
And one six-sided form arrange ?
Or—
And two six-sided forms arrange.
The cube can change, if each child only tries.
To four straight rows alike in form and size.
See ! now I can divide all these
Into five-sided forms with ease.
Whoever can handle the cube well can change
These forms, and four six-sided forms can arrange.
The four six-sided forms you now may take,
And of them two eight-sided figures make.
Look at me now, and lastly you shall learn
How two eight-sided forms to one may turn.
Four equal slanting lines we here can view ;
The other sides are equal two and two.
This cube is very changeable ; you may turn it with much ease
To forms whose bases have five sides, and more yet, if you please.
Or-
The cube its parts unites in different ways,
And with each change a different form displays.
The transformation of one form into another thrown
into relief by these lines is highly important in its devel-
oping influence. The forms advance from the simple to
the complex and return again to the simple, thus com-
pleting a cycle of development.
[Students of Froebel will recognize that he is trying
to illustrate the process of evolution, whose natural sym-
bol he finds in the life of the tree.]
In every case separation and division must be followed
by recombination. In this w^ there result from the cube,
212 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
by varied groupings of its constituent parts, prisms, whose
bases have 4, 6, or 8 sides. [Froebel here describes these
prisms as " four- times-one-sided, two-times-two-and-one-
sided, two-and- three- times-one-sided, one-time-three-sided,
once two-sided, and once one-sided, four times two-sided."]
(See Plate XI, Figs. 1-8.) These bodies after being built
up may be easily resolved into their different constituent
prisms. The manner of doing this will be perceived at a
glance.
A very delightful exercise is to discover how many
square prisms may be made of the twenty-seven cubes.
Such square prisms may be, first, all of equal size ; second,
all of different sizes ; third, part of equal and part of un-
equal sizes. Analogous exercises may be carried out with
the pentagonal and hexagonal solids. Here as everywhere
the point of prime importance for its formative influence
is the development of one form from another.
Let us illustrate this kind of exercise by the example
of the square prism.
First. Equal Square Prisms.
Of these there are three, each composed of nine cubes.
Second. Unequal Square Prisms.
TWO SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 25 and 1 of 2 cubes.
1 of 18 and 1 of 9 cubes.
THREE SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 16, 1 of 9, 1 of 2 cubes.
FOUR SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 16, 1 of 8, 1 of 2, 1 of 1 cube.
FIVE SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 16, 1 of 4i, 1 of 4, 1 of 2, 1 of i cube.
THE FIFTH GIFT. 213
Third. Equal and Unequal Square Prisms.
THREE SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 25 cubes, 2 of 1 cube each.
rOUR SQUARE PRISMS. '
2 of 9 cubes each, 2 of 4| cubes each.
2 of 9, 1 of 8 cubes, 1 of 1 cube.
1 of 16, 2 of 4J cubes, 1 of 2 cubes.
FIVE SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 16, 2 of 4^ cubes each, 2 of 1 cube each.
1 of 16, 1 of 8, 1 of 2 cubes, 2 of ^ cube each.
2 of 9, 1 of 4^, 1 of 4 cubes, 1 of J cube.
SIX SQUARE PRISMS.
2 of 9, 1 of 4^, 2 of 2 cubes each, 1 of ^ cube.
SEVEN SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 9, 1 of 8, 1 of 4, 2 of 2 cubes each, 2 of 1 cube each.
2 of 44, 4 of 4, 1 of 2 cubes.
EIGHT SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 9, 1 of 8, 1 of 4, 1 of 2 cubes, 4 of 1 cube each.
1 of 4J, 5 of 4, 1 of 2 cubes, 1 of |^ cube.
6 of 4, 1 of 2 cubes, 1 of 1 cube.
NINE SQUARE PRISMS.
1 of 9, 1 of 8, 1 of 4, 1 of 2 cubes, 3 of 1 cube, 2 of ^ cube.
TEN SQUARE PRISMS.
5 of 4, 3 of 2 cubes, 2 of |^ cube.
ELEVEN SQUARE PRISMS.
4 of 4, 4 of 2 cubes each, 3 of 1 cube each.
TWELVE SQUARE PRISMS.
5 of 4 cubes each, 7 of 1 cube each, etc.
I have illustrated in perhaps exhaustive detail the
square prisms which may be made at the same time
from the component cubesi^f the fifth gift. For this
214 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
procedure I have had two reasons : first, to give a sample
of the great number of instructive forms which this gift
makes possible ; second, to show what beautiful combina-
tions proceed from these forms.
Of these combinations I will mention two :
I. Place two or more square prisms one above the
other, taking care that the superimposed prism is just
half the size of the one upon which it rests: e. g., upon
a square prism formed of eighteen component cubes place
one of nine cubes ; upon a square prism of sixteen com-
ponent cubes place one of eight, upon this one of four,
then in order one of two cubes, one of one cube, and one
of one half cube.
If, now, a series of these diminishing square prisms or
tablets be laid one upon another, in such a way that the
angles of one tablet always touch the sides of its prede-
cessor, the structure resulting will be both pretty and in-
structive.
Again, if while thus arranging the tablets each tablet
be defined relatively to its predecessor as its opposite (be-
cause of the contrast in position), the fact will impress
itself upon the mind that each opposite tablet is precisely
half the size of the preceding or principal tablet to which
it refers. Analogous observations may of course be made
in many ways, and in a later stage of development receive
accurate expression in geometry. As illustrated with our
gift it is a mere experience reached through play, and re-
lates to simple perception of a composite whole, together
with the agreeable impression of this whole upon the eye,
and through the eye upon the feeling and disposition.
The following words, which must be connected with
contrasting observations (i. e., observation of the form
from below upward, and from above downward), will
THE FIFTH GIFT. • 215
tiiake the relative sizes of the different tablets clear to the
child :
Upward, always half as large ;
Downward, always twice as large.
Or, with each single tablet —
I'm twice as large as that above me,
And half as large as that below ;
But though twofold I appear,
One you'll always find me here.
The second combination alluded to, and which is not
less interesting than the one already considered, is as fol-
lows : Unite two equal square prisms by their edges (or
corners) so that their upper surfaces form a right angle,
and connect these prisms by a third square prism extend-
ing from the free edge of one to the free edge of the other.
This third square prism will contain as many cubes as
both the two forms originally united — e. g. :
Unite two cubes by their edges to form a right angle ;
the connecting square prism will contain four cubes.
Unite square prisms of four cubes each ; the connect-
ing square prism will contain eight cubes.
Unite square prisms of four cubes and a half each ; the
connecting square prism will contain nine cubes.
Unite square prisms of eight cubes each ; the connect-
ing square prism will contain sixteen cubes.
Unite square prisms of nine cubes each ; the connect-
ing square prism will contain eighteen cubes, etc.
If desired, this process may be described in rhyme :
Let two equal square prisms in a right angle meet.
The prism formed is twice as large when it is quite complete.
If one desires that the explanatory word shall accom-
pany each stage of the rej^esentation (by which means
216 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
word, act, and object become reciprocally explanatory and
vitalizing), the following lines may be used :
If you can by an edge unite
Two equal squares * with an angle right,
And by a third square can combine
Two other edges of these squares in line,
This last third square will, as you plainly see,
As large as both the others prove to be.
For the further development of this group of forms
we must refer to the complete directions for the use of
this gift.f
It need here only be added that the discovery and
combination of geometric forms other than square prisms
is also full of interest, and that the mathematical re-
lationships thrown into relief in such combinations are
most interesting and instructive. The combinations of
hexagonal prisms may be mentioned as peculiarly attract-
ive.
Up to this point the child has been incited to dis-
cover figures of like form but of different content. He
may now be led to discover figures having an equal cubic
content but dissimilar in form — e. g. :
First Series.
1. A square prism of four cubes.
2. A prism with trapezoidal base, of four cubes.
3. A prism (whose bases are isosceles triangles) of
four cubes.
[It will be understood that half cubes are used in
making the last two forms.]
* I. e., square surfaces united so as to form a right angle.
f These directions have never appeared.
THE FIFTH GIFT. 217
Second Series.
4. A square prism two cubes long, one cube wide.
5. A rhomboidal prism of similar length and width.
6. A prism whose bases are isosceles triangles, made
of one whole and two half cubes, each of its legs or lateral
sides being of the length of two cubes, and one of these
sides serving as its base.
TJiird Series,
7. One small cube.
8. One square tablet of iour cubes.
9. One riglit column whose bases are one inch square
and whose height is four inches.
A single observation brings to light the following
facts :
1. Two parallel-sided quadrangles having like bases
are equal, if of the same height.
Whatever form the two sides show,
Slanting or straight, or high or low,
If base and height alike you see,
The contents too will equal be.
2. Any parallel-sided quadrangular form and a prism
whose bases are isosceles triangles are of equal size when
with the same altitude the base of the latter [i. e., of the
triangle] is twice as large as the base of the former [i. e.,
of the quadrangle].
Four corners you can bring to view.
While only three / show to you ;
And see now — I am just as tall
As you ; and yet that is not all.
For I can cover twice the ground :
Our contents equal thus are found.
The figures of the second series when compared with
one another throw into relief the first of the above-men-
218 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
tioned facts. Again, the quadrangular figures of the
second series when compared with the quadrangular fig-
ures of the first series show that one parallelogram has
half the contents of another when with equal base it has
half the altitude. The rhyme for this is easily discov-
ered.
The equality of the triangle of this series with its
parallelograms may be thus expressed :
Four corners you can bring to view,
While only three I show to you.
Twice as tall I am as you,
Just as long, and it is true
That, as we cover equal ground,
Our contents equal must be found.
The triangle of the second series compared with that
of the first series shows that one triangle is half the size
of another when with half the base it has an equal alti-
tude.
In the third series the bases of the two square prisms
show :
1. Proceeding from the smaller to the larger :
When the base and altitude of one square prism are
equal to one half the base and altitude of another, its
cubic contents are only one fourth as great.
2. Proceeding from the larger to the smaller :
When the base and altitude of one square prism are
twice as great as the base and altitude of another, the
cubic contents of the former are four times as great as
those of the latter.
The mathematical truths shown in this third series
were also presented to perception in the third gift, but
repeated experiences are of great profit to the child.
The transition from these forms of knowledge to
THE^ FIFTH GIFT. 219
forms of beauty and forms of life is a very simple one.
It will, however, not be readily discoverable by children,
who will, on the contrary, begin at once with forms of life.
Forms of Life.
The one permanent and indispensable condition in the
production of these forms of life is that in each total
product all the material of the gift shall be used. Any
piece that is left over must be somehow placed in relation
to the whole, and appear as an essential member of the
collective representation. Closely following the inclina-
tions of the child, we too will now begin with the forms
of life ; * and this so much the more, because the mani-
festations of the child show that through life and deed he
is led to the consideration and representation of the beau-
tiful and the true ; and, again, that it is the apprehension
of the beautiful which leads to consideration, representa-
tion, and apprehension of the true. The child, in a word,
follows the same path as the man, and advances from use to
beauty, and from beauty to truth.
In presenting this gift I have, however, purposely given
the precedence to the forms of knowledge. My object is to
make parents and kindergartners familiar with the nature
of the gift and its possible mathematical combinations.
In proportion as the leader is thoroughly acquainted with
the material of the gift will be the profit of the plays to
which he or she will incite the child, and the pleasure of
such plays both to leader and child.
With regard to the production of forms of life the
* Froebel means that whereas in presenting the gift he has be-
gun with forms of knowledge, the true point of departure for chil-
dren must always be the forms of life.
17 S
m
220 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
same principle holds good as in the production of forms
of knowledge. It is essential to proceed from the cube
as a whole. In this way the conception of the whole, of
unity, stamps itself upon the child's mind, and the evo-
lution of the particular, partial and manifold, from unity
is illustrated.
If, now, the box is packed, as above described, so that
the divided component cubes lie beneath on the bottom
of it, it is only necessary for the child at the beginning
of the play to reverse the box, draw away the cover, raise
the box vertically and take it away, and the cube stands
in complete order before the * child. The object may be
brought near to the life of the child by the words : A
table — a table ; a house— a house ; or whatever else the
imagination compares it to or will see in it.
From this an armchair or a seat can be immediately
made ; it is necessary merely to place the row of halved
cubes upon the row of undivided cubes ; this gives the
back ; the cubes divided in quarters can then be easily
separated, and each two quarters placed together in a
little four-sided column for arms on both sides, three col-
umns to each side. This chair can be again easily changed
into a divan (seat of repose), and this again into a sofa.
From this is then soon formed another armchair with
half oblique back and arms, and footbench, from which
can be easily made a bedstead^ a child^s bed, etc.
Proceeding again from the cube, a large business table
may be represented ; from this two different sideboards, a
2oriting table, with a chair, and a basket for paper. Al-
though his representations are not before him at one
time, yet the child can comprise them all in rhyme, bring
them before himself in perception and remembrance, and
so survey them as a whole ; for example :
TEE FIFTH GIFT. 221
See how many a pretty thing
I always from the cube can bring ;
Chair and sofa, bench and table,
Desk to write at when I'm able,
All the household furniture,
Even baby's bed, I'm sure ;
Not a few such things I see ;
Stove and sideboard here can be.
Many things, both old and new,
My dear cube brings into view ;
So my cube much pleases me.
Because through it so much I see.
It is a little world.
Again, proceeding from the cube, we obtain one large
and two small traveling trunks with arched lids ; in the
first an empty space of the size of one component cube.
From this, again, the course is quite simple and easy
to buildings and houses, which the children especially
like to make. House and room, table and bench, are
usually the first things the child represents, and he likes
the former best opened with doors and windows. This is
quite natural, for the child's world, from the remem-
brance of which come his formations and his concep-
tions, is at first principally confined to house and room^
table, bench, and bed. .. '^
The child's life moves from the house and its living-
rooms, through kitchen and cellar,* through yard and
garden, to the wider space and activity of streci and mar-
ket, and this expansion of life is clearly reflested in the
order and development of his productions.
House stairs^ and outside steps, wells, church, public
hall, the whole village with its principal buildings, then
* The child also loves to build kitchen and cellar, iicited there-
to, perhaps, by the fascination of the hidden and mysterious.
222 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
again the public oven alone, the market place ^ and here
again the townhall or the guardhouse^ the city gate^
and, going out through this, the bridge appears. It may
be seen from this how intimately my gifts are connected
with the course of the child's inner and outer develop-
ment; how they promote and illuminate this develop-
ment ; how the child by means of them strengthens and,
as it were, grows out of himself. His representations pro-
ceed from his nearest experiences, and are intimately con-
nected with them. The child is not forcibly torn away
from his inner world and from his environment. But
the mother or kindergartner has many opportunities of
correcting the child's perceptions by his representations ;
and the amendments will be gladly accepted by the child
if only they lie within the circle of his experiences and
ideas. As these building gifts afford a means of clearing
the perceptions of the child, they give occasion for ex-
tending these perceptions, and for representing in their
essential parts, objects of which the child has only heard,
as was the case in the above representations. (Thus the
village child has heard only of the guardhouse, and the
city child of the public oven, and probably neither of
them has seen the monuments, the columns of honor, the
lighthouses, the hermitages, etc., which may also be rep-
resented.) Instructive and elevating explanations and
stories, forming mind and heart, can be joined with these
representations of the children, and experience has shown
that children are then doubly attentive ; it seems as if the
story made more impression on the child when referring
to his own work.
Children of five years of age, who have gone through
with similar exercises with the previous gifts, can build in
common at the same time. For example :
THE FIFTH GIFT, 223
Lay four times two whole cubes in an oblong before
you ; place perpendicularly upon them again four times
two whole cubes. Over each two cubes lay two half
cubes, so that they touch in the middle by their sharp
edges; with the last two cubes, each of the two half
cubes yet required is represented by two quarters. In the
long hollow thus made sink four whole cubes. What
have you made which now stands before each of you ?
" A house with an overhanging roof, four cubes high and
two cubes broad."
What have each of you still left ? " A whole cube and
two cubes each divided into quarters."
Place the one whole cube by the right gable exactly in
the middle of the wall.
Place one of the cubes, divided into quarters, in the
same way, in the middle of the left gable wall.
Divide the quartered cube into two halves, and lay
each of these halves in roof form on each of the two cubes
so that the two small roofs shall slope in the same direc-
tion as the large roof. What have you now? "Two
little outbuildings to the right and left of the house."
" A large house with two little outbuildings, one on each
side, each of the size of one cube, with an overhanging
roof of a half cube." Can you, each of you, now build
this alone ? " Yes ! yes ! " Well, then, do it.
This play also gives great pleasure. This pleasure, as
well as the principal characteristics of his product, can
also be expressed by the child in song :
A house, a house, a house !
A house belongs to me.
A house, a house, a house !
Come here, come here and see !
In length it is four cubes,
In breadth it% two cubes ;
224 PEDAGOGICS OF
In this house one has no fear.
Room, in grief and joy,* is here
It is two cubes high ;
A broad roof here I spy.
For smaller matters stand
Two houses at each hand.
In order further to exercise the child's power of mem-
ory and conception, all the space in the house may be
filled with things with which the child is familiar ; for ex-
ample, here is the sitting-room, here the kitchen, etc.
A quite peculiar kind of architecture which the chil-
dren like very much is that which is designated by the
name of art building ; the forms originate especially in a
separation and grouping of the parts determined by sym-
metry and proportion, principally in vertical mural sur-
face extension, but also in erections having in both
horizontal and vertical extension at the same time ; these
erections receive, then, predominantly the character and
expression of the columnar and monumental.
From this art building in horizontal and vertical ex-
tension proceed then easily
The Picture Forms, or Forms of Beauty.
These forms of beauty may, however, also be pro-
duced by proceeding from certain forms of life and archi-
tectural forms — e. g., from a four-sided well, or from a
square table with ornaments and four cushioned seats.
With these forms of beauty it is above all important
that they be developed one from another. Each form in
the series should be a modification or transformation of
its predecessor. No form should be entirely destroyed.
* " Gibt Raum in Leid und Freud'."
THE FIFTH GIFT. 225
It is also essential that the series should be developed so
that each step should show either an evolution into
greater manifold ness and variety, or a return to greater
simplicity. These points have been already discussed in
connection with the forms of life, and also in the chap-
ters devoted to the consideration of the third and fourth
gifts.
We may either let the* child proceed voluntarily to
these forms from any chosen form of life, or we may
make the series of picture forms proceed from a fixed
and simple starting point. Before, however, carrying out
the latter course the following fact should be consid-
ered :
The fifth gift is a cube of three times three times
three, and contains twenty-seven component cubes.
Therefore either the equilateral triangular form or the
square form can be represented by it. Thus all the forms
of beauty of the fifth gift are essentially different from
those of the third and fourth gifts in this, that they
separate themselves into two great distinct series :
The series of squares and the series of triangles.
The surest foundation of both, as series of cultivation
an^ development, is found in the forms of knowledge.
This foundation of the first series is found in that form
of knowledge in which the cube is divided into four
prisms (whose bases are isosceles triangles, each of which
is composed of four and a half component cubes), and
one square prism or tablet of nine cubes, around which
the four triangular prisms are arranged in a square form.
(See Supplement, Plate XII, Fig. 1.)
The second series of forms of beauty (the triangular
forms), on the contrary, find their best foundation in
that form of knowledge ii^ which the cube is divided
?26 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
from right to left into three equal beam-shaped parts.
These parts are easily put together, so as to inclose an
equilateral triangle. Each of the sides of this inclosure
is nine cubes long. (See Plate X, Fig. 4.)
We contemplate here, first of all, a series of forms of
beauty which can be developed from the fundamental
form of the square. (See Plate XII, Fig. 1.)
The essential beauty and the developing and forming
influence of these plays, for which the greatest freedom
is always given in respect to the choice of the starting
point, consist in the fact that when a way of formation
and development, a way of representation, is once entered
upon, and we wish to come to a definite, clear aim in a
definite, clear manner, we must always proceed in accord-
ance with the chosen way till we attain to the ultimate
aim of the development. This course of development,
everywhere perceptible in these plays, expresses itself
here with special clearness.
In the second place, it is important that each line of
development entered upon be clearly, sharply, and exactly
apprehended both by ourselves and by the playing child.
Perception must be clear, use and adaptation exact, and
the words in which our procedure is described specific.
This manner of carrying out the play is of every possible
advantage, not only in its influence in the culture of the
child's intellect, heart, and practical efficiency, but also
in its power of creating a trustful relationship between
the nurturer and the nurtured, mother and child, kinder-
gartner and pupil. Such a trustful relationship is kept
intact by an easily comprehended interchange of thought
and act.
So in the case before us, especially with the execution
of the first series of the forms of beauty proceeding
THE FIFTH GIFT. 227
from the square. (Compare the above-named Plate XII,
Figs. 1-6.)
Inner and outer are pure opposites ; therefore it may
be left to the playing child himself to begin his changes
from the square prism in the middle, or from the four
triangular prisms outside. Inner and outer appear also
in each of these two cases as opposites ; and so the play-
ing child may begin his play either in the middle of the
square prism or in its outer cubes ; either with the inner
or outer sides of the triangular prism.
A still further choice is whether the movement shal]
be on all sides (that is, on four sides), or on two and two.
Each beginning requires a specific development, as a cer-
tain limitation is always implied in so much change and
freedom. Of course, each series of development may be
broken off at any stage, and a new one entered upon,
but then the playing child should himself (in the stated
manner, although not by words, yet clearly, according to
the object and the perception) give an account of the
connected ways of formation through which the accom-
plished form has resulted.
We will now proceed from the fundamental form
(Plate XII, Fig. 1). This form, though simple, bears a
great variety within itself and renders a yet greater one
possible. The way of formation is that of unfolding
from the middle on all sides.
Firstly, therefore, the four cubes a in the corners of
the square prism are moved outward in a straight direc-
tion to the point where they are, as it were, fixed fast.
Kow, the four cubes h move in the same way to the four
sides of the square ; these together, when accomplished,
give the form (Plate XII, Fig. 2).
This movement of both 4^ continued, bringing the
228 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
first four cubes a to the corners of the principal square
prism, and the second four cubes h to the place of the
cubes a, giving the form in Plate XII, Fig. 3.
These eight cubes, continuing their path of formation
symmetrically (round to the right or to the left), give the
form in Plate XII, Fig. 4.
If this way of development is further continued, this
gives again the outward appearance of Fig. 3, although
represented by wholly different cubes or members— that
is, where the cube or member a stood before, the cube
or member h now stands, and where h stood a now
stands. The position of the cubes has thus wholly
changed, notwithstanding the outward appearance is the
same.
This change in the members of a whole, while the
whole itself remains the same, is a fact of great impor-
tance for the child to observe. It is a law of Nature and
of life, and one which must be recognized in studying
Nature and life. Hence in the course of our plays it
shall be frequently referred to, though only in the way of
cursory suggestion. Other important laws of Nature and
development will be dealt with in the same way — e. g.,
the law that the course of development may be different,
but its point of departure must always be either from
within, from without, or from that which mediates inner
and outer.
The four cubes a now return to their places, the four
cubes h remain, as it were, firmly fixed at the corners;
this gives the first part of the form (Plate XII, Fig. 5).
Now the developments begin in the four triangular
prisms, in the middle of the longer sides (which are turned
inward), and with the half cubes each of which is again di-
vided into two parts or quarters ; first, they may, while
, THE FIFTH GIFT. 229
still united, merely step forth from their connection with
the whole, giving the form Fig. 5.
But now they may themselves separate, and, as it were,
one half be attracted by the middle, one half by the out-
side. But at the same time a development may proceed
in the right-angled corners of the triangular prism, so that
the outside corner cube Z*, with the one already standing
at the corner, may touch the two whole cubes of the cen-
tral prism by their edges. This gives Fig. 6.
With these ways of formation, the precise aims and
final form toward which the whole course of development
works, should be kept in mind, so that at last the whole
appears as a purely encircling form, or as a rectangular
ray-form, or as a wheel-form, connecting the two.
Each of these conceptions, again, admits of a double
manner of representation, and the environing form may
be either a circle or a square ; the crossing rays may be
either in right or oblique position, and the same may be
said of the connection of both.
Be it here remarked, in respect to all forms of beauty
developed both from the square or the triangular prism,
that it is essentially good if they be brought before the
playing child for quiet, clear, thoughtful consideration,
even if this be actually only through the relations of num-
ber. Thus we may proceed from a corner, which we
touch with the fingers, accompanying the act with words
as follows :
Two and four and one and three.
Or, while contemplating the circle form :
Two and two and two and two,
Four and four and four and four,
One and one and one and one,
Three and three, ^ree and three more I
230 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
Or—
Four times two,
Four times four,
Four times one,
and
Four times three !
(Compare Plate XII, Fig. 6.)
The fact remains to be brought out that very beauti-
ful forms of connection show themselves between the
forms of beauty from the square prism and the forms of
life or architectural forms ; these are the forms used in
fortification. Reference can here be made only to Plate
VIII, of the forms of beauty in the lithographed pages of
the fifth gift. A connoisseur in art said about this that
Fig. 42, Plate VIII, is actually the simple fundamental
form of the art of fortification.
We now turn to the triangular forms of beauty.
As the starting point, it appears here best and simplest
to proceed from a triangular inclosure, each side of which
is bounded by 7iine part cubes, and then fix upon the con-
dition of advancement, viz., that the triangle remains the
fundamental form of each newly developed figure ; but
that, in order to attain at the same time greater change
and greater variety, one cube more at each change is by
degrees set free for voluntary movement; so that the first
boundary form contains on each of its sides ni7ie^ the
second eighty the third seven of our component cubes, etc.,
and in the second case owe, in the third two component
cubes, or their parts, are destined for alternating move-
ment. (Compare Plate XIII, Fig. 1, the starting point ;
in each of its sides are nine component cubes.)
Since each side, according to the stated limitation,
must contain this number, so here no other alteration can
THE FIFTH GIFT. 231
be further undertaken than shifting the cubes inside the
series, either toward the inside or outside, yet only so that
the direct coherence within the sides and among the cubes
be not thereby broken up; thus that the pushed-out cube
be pushed out of a certain part (one fourth, one half, three
fourths, etc.) of the one side, but always so that side re-
main connected with side. Each side of the original
form, which at first was straight, may now appear as a
broken line, or as a serpentine line bending in and out at
one side or at the other, or as a wholly curved line, bend-
ing either inward or outward.
Simple as this alteration appears, it yet yields very
manifold forms, and pleases the child just on account of
the ease with which it can be accomplished.
Now a cube is set free for play, that is, for movement
(Plate XIII, Fig. 2). What different positions may this
one cube take ?
It may move either inside or outside of the inclosing
cubes.
In each of these two cases, again, it may be placed
either in the angle (on the corner) or at the side ; and
here, again, either with a side or with an edge turned
toward the side or the angle (corner) of the inclosing
line of cubes.
There are thus given six different forms, which, how-
ever, in the series of their representation yield a logical
whole, so that the child gains practice in seeking for
logical members.
Further, these three free cubes may combine in the
center of the triangle, and here, again, in a threefold
manner: either always with an edge, or always with a
side of each turned toward the other ; or, thirdly, in con-
nection, so that the edge of the one cube is always
232 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
turned toward and touches the side of the other. In the
first case, three edges touch in the center ; in the second
case, each two edges, and this three times.
Here, again, is rendered prominent the law so highly
important for life, and therefore so manifoldly expressed
in nature, and hence, also, in my series of gifts — the
law, viz., that in nature and in life a third connecting
appearance always shows itself between two purely oppo-
site appearances. This phenomenon was pointed out as
essential even with the forms of beauty of the third gift,
and on account of its deep significance we shall often
return to it in the course of our demonstration.
Yet the alterations which are possible with a trian-
gular form, one side of which contains eight component
cubes, thus leaving one cube for free play, are by no
means exhausted by what has been now brought forward*
This whole component cube may again be diagonally
divided into two equal parts, or, otherwise expressed,
instead of playing with one whole cube the child may
be permitted to play with two half cubes in the stated
division. To give here all the alterations which are pos-
sible in this case would be impracticable, easy as they are
in the execution.
The principal alterations may be : First, the two
halves are divided (see Plate XIII, Fig. 3) ; then, again,
combined to form a prism whose bases are a right-angled
triangle.
In the first case, not only may all the combinations
above given with one cube be carried out — for example,
so that both stand either on the side of the line of in-
closing cubes, or in the angle where two lines meet, and
here, again, placed toward the outside or toward the in-
side; but these positions may also be manifoldly con-
THE FIFTH GIFT. 233
nected ; for instance, one outside, one inside ; one at the
side and one in the angle or at the corner.
In the second case, where the two halves appear as
triangular prisms, at least all the combinations take place
which have already been given above with one cube, so
that it is easy to suppose, and by calculation approxi-
mately find, that about one hundred combinations, or
rather different representations, are possible by means of
the cube divided into two halves. And we are still a
great distance from the end. One of the half cubes may
be again divided into two quarters, so that thus the alter-
able members are three : one half and two quarters for
each side. What a multitude of connections and alter-
ations are given by these three members, only at one side
and only in one direction I The total number of repre-
sentations beginning with these three members, accord-
ing to a general estimate, may amount to nearly three
hundred. Notwithstanding, we are not yet at an end
with the representations by means of one cube ; for the
second half cube may be replaced by two more quarters, so
that thus four quarters are free to move. Let us here,
again, assume as possible only five hundred new altera-
tions, which is certainly not too much in proportion to the
former ones ; then with the triangle (Fig. 1), where eight
part cubes are on each side and one part cube either un-
divided or in two halves, or in one half and two quarters,
or in four quarters, is free for alternate transposition,
nearly one thousand different representations are possible.
It may easily be seen from this how necessary it is to
separate and classify the number of possible representa-
tions, so that the child may not be oppressed, or at least
wearied, by their multitude. A want of classification
is the bane of all the combination plays for children
234 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
which have till now been known to me, and the said
plays lose by this their formative influence for spirit and
mind, as well as their applicability for life. But here
each limitation made excludes a countless number of
forms, and the child and kindergartner easily find their
way amid the manifoldness of possible forms, and define
the place where they stand. This may at least be done
by the guide who is a true guide in virtue of ability to
make such limitation and discrimination. Thus these
plays are not oppressive and wearying, do not lead into
unfathomable depths, but, on the contrary, are truly
strengthening and developing. The educator at least
always knows where he is at home, whence the child pro-
ceeds, whither his direction tends, and to what side he
turns.
As in the preceding series there were always eight
cubes remaining in each side of the inclosing form, so in
the next there must be but seven ; thus tivo cubes are free
for play. These two may now be either both undivided
(see Plate XIII, Fig. 4), or one cube undivided, the
other divided ; and, again, either into two halves, or into
one half and two quarters; or into four quarters (Fig. 5).
Or both cubes are divided either into four halves, or into
three halves and two quarters; or into two halves and
four quarters (Fig. G) ; or into one half and six quarters ;
or into eight quarters.
Whoever has attentively followed the course of play
up to this point will be aware of the great number of
possible representations, and will realize how essential to
the welfare of the child it is to restrict the freedom of
change by limiting it to fixed members and by determin-
ing it to a definite direction and goal.
It is evident that with all the representations indi-
THE FIFTH GIFT. 235
cated may be connected a movement in the environing
cubes. This form of change has purposely been omitted,
in order not to bewilder the imagination with too much
variety. These pushings in and out may, however, be
carried out practically with the different representations,
and will give to the play an entirely new charm. Here I
can only refer to the lithograph plates for the fifth gift,
especially Plate B, Figs. 10, 11, and 12, where such rep-
resentations are carried out.
The smaller the number of the cubes which must re-
main in one side of the fundamental form, the more nu-
merous in parts and the richer in structure become the
representations. The individual parts as well as the
whole also tend toward the curved form. I must here
again refer to the lithograph plates of this gift, especially
Plates C and D.
From this point the progress can be easily made to
two and two sided forms, rectangular as well as curved,
and from these to the circle as the conclusion of the
whole series of representations.
From these forms approximating to the circle there is
an easy transition to the representation of the different
kinds of cog-wheels, and hence to a crude preliminary
idea of mechanics.
Mediational between the triangular forms of beauty
and the forms of life are the representations of intrench-
ments, sconces, and redoubts. Allusion has been made
to forms of this kind in connection with the transitions
from forms of beauty based upon the square and forms
of life. A few of these are given on the lithograph
plates of the fifth gift— life forms (Plate XIX).
As the outcome of the representations indicated it is
clear that in the forms made with the fifth gift there
• 18 %
286 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
rules a living spirit of unity. Even members and direc-
tions which are apparently isolated are discovered to be
related by significant connecting members and links, and
the whole shows itself in all its parts as one and living
— therefore also as a life-rousing, life-nurturing, and life-
developing totality.
In conclusion, just a single word with regard to the
use of the lithographed leaves.
These leaves are intended originally and predomi-
nantly for parents and kindergartners, and their object
is to help the person who is to guide the child's play to a
comprehensive view of the gift as a whole, in order that
she may intelligently follow the indications given by the
children, and may be able to show to the latter the mean-
ing of their own productions, and the connection of these
productions with their life, its moving impulses and its
demands.
Later, when the children have discovered and made
several, or indeed most, of the things represented by the
plates, or at least similar ones, then the diagrams rep-
resenting the things they have themselves formed may
be shown to them for imitation. This serves several
purposes : it gives them a picture of what they have
already represented and may again represent like the
picture ; it makes their insight into the whole more clear,
and it extends their survey ; finally, it develops their
power of thought, makes their conceptions richer and
more definite, and their representations of these concep-
tions more sure and fixed. Thus it awakens in them the
power and desire to increase such conceptions by the
contemplation of sculpture and pictures, whenever they
have an opportunity.
XIV.
MOVEMENT PLAYS.
(See Plates XIV, XV.)
In every activity and deed of man — yes, even in every
activity of the smallest child — is expressed a relationship.
Each act attempts to promote some end or to represent
some idea. To realize his aims, man, and more par-
ticularly the child, requires a material (a substantial par-
ticular means, though it be only a bit of wood, or a peb-
ble) with which he makes something or which he makes
into something. In order to lead the child to the han-
dling of material, we gave him the ball ; the sphere which
develops from it ; the cube and the other bodies discussed
in the chapters relating to the kindergarten gifts. Each
of these gifts incites the child to free self-activity, to in-
dependent movement. Up to the present, however, no
special consideration has been given to the movement
plays which develop from the gifts. This omission has
been deliberate, and has been in the spirit of my general
method of development and nurture — a method which
descends from the universal to the particular, from the
whole to the part, from unity to diversity. Now, how-
ever, that we have reached a determinate point in the
consideration of those plays which require a given ma-
terial, it is well that we should also give our attention to
238 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
the pure movement plays. It would have been preferable,
before discussing the movement plays, to explain the sixth
gift (the cube divided into twenty-seven bricks, three of
which are divided lengthwise, and six of which are di-
vided crosswise into square prisms) ; but in this case it
would have been necessary to postpone too indefinitely
my answer to the appeals which flow in from all sides
with reference to the kindergarten games. To these
games I shall now exclusively confine myself.
For the nurture and development of childhood it
is by no means sufficient to respond through play
material to the external manifestations of unfolding
power. We must spy out the inner process and meth-
od of development and meet the needs indicated
thereby.
All outer activity of the child has its final ground in
his inmost nature and life. The deepest craving of this
inner life, this inner activity, is to behold itself mirrored
in some external object. In and through such reflection
the child learns to know his own activity, its essence,
direction, and aim, and learns also to order and deter-
mine his activity in correspondence with the outward
phenomena. Such mirroring of the inner life, such
making of the inner life objective, is essential, for
through it the child comes to self-consciousness, and
learns to order, determine, and master himself. The
child must perceive and grasp his own life in an ob-
jective manifestation before he can perceive and grasp it
in himself. This law of development, prescribed by Na-
ture and by the essential character of the child, must
always be respected and obeyed by the true educator.
Its recognition is the aim of my gifts and games appre-
hended relatively to the educator.
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 239
The external phenomena in the active life of the child
must not be considered externally and isolatedly by the
educator. They must always be studied in their relation
to the inner life, either as proceeding from it or in their
recoil upon it. The children themselves will be our guides
and teachers in this twofold consideration. The smallest
child moves joyfully, springs gayly, hops up and down,
or beats with his arms when he sees a moving object.
This is certainly not merely delight in the movement of
the object before him, but it is the working of the inner
activity wakened in him by the sight of outer activity.
Through such vision the inner life has been freed. Fur-
thermore, observation even of very small children shows
that they do not rest contented in the moving object, but
seek to find out whence the movement proceeds. Similar,
should be the procedure of the educator with reference to
objects in movement (movement perhaps called forth by
the child's own activity). In the nurture, development,
and education of the child, and especially in the effort to
capacitate him for action, his own nature, life, energy,
must be the main consideration. The knowledge of iso-
lated and external phenomena may occasionally be a guide-
post pointing our direction, but it can never be a path
leading to the specific aim of child culture and education ;
for the condition of child education is none other than
comprehension of the whole nature and essence of hu-
manity as manifested in the child, and the most com-
plete possible realization and representation of the same,
from the first appearance of the man as child and through-
out the whole course of life. No education which fails to
hold this aim consciously and persistently in view can,
strictly speaking, claim to be an education worthy the
nature of man. ^
240 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
After this introductory preface we consider the move-
ment plays, their starting point, and their course of de-
velopment.
Staktinq Point an^d Course of Development of
THE Movement Plays.
The child, although unconsciously, strives to make his
inner life outwardly objective, and thus perceptible, and
so to become conscious of it, to see it mirrored in the
outward phenomena. It is for this reason that the child
tries to do himself whatever he sees done.
The ball may now be set in motion, either by the
activity of the child or that of the mother.
Let it, therefore,
Its power to prove,
Stir and move,
Go and come,
Roll and run,
Hop and spring,
Turn and swing,
Go low, then high,
In circle fly,
Go far, come nigh.
From one place to another then
The little ball can roam again.
But it can also hide itself.
To tease the little one ;
Away into the dark can go,
Or fly toward the sun.
All this the little child can learn.
Can gladly in the ball discern,
And learn to trust his strength in turn.
What rich, what active life and thought
The ball to this young child has brought 1
The life in both but one life stays,
Though it so many forms displays.
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 241
In these activities of the ball, which in reality and
practice yield more variety than is here indicated, the
whole of the movement plays are contained as in a germ.
The manner of their development is also in some degree
implied, or shown, as it were, in a rough sketch.
As the ball stirs, moves, goes, runs, and rolls, the child
who is playing with it begins to feel the desire to do like-
wise. Thus the little game, " The child wants to go,
too ! " was actually born of the incitement of the ball-
plays.
Each sure and independent movement, either of his
whole body or of one of his limbs, gives the child pleasure
because of the feeling of power which it arouses in him.
Even simple walking produces this effect, for it gives the
child a threefold feeling, a threefold consciousness : First,
the consciousness that he moves himself ; second, that he
moves himself from one place to another; third, that
through this movement he attains or reaches something.
If, therefore, we desire to work beneficently upon the
future activity of a child, if we wish to give a solid foun-
dation to his later doing and creating, we must carefully
observe and foster his earliest activities, his earliest move-
ments, his first walking.
It is a well-established fact that his first walking gives
the child pleasure as an expression of his power. To this
pleasure, however, are soon added the two joy-bringing per-
ceptions of thus coming to something, and of being able
to attain something. These several perceptions should all
be fostered at the same time. Care should be taken that
the child use his whole power even in his earliest walk-
ing. He should move securely, firmly, and in an orderly
manner. In other words, he should get his limbs, and
indeed his whole body, into his own power. He should
242 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
learn to use his bodily strength and the activity of his
limbs for definite purposes. The careful guidance of the
child in these respects is important for his whole future
life, and undoubtedly the very first manifestations of the
child in his own attempts at walking point to the three-
fold consciousness and purpose indicated. Thus, when
holding by the hand or finger of mother or nurse, the
child makes his first attempts at walking he frequently
tries to go to some particular object (often, too, he will
avoid some particular object in order not to be impeded
in his walking). The effort to reach a particular object
may have its source in the child's desire to hold himself
firm and upright by means of it, but we also observe that
it gives him pleasure to be actually near the object, to
touch it^ to feel it, to grasp it, and perhaps also — T^hich is
a new phase of activity^o be able to move it. Hence we
see that the child, when he has reached the desired object,
hops up and down before it, and beats on it with his little
arms and hands, in order, as it were, to assure himself of
the reality of the object and to notice its qualities.
It is well, while the child is making these experi-
ments, to name the object — e. g.. There is the chair, the
table, the bench, the flower, the sister, etc.
In like manner it is well to name the parts of the
object — e. g. : This is, or here is, the seat ; here is the leg ;
here is the corner ; here is the edge, etc. Its properties
may also be named : The chair is hard or soft ; the seat
is smooth ; the corner is pointed ; the edge is sharp.
The object of giving these names is not primarily the
development of the child's power of speech, but to assist
his comprehension of t'he object, its parts and its proper-
ties, by defining his sense-impressions. Through a rich
store of such experiences the capacity for speech will of
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 243
necessity be developed. Language will, in accord with
the nature of spirit, break forth of itself through the
augmentation of spiritual self-activity.
In order to help the child to this store of rich experi-
ences it is weU, from the time that he begins to walk, to
accustom him to raise himself to his feet by the help of
different objects, and also to incite him to go around such
objects. Each new phenomenon is a discovery in the
child's small and yet rich world — e. g., one may go
round the chair ; one may stand before it, behind it,
beside it, but one can not go behind the bench or the
wall.
Proceeding in this way, the nurture of the child ceases
to be a task performed thoughtlessly and tediously, and
becomes a duty which arouses and nourishes the spirit,
and satisfies the inner nature. When these truths are
understood, the noble and blessed calling of a true nurse
will be entered upon not from motives of cold external
obligation, but for the satisfaction and fulfilment of the
craving for a higher degree of inward life.
The smallest child who begins to exercise the power
of walking loves to go from place to place — i. e., he likes
to turn about and to change the relationships in which
he stands to different objects, and in which they stand to
him. Through these changes he seeks self-recognition
and self-comprehension, as well as recognition of the dif-
ferent objects which surround him, and recognition of his
environment as a whole. Each little walk is a tour of
discovery ; each object is an America — a new world, which
he either goes around to see if it be an island, or whose
coast he follows to discover if it be a continent.
After this apparent digression, which is, however, in
reality not a digression but ^ penetration into the heart
244 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
of our subject, let us return to our movement plays, and
especially to our first movement play, " The child wants
to go on a journey " ; recognizing therein the point of de-
parture for a new and distinctive series of games — viz. :
A. The Travelling or Journeyikg Plays.
The significance, spirit, and aim of these plays we
have already recognized. They are plays whose object is
to exercise and develop the child's power of independent
movement. They are journeys of discovery. They are
plays which enrich the child with perceptions and expe-
riences.
1. The Child wants to travel^ or go about.
For this play the children stand in a circle ; the ball
has just moved from one child to another, and has thus
called forth the desire for locomotion in the child. I
might say that one can feel this in the children, even in
one particular child. Remarking this, let the wandering
of the ball cease, and, while drawing the child by the hand
into the middle of the circle, express the observation just
made, " Lina [or Adolph, for example] wishes also to
walk about."
Or if the kindergartner perceives that the wandering
of the ball no longer enchains the attention of the chil-
dren, let her awaken the slumbering inclination of the
children by the question, " Will not one of you also walk
about?" We have never yet asked this question that
several children have not at the same time stepped forth
and called out, " I," " I," " I."
The leader now sings to the play-circle :
Our Lina [Adolph] likes to walk
From one place [child] to another.
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 245
Or from the heart and lips of the child itself come the
words :
I, too, would like to walk, etc.
While the child who desires to walk steps up to any
one in the circle, reaches his hand to that one and moves
relatively to himself from the right to the left, but rela-
tively to the circle of children from the left to the right
hand ; the children sing :
Our Lina [Adolph] you see will walk
From one place [child] to another.
As the walking child holds out the right hand, each
child in the circle responds by extending the right hand
toward him.
Smaller children can, at the first, be permitted to go
round merely with this silent offering of the hand ; but
the next time, or even at once with larger children, the
greeting may be added :
And wish you a good day, good day,
Good day, good day, good day.
Or the song proceeds from the children in the circle :
And wish us a good day, good day, etc.
The walking child, moving on, reaches his right hand
to another child, and says " Good day " at the same time.
The greeted child in the circle does the same.
The children play this game very willingly. When
one child has ended his walking, several more always step
forward who wish to " walk " in the same way. It is,
of course, understood that the leader must see that all the
children have walked at the close of the play.
An extension of this play may be added at the close
of the walking of each child, by asking the child, who
has again placed himself in ^le middle :
246 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN. ^^M
" Whom have you then learned to know on year
journey ? "
As an answer to this, the child must mention the
names of the children standing in the circle. This brings
about a double exercise : it teaches him not to pass by
objects without observing them, and also helps him to
form a definite conception of the name of the object and
its qualities, or at least its general impression. A third
exercise may be added to this, viz., older children may be
required to name their companions in the exact order in
which they were greeted. This is a very beneficial exer-
cise, as it links memory and perception; it also exercises
the power of grasping objects in a series and of holding
in mind their arrangement and sequence.
Very young children may be permitted at first to point
with one finger to each child as he is named (the name
" pointing " finger receives thus its true significance).
Older children should merely follow with their eyes the
order of the children standing on the circle. The still
more developed child should be able to name the children
standing on the circle in proper order, even when his back
is turned toward them. Finally, when the child has gained
a degree of intellectual power, he should be asked to close
his eyes and name his comrades on the circle in their proper
order, and, if he has an unusually vigorous and active
mind, he may even mention their names in reverse order.
These hints are sufficient to show that the walking
game admits of a progressive development running paral-
lel with the development of the child's intellectual power.
It admits also of a progressive external development, for,
as the child gains power of walking longer, the children on
the circle can step farther apart and thus increase its size.
Instead of arranging themselves in a circle, the chil-
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 247
dren may form a square or rectangle, if the shape of the
playroom permits.
I purposely recur to the possibility of development
which lies in the simplest of the plays suggested by me ;
for through this capacity for development they meet the
requirement insisted upon, that each new and separate
play should develop from those already given. This qual-
ity of continuous evolution in correspondence with the
unfolding of the child gives a quite peculiar value to my
plays and my method of playing.
Following the genetic idea of the walking game, our
next development and extension of the play must be the
walking of all the children at once. This development
came of itself in the playroom, unfolding naturally from
the children and the game.
It is natural (i. e., it lies wholly in the nature of the
object and in the nature of the child) that the wandering
of the individual should awaken the impulse of wandering
in all, and should inspire the desire of wandering together.
Thus, in actual experience, the general wandering or trav-
eling game arose as a spontaneous and yet necessary de-
velopment, just as leaves and blossoms develop from the
bud. Let us now describe —
2. The General Traveling Game.
The children are standing side by side on the circle.
The magical question of the leader, " Would you all like
to go on a journey ? " raises into consciousness, or at least
into articulate feeling, the wish that slumbers in each
heart, and the children arrange themselves easily by twos
in a line. The leader gives expression to the wish stirring
in all, in the form of a song, the words of which she re-
peats while walking around the room. The words are
248 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
learned with unconscious quickness by the children, be-
cause expressive of their own life. When learned, leader
and children sing in concert :
We all like well to walk about
From one place to another ;
This walking suits us well to-day,
For all things in the world look gay.
Walking, walking, walking.
I have described the blossoming of this play out of
the life of the children just as it actually occurred. Im-
agine the line of wandering children moving repeatedly
around the playroom, and occasionally making a change
by marching on its diagonal. The words " All things in
the world look gay " wakens the wish to see the gay and
beautiful world, and on the first spring day the shining
sun beckons through the window, and the clear blue sky
is seen through it, the doors open as if of themselves, they
open repeatedly, and the gay garland of child-flowers goes
through them into the open air, singing first with in-
creased zest the already given words, then giving words
to the new observations and perceptions for which God's
free world offers occasion :
We hear the birdies singing,
We hear their glad songs ringing ;
We see the fruit trees blow ;
We hear the small bees humming ;
We hear the beetle [chafer] drumming ;
The clouds above us go —
Let us too be going.
To pasture flocks are going ;
The meadows green are growing ;
And all things joy are showing ;
So let us too be going ! *
* The preceding song was composed as it proceeded from life.
H. Langethal, to whom the words were afterward communicated,
I
MOVEMENT PLaYS. 249
Not merely for a change, but in order to guide the
child yet more to the notice of surrounding things, to the
perception of the increased feeling of life in his own
took up the song, for the easier singing and comprehension of
the children in regular stanzas, with a concluding extension as
follows :
We all like well to wander
From one place to another ;
This wandering suits us well to-day,
For all things in the world look gay.
Wander, yes, wander !
We see the trees now blowing,
White clouds above us going ;
We hear the birdies singing.
We hear their glad song ringing.
Wander, yes, wander !
See flocks to pasture going !
The meadows green are growing,
We hear the beetles drumming.
Bees busily are humming.
Wander, yes, wander !
The children now hear daily
The brooklets rushing gayly ;
Where'er our footsteps lead us,
There Nature's beauties feed us.
Wander, yes, wander !
[Note by the Editor. — The German word wandem means, to
stroll, to ramble, to take a walk, to go on a journey, to travel, and
also simply to move or change place, or to go. The English word
wander has in it a sense of aimlessness, or else that of vain and in-
effectual seeking for some object or goal. This makes it necessary
to translate the word wandem in Froebel's remarks about the trav-
eling or journeying games sometimes by one and sometimes by an-
other equivalent, but very rarely by^ur word wander.^
n
250 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
breast, and for the fostering of human childlike feeling,
the following words may also be sung :
Journeying, traveling, ij
Gives us joy too great to tell ;
Makes our breasts with pleasure swell.
Merry we, and safe from harm,
With our dear ones arm in arm.
Many good things now we know,
Pretty things we've named also ;
Now a resting place choose well ;
We of all these things will tell.
According to the words of the song, when the place of
rest is reached questions are asked concerning what each
of the children has particularly remarked and retained in
its memory, and praise is awarded to most acute obser-
vation.
But these walkings or journeys can also take place
as —
3. Walking plays with a great number of children in
a relatively small space, as was shown by Principal Jeckel
in Frankfort-on-the-Main, suggested by our smaller walk-
ing play ; where they performed a walking play in which
several hundred children joined by fours, with a suitable
gay song, in a spacious school garden.
Our children in Blankenburg play this game in their
large playroom as well as in the open air, with great
willingness and delight. I think, therefore, always with
gratitude of the one who made us acquainted with it, and
especially who presented us with the suitable song.
But walking and journeyings are very often connect-
ed with visiting ; visiting, again, is connected with social
calls ; this has given rise in our circle to
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 251
4. Visiting Play^ or Going to Make Calls^
which, as will readily be perceived, is a progressive de-
velopment from the walking, and embodies the same
spirit.
The children stand opposite to each other, and accord-
ing to their number are arranged either against two or
four of the walls of the playroom.
Two of the rows, which thus stand opposite to one
another, now sing :
Those whom opposite we see
Come to visit you and me :
and while they sing they approach each other, so that at
the end of the rhyme they meet in the middle of the
room.
One of the two rows, now standing closely opposite to
one another, sings, while bowing to the other :
We greet you all — we greet you all.
The second row answers : *
We thank you all — we thank you all.
The two rows now unite to form a double line, and,
turning toward the play-leader, sing :
Come, let us all go walking ; we
So many pretty things will see ;
In our stories we will tell
What we see and love so well.
While the song is sung the column of children moves
toward one corner of the room, bends there and moves
along the side of the wall until opposite a second corner,
then turning, walks first toward the middle of the room
and next to the third corner. When this corner is
reached the column bends again and moves along the
19 \
252 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
1
second wall until the fourth corner is reached, from
which point it diverges again toward the middle of the
room. Here the children remain standing in their origi-
nal order after having formed in their journey a figure
eight in a horizontal position (oo ).
The leader (or whoever else may wish to do so) now
goes to each child and asks what he has seen in his
journeys. The children may describe either what they
have actually seen, or something they " make-believe "
to have seen.
The questioner connects the different objects named
by means of an impromptu story in which all bear
some part. This story should both give the child pleas-
ure and convey some helpful conception of Nature or
human life.
Whenever the story-teller mentions an object which
one of the children has seen, or made believe to see, dur-
ing the walking in room or garden, this child must raise
his hand partly as a sign that he is giving his attention
to the story, and partly that the story-teller may be sure
not to omit the mention of any object.
At the close of the story the travelers sing to the
story-teller :
For your story now we pay
Hearty thanks to you to-day.
While the children sing, the double column separates
into two lines which face each other. Each line then
moves backward to its original place, singing :
We now go back and take our place ;
Please turn to us again each face.
If there are four lines, or, rather, two double columns
of children, the second column now begins the play. If,
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 253
as has generally been the case in my experience, the chil-
dren enjoy the play and wish to repeat it, they should be
permitted to do so.
The sources of the children's delight in this game are
manifold. The song itself is pretty; the children love
to greet each other ; finally, there is a fascination in the
winding movement, with its varied suggestion of the re-
lationship between center and circumference. For the
same reason, perhaps —
5. The Winding Brook
was one of the first movement and traveling games de-
veloped by our circle of children, with whom, moreover,
it was always a prime favorite.
The children stand side by side in a large circle. They
hold each other's hands. The leader breaks the circle at
a point near one corner of the room, and by a series of
winding movements parallel to the shorter sides of the
room leads the children first toward the inside of the cir-
cle and then outward toward the wall opposite. As the
first child follows the leader, so each successive child fol-
lows his neighbor. When the winding line has thus
reached the opposite narrower side, it turns, going along
one of the long sides back to the starting point, and this
is repeated as often as the duration of the song requires.
To this the following song is sung, partly by full chorus,
partly more softly by a single voice :
Chorus : Side by side now, fast or slow,
Winding like a brook we go.
Single : By the brook the flowers blow,
Gayly past them we all go.
Chorus : Side by side now, fast or slow, etc.
Single : In the watery mirror see,
Clearly showing hill and tree.
254: PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Chorus : Side by side now, fast or slow, etc.
Single : Mirrored in our hearts, too, shows
Love that toward us ever goes.
Chorus : Side by side now, fast or slow, etc.
Single : Filled with thanks and great delight
Are our hearts ; our eyes are bright.
Chorus : Side by side now, fast or slow, etc.
Single : Oh, how happy are we all
Here together, large and small !
Chorus : Side by side now, fast or slow, etc.
Single : Now we turn in circle gay,
a. Singing in our childish way,
b. Singing in another way.
As the final chorus is begun, the play-leader tries to
lead the merry band of children so that with the begin-
ning of the last stanza, " Now we turn in circle gay," all
the children move in a well-arranged large circle. The
conclusion " a " is sung when the play is here ended ; the
conclusion " ^," on the contrary, when a new play is con-
nected with it.
This brook play forms the transition from the pure
journeying plays to those which through form or move-
ment represent some object; hence to the branch of
movement plays called —
B. Eepresentation Plays.
One of the favorite plays which very early budded and
developed in our play-circle is —
1. The Snail
The children stand, side by side and hand in hand as
before, in a large circle ; they also like very much to play
this as a continuation of the brook, in which case the
strophe " b " is sung at the end of the latter.
The play-leader now takes the hand of one child in
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 255
the circle at any point he thinks best, breaks the circle,
and leads this child, whom the rest easily follow, firmly
clasping each other's hands, always round the inner side
of the circle till he has formed in his course a snail line,
or rather a spiral line, and stands in the middl^ with all
the children wound round him. Then, turning backward
himself, and going first of all between his own and the
next line of children, he tries to unwind from the inside,
which is also easily done if, firstly, the children hold firmly
together, and, secondly, if the snail line is not too closely
wound. To this the children sing :
THE SNAIL SONG.
Hand in hand, as all can see,
Like a little snail go we ;
Always nearer, always nearer;
Always closer, always closer ;
Always tighter, always tighter —
Till in closest union stand
All we children, hand in hand.
At these words the play-leader should stand exactly
in the middle of the circle. If the circle of children is
large, the lines " Always tighter, always tighter " must be
repeated until the winding is complete and the central
point attained.
When the play-leader has come into the middle of the
circle, he turns immediately as above described, and the
following words are sung :
Hand in hand, as all can see.
Like a little snail go we ;
Always farther, always farther;
Always wider, always wider ;
Always looser, always looser —
From the smallest point we go.
Till the large ring we can show.
256 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
With these words all the children should again be
standing in a closed circle, and the following lines may
then be sung :
Gayly we each other greet,
Thus our play we now complete.
The snail game frequently and fittingly forms the
conclusion of the circle plays. It is well adapted to this
purpose, since it unites all the children in one whole of
living activity, and finally yields the form of the circle,
which is symbolic of wholeness.
As an evolution from the actual play of the children
this game had its point of departure in the swinging of
the ball attached to a string around the forefinger in such
a way that the ball moves in a snail line, and, gradually
approaching the finger, finally rests against it. It is then
unwound by a reverse movement from the finger, and
finally by its own recoiling activity wound again around
it. In Nature the child sees the form ot these winding
lines on the snail shells he so dearly loves. These visible
lines interpret the words of the song, "Always nearer?
always closer," also the "Always farther, always wider,"
and help the child in feeling to connect movement and
form.
Enough has been said to show plainly the spirit and
aim of these plays. Their object is to lead the child to
observation and apprehension of the life that surrounds
him. I suggest, in addition, a few representative move-
ment plays which in experience proceeded freely from the
inmost life and needs (if I may so express myself) of very
little children. Who has not noticed how children love
to turn themselves around a smooth tree or pole while
clasping it with one hand or clinging to it with one arm ?
From this practice was developed the following play. On
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 257
account of the size of our playroom, a slender column
stands in the middle to support the ceiling. This column
exercised a magnetic attraction upon the children. One
after another would rush to it, embrace it with his little
arms, and swing himself around it with shouts of pleasure.
As this merry play soon attracted all the children, it be-
came necessary to introduce a certain order into it, and so
resulted the following —
2. Mill Play.
Six or eight children place their right hands on the
smooth column and try to hold fast by it. This feat is
easily accomplished in spite of the small size of their
hands. The left hand of each of these children is grasped
by a second child, and the left hands of this second ro\^
of children by a third row, and so on, according to the
number of the children and the size of the room. In this
manner, proceeding from the column as center, are formed
six or eight lines, each consisting of three or four children.
The whole gives the effect of rays, or looks like the spokes
of a wheel. The children should be so grouped that the
members of each concentric circle are of equal strength
and size. The smallest children should be placed either
in the first or the last row, in order that the length of
stride and quickness of movement may be proportioned
to their strength. If the smallest children stand in the
outermost circle, and if besides the leader there are pres-
ent several grown persons, each of these takes the hand of
one of the weaker and more delicate children, and thus
determines the speed of movement, which in the begin-
ning must of course be very slow. Even the smallest
children, however, show great agility in this play ; hence
the speed is soon accelerated^ The leader and other adults
258 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
must, however, watch the children individually and col-
lectively, and must see to it that the movement is uniform,
and that the order of the children is not disturbed.
As the children move around the column, the follow-
ing lines are sung :
The old mill wheel is never still
If strongly the clear water flows ;
And our mill wheel turn§ with a will
The way that our own pleasure shows.
In this song the whole figure produced by the children
is represented as the wheel of a water mill, and the child
is led to the perception of the moving power in himself
and in the water, and to a comparison of these power? —
i»e., of the desire which impels his own activity, and ^-he
force of the water which turns the mill wheel.
In Mr. Hochstadter's kindergarten, at Frankfort-pn-
the-Main, the whole was looked on as the wings of a wind-
mill, and the first four verses of the following song were
adapted to it, to which the four lines here following we»e
added :
See the windmill how it goes !
As the wind so strongly blows,
Always round it turns ; it will
Never idly stand quite still.
Our strong wind is our own fun,
So we swiftly, swiftly run.
Quickly thus the time goes by ;
Oh, how happy now am I !
Our children like very much to sing this song also on
account of its appropriateness. The comparison of the
power of Nature and of the mind, and the interpretation
of the one by the other, go through this play also.
In this same kindergarten at Frankfort the following
I
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 259
verses were afterward added, from the children's percep-
tions of life :
Quickly sails the ship along,
Driven by the winds so strong.
If a stormy wind should blow,
Then aground the ship might go.
This closing of the play is also appropriate, because it
leads the child's attention to the disturbing effect of a
too vigorous movement in this play.
This game may also be played in a room without a
pillar, and also in the open air. The play-leader fastens
around his waist a piece of cloth or strong string, twisted
several times, which is grasped by the children standing
nearest, and they then turn at the same time with him.
In the open air this play is particularly beautiful, if a
smooth-barked, full-crowned tree is found for it.
When the movement has been executed once to the
right, it is also carried out by turning to the left. (For
a change, and in consideration of the small children,
the short triple step may be taken instead of the longer
stride.)
This representative play proceeded from girl-life. As
a complement to it I give another, which owed its existence
to boy-life ; this is —
3. The Wheel
Four, five, or six children, with their faces turned
toward the middle of the circle, take each other's hands.
At the place where two of the children, thus standing in
a circle, have joined hands, another steps up from the
other side, who grasps their joined hands with one of his
and stretches the other outward like a ray. A second
child in like manner grasps thejiand of this child, so that
260 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
in this way a four, five, or six rayed star results. Each
two of these rays are now again connected in a tangential
direction by two children who have taken hands, so that
in this way a larger circle results, like the first and parallel
with it. If there are many children, this can be repeated
as often as the number of the children permits. When
the wheel is thus inclosed, the movement begins toward
the side to which the faces of the children forming the
rays or spokes are turned. To this is sung ;
See here a wheel we make,
Which turns itself around ;
The spokes must all be straight,
And by the felloes bound.
Principal Jeckel calls this play a star game, and has
carried it out with a very large number of children in
the spacious garden belonging to his school.
It is very evident, as has already been mentioned, that
through these plays, and the free and joyous self-expres-
sion which they involve, the child is led to observe both
surrounding objects and the phenomena of his own life ;
that through such observation he is further led to com-
parison and recognition of the two orders of phenome-
na, and, finally, to healthful and salutary judgments
and inferences. The pleasure with which the children
play these games, and others of a similar kind, may there-
fore have its ground in a presentiment of what is sym-
bolic and significant in them. May not their delight in
these encircling movements, for example, spring from the
longing and the eifort to get an all-round or all-sided
grasp of an object ?
Through many considerations, and as the result of
many and various experiences, I am convinced that the
exalted and often ecstatic delight of children in their
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 261
simple movement plays is by no means to be explained
through the exertion of mere physical force — mere bodily
activity. The true source of their joy is the dim premo-
nition which stirs their sensitive hearts (Gemiifhe) that
in their play there is hidden a deep significance ; that it is,
in fact, the husk within which is concealed the kernel of
living spiritual truth.
Hence it is that we can not too strongly insist upon
the thoughtful observation of children's plays — upon their
nurture and development, and upon their purification
from all that obscures or is foreign to their ideal content.
Through the exclusion of foreign elements the immanent
ideal of the play — which is what really stirs the soul of
the susceptible child — will become more powerful in its
influence. I am convinced that in this way we may not
only arouse and illuminate the ethical feeling of the child,
but also strengthen it and elevate it into practical activity ;
and, finally, that this practical moral activity will recoil
with blessed effect upon the nurture and development of
religious aspiration.
In the presentation of these plays I have purposely
followed their historic genesis and evolution in our own
circle of children. My object in this historic presentation
has been to show how, through holding in my own mind
the fundamental idea and characteristic essence of these
plays, I have been enabled to follow with fostering influ-
ence the absolutely free development of the child, and to
respond to the indicated needs of his being. Generalizing
the results of this experience it becomes apparent that,
through an education which is rooted and grounded in
the nature of man, which recognizes in that nature the
one true point of departure for its whole procedure, it is
possible to combine a fixed adhesion to the universal with
262 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN
the most searching and careful nurture of the particulai
and individual.
To the representative circular movement plays belong
4. The Circle^ Star, Flower and Crown Play.
The children form a large circle. The leader quietly
arranges it so that the more advanced children are dis-
tributed in the four quarters of this circle. These quar-
ters (of the circle) are then pointed out by the leader,
and the advanced child in each quarter is asked to watch
over the development of the play in his or her quarter,
and to preserve order. The whole circle moves round
first to the right, afterwards to the left, singing :
Side by side now, fast or slow,
In a large round ring we go ;
While around our circle going,
Prom our lips gay songs are flowing.
'Tis as pleasant, we soon learn.
In the smaller rings to turn.
And to sing out soft and gay —
That is happy children's way.
I
At the conclusion of the words " 'Tis as pleasant, we
soon learn," the play-leader claps his hands, and each of
the four quarters of the circle forms immediately a smaller
circle of its own, which is closed at the words " In the
smaller rings to turn " ; and now each of the smaller circles
turns round to the right ; at the repetition of the verse
" 'Tis as pleasant, we soon learn," each circle turns round
to the left.
Again the play-leader claps his hands. All the chil-
dren in each circle stretch the right hand into the middle
of the circle, reach out the left in ray form toward the
outside, turn to the right, and sing :
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 263
Now we have formed a star,
Now we have formed a star,
Clear shining, though so far ;
Our parents love [father, mother loves] the star.
Or, generally,
Who does not love the star!
The play-leader claps again, all the children in each
circle stretch the left hand into the middle of it, and the
circle now moves to the left, singing the former song.
The play-leader claps again, each of the children in
each circle lays its right arm over the left, the right hand,
turned inward above, the left turned inward below, so that
the opposite hand may be easily grasped by two neighbor-
ing children ; when this is done, the children of each circle
turn round to the right and sing :
Our flower's form complete must be,
As those we in the garden see,
Which with their glances bright
The gardener delight.
Again the play-leader claps, the children lay the left
hand over the right (the left turned inward above, the
right below), then clasp hands, turn round to the left, and
sing as before. At the conclusion of the song the play-
leader claps again, the children drop each other's hands
and raise their arms, the palm of the hand turned out-
ward. Each two neighboring children lay their opposite
palms firmly against one another, so that the whole forms
a crown with alternating points. The children turn to
the right and sing :
Great pains we now are taking,
Crowns for our parents making ;
We try to make thera right,
Our parents to delight^
264 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
^
The play-leader claps again, and the children turn to
the left.
Again he claps. Each of the children lets his or her
hands fall on the shoulders of his or her two neighbors.
With this they turn and sing :
We have formed a garland gay
Which completes our little play ;
Lovingly we thus were bound
As happily we turned around.
Let us now, the selfsame way,
Turn in circle large and gay ;
Clear and loud our merry singing
From the echo back is ringing.
Though both star and wreath have vanished,
From our circle none are banished.
■1
At the words " Let us now, the selfsame way," the
play-leader claps, and the four circles open in the places
turned toward the middle of the room. From this point
each circle swings or goes backward in the two opposite
directions outward, so that the four smaller circles now
again stand in the large circle as in the beginning of the
play. Here the children standing by one another (who are
as yet separate) take hands immediately, and at the words
" Turn in circle large and gay " the whole circle turns
round to the right. After the concluding words the circle
dissolves. Each child gives his right hand to his two
neighbors.
These four representations — circle, star, flower, and
crown — are considered and treated in a composite and
connected play ; but with quite small children, each may
be played by itself as a single game, and several times re-
peated, though the intermediate children like very much
to play it as a coherent whole.
The nature and spirit of this play are plain — viz., that
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 265
the children are to be led by it to the observation of
Nature, of their own life, of the movements of their
hearts and of their childlike human feelings, and to the
fostering of these as of their thoughtful child life in
general.
From these plays develop —
C. The Bunking Plays.
The child seeks to exercise his ever-increasing power
of walking, and to measure his strength with that of
others ; the pure running plays, the outrunning and over-
taking plays, are the first plays of the completely devel-
oped power of movement. The play with his ball incites
the child to movement games, and gives him an oppor-
tunity to practice them. The little ball escapes from the
child's hand ; it runs away, and the child tries to overtake
it, to reach it by running after it. But the pure running
plays are also developed from the play itself. Up to this
time —
1. The Racing Game
is the prime favorite with our children. It is played in
the open air, on the playground, and on the sufficiently
broad garden paths, as well as in the spacious playroom.
This racing ground is a large, quadrangular course,
which incloses the beds and gardens of the children as
the frame incloses a slate.
The children are arranged by twos, as nearly as pos-
sible according to equal size, strength, and dexterity.
Each pair of children step in turn before the play-
leader into the course in the middle of one of the broad
sides, back to back. The play-leader and the remaining
children sing :
%
266 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Children, your limbs move now —
Run ! Your swiftness prove now.
Run now — run now faster,
Faster still, and faster I
At the word " run " the leader claps his hands, and the
children, using all their power, run in opposite directions.
At the point opposite from the starting place the runners
pass each other, and each of them tries to reach first the
opened arms of the play-leader.
Upon the second repetition of the race two of those
who have won the prize in the former race go first into
the course. Even this very simple movement game is
played by the children with great pleasure.
Other running plays will be mentioned when we reach
the point whence they proceeded, as it were, from the life
of the children with their gifts.
Hitherto the position of the body and the movement
of the limbs have not been restricted, but both of these
can be considered in simple walking. This gives —
D. The Pure Walking Games.
Be it said, by the way, that the name walhing games
(since girls also share them) is much more appropriate
than the foreign designation of " marching."
1. The Simple Walking Game.
This can be done in a single row as well as in a double
row by children standing in pairs ; the latter is easier for
the children, and they like it better.
A good deal of discretion can be used in the arrange-
ment of the children. Either a larger child can be placed
with each smaller one, or children of like size can be put
^
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 267
together, and then again either the largest or the smallest
children may be permitted to take precedence. The room,
playground, or garden is then traversed in various straight
and curved, circular and winding movements, to which
the following words are sung :
Step by step now let us go,
Equal paces take also.
Not to right nor left we turn ;
To keep the knees straight, we must learn.
Upright must the body be,
Head and chest and leg and knee ;.
Turning out the feet must be,
And the arms be hanging free.
Not too near nor far away
From his neighbor, may one stray.
How glad are we, as two by two
We march with measured step and true I
Or the play may be accompanied by the simple little
song composed by the before-mentioned Herr Langethal :
We move in equal spaces,
And all make equal paces,
La, la, la, etc.
This walking play always gives the children great
pleasure.
In changing the play and the room, the children, who
are going in pairs behind one another, merely sing :
Breast to back now, that's well ; so
To our playing let us go.
That disorder and rough disturbing willfulness may
never enter, it is a good plan, wherever it is possible, to
accompany each change in the play by rhyme and song;
so that the latent sense of rhythm and song, and, above all,
the sense of order in the human being and child, may be
20 ^
268 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
aroused and strengthened to an impulse for social co-
operation.
With the simple walking plays may be sung simple
melodies without words. Such melodies are especially
adapted to the longer walks taken out of doors, when
such walks are over level paths.
2. Circular Walking Game. flll
The walking plays, which take place around a circle
are always more difficult than those in which the move-
ment is straightforward, because the feet have to be set
sidewise. It is therefore well to practice the latter first,
and to use them oftenest, especially with very small chil-
dren. Nevertheless, it is noticeable that circular position
and circular movement seem to have a special attraction
for the smallest children. Therefore it is well to com-
bine the two forms of play by allowing the children to
move around a circle ; only, instead of moving sidewise,
to walk one behind the other, singing :
Breast to back now, that's well, so
In the circle let us go.
I
In the specific circling games the children stand, not
breast to back but side by side and hand in hand. When
the object is to direct attention to the circle itself, the
children sing :
Merrily now, side by side.
In a circle round we glide.
If, however, attention is to be directed in part and
prominently to the turning out of the feet, the children
sing:
Feet turned outward, that's fine, so ;
Gayly in a ring we go.
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 269
For the movement plays thus far considered the freely
moving ball has furnished incitement and type. The ball
attached to a string gives the incitement and point of de-
parture for another series of plays. To illustrate : The
children stand in an orderly circle around the leader ;
the leader reaches the ball (fastened to its string) to any
one of the children ; he himself retains firm hold of the
string ; he pulls the string slowly, the ball escapes from
the child's hand and swings rhythmically here and there
before him. The leader gives words to this phenome-
non by singing :
The little ball moves easily,
There, here — there, here — there, here.
He now either asks the child from whose hand he lets
the ball escape, " Will you also do what I have done?" or,
generally, " Who will try to do as I have done ? "
Usually several children come forward, and, decided
by good reasons, he chooses one of them, places him in
the middle of the circle of children, lets him make the
swinging movement with the ball, and at the same time
sing twice the above-quoted words.
The first time this game was played I noticed that the
movement of the ball seemed to affect the children mag-
netically. As the ball moved, many of them moved also,
bending first on one side, then on the other. Afterward
this happened again. The movement of the children was
immediately given a rhythmic form, and thus arose a
whole series of movement plays proceeding from the ball,
which aim at the definite training of the body and its in-
dividual members.
270 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Movement Plays proceeding from the Ball on
THE String, which have in view at the same
Time an Exact Training of the Body and
Limbs.
A. Swinging Movement Plays.
As soon as the ball, which has been swung by the child
standing in the middle of the circle, has ceased to move,
the general impulse of the children to move likewise is
greeted by the following song :
We too can move lightly.
Here and there, here and there.
Accompanying the song, the children move their bodies
lightly from one side to the other. As they sing the word
" we " they rest firmly on the left foot and slightly raise the
right ; with the next syllable they rest upon the right foot
and raise the left. This rhythmic alternation occasions a
slightly waving movement of the upper part of the body.
Manifestly the rhythmic alternation may proceed from the
right foot to the left, as well as from left to right, and
thus produce a waving movement in a direction opposite
to the one already described.
This waving movement, when continuous and uniform,
not only delights the children but has a very pleasing
effect, resembling a field of grain moved by the wind. It
is of course understood that the leader watches the circle
and sees that it is kept in good order. Each member of
the circle should have a chance to lead, for it is especially
developing to a child to recognize himself on the one hand
in his own independent activity, and on the other as the
member of a well-ordered totality.
To stand in the middle of the circle and freely swing
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 271
the ball gives the children great delight, and I am firmly
convinced that it is important for the welfare and develop-
ment of the child that this delight should be fostered.
Hence I am of the opinion that this game should be re-
peated often enough to allow each of the participating
children to act as leader.
When the circle is a large one, however, it becomes
necessary to introduce another movement to alternate with
the rocking movement of the whole body. The most
obvious movement which suggests itself is the swinging
of the arms, and, primarily, the swinging of one arm alone,
beginning naturally with the right arm.
Thus, when the child in the middle of the circle has
swung his ball after the fashion of a pendulum, each child
in the circle may swing his right arm, accompanying the
movement with the words :
My arm is lightly swinging
Here and there, here and there.
According to the feeling of the children, either these
two lines or only the last line may be repeated twice.
Instead of the words " here and there," may be sung
the woMs "front," " back."
In order that the play may have a developing effect
upon the children, it is important that there should be
harmony of action. Hence care must be taken that the
motion of the arm is the same at each repetition of the
words. Thus, with the words " front," or " here," the arm
should be swung toward the center of the circle ; with the
word " back " or the word " there " it should be swung
toward the circumference of the circle.
Only through this harmony of word and movement
can the true life and spirit of this play work freely and
effectively, and exert its fostering influence.
27^ PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
After repeating the movement with the right arm from
four to six times, it should be carried out with the left
arm, to the accompaniment of the words —
My left arm now is swinging, etc.
Next, both arms may be swung, and this in several
different ways.
First. With both arms parallel to the sides, and here
again — a. Both arms may be swung at the same time and
in the same direction ; or, h. The two arms may be swung
alternately and in opposite directions, to the song :
Both arms I swing lightly, J
Front and back, front and back.
Second. Both arms may be parallel to the breast, and
here again — a. Both arms may be swung at the same time
and in the same direction ; or, h. The two arms may be
swung alternately and in opposite directions.
Simultaneous movements may also be executed by the
children standing with intertwined arms, around the circle.
Similar movements may be made with the legs, though
they naturally admit of less variety. Thus :
The right leg here and there, or front and back ; left
leg moved in same manner; right leg sideways to the
right ; left leg sideways to the left.
For a change may be sung the words —
Happy and successful I always shall be,
Swinging my arms [legs] like the pendulum free.
Or—
My arm swings quickly to and fro,
And like the pendulum doth go.
If exercise of the hip joints seem desirable, the trunk
may be moved in the same way while the lower part is
held firm, singing :
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 273
I bend my body, too,
Front and back, front and back.
To make the swinging of the ball and the swinging of
the arms points of departure for the perception of living
Nature, and in order to give more precision to the obser-
vation of nature, the following words by Langethal may
be sung as an interpretation of the movements already
described :
When they like wind-blown twigs appear.
Well pleased are then the children dear, etc.
If the number of the children is not too large, the
leader may call each child singly into the circle, grasp it
under the arms, and, lifting it, allow the closed legs to
swing to and fro while the trunk remains quiescent. Suit-
able words will of course accompany this exercise.
This play will be a pleasant rest for the children if
they have previously been playing very active games.
When the ball is vigorously swung toward either of the
two sides, it swings also wholly around itself, or in a circle
around the finger tips which are holding the string fast.
This circling movement of the ball on the string swung
by the finger tips of the right hand now gives rise to a
whole series of circling and turning child plays.
B. Circling and Turning Movement Plays proceeding
from the Ball.
The child, standing in the middle of the play circle,
connects again with his earlier play with the ball, by sing-
ing while at the same time swinging the ball :
My little ball moves easily
There, here — there, here — there, here —
And then it swings around.
274 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
The children standing in the circle then move, rock-
ing from one foot to the other [or, in other words, poising
themselves first on one foot and then on the other], as
above stated, and sing :
And we like to move easily,
There, here — there, here — there, here — -
And then we move around.
With these latter words the whole circle goes round
either to the right or left.
Each time, after all the children have turned in the
circle, another child steps into the middle of the circle
and swings the ball.
Just as all the children turned in a circle, so may each
child turn one of its limbs in a circle. Thus the child
standing in the middle can sing and show —
My little ball, etc.,
And then it swings around.
Upon this, all the children in the circle sing :
My arm, too, can, etc.,
And then it swings around.
The arm hanging vertically can now be swung either
from behind toward the front or vice versa.
As with the right arm, so with the left ; and as with
the arms, so with the legs. With the swinging of the legs
the resulting circle is, of course, horizontal, as that with
the swinging of the arms is vertical.
With the circling swinging of the arms may also be
sung for a change :
As the wind turns the sails of the mill,
So my arm turns when moved by my will.
This movement may also be used as a windmill play.
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 275
One of the children steps into the middle of the circle,
swinging its arm round, and singing :
When fresh and strong the wind blows,
Around with speed my mill goes.
Though small the mill may be,
It grinds fine meal for me.
The circle of players then turn around the child in
the middle, and sing :
Because the miller good meal made,
Our thanks to him shall now be paid.
Another child now steps forward, and sings :
Please let me grind as well as you,
And then to me thanks will be due.
The song begins again :
When fresh and strong the wind blows, etc.
All the children may turn their arms at the same time.
To do this they must stand at a suitable distance from
each other, and hence form a considerably enlarged circle.
The following words may be sung :
The mill stands high on the windmill hill ;
The strong wind blows it — it stands not stUl ;
The people bring the grain to the mill,
Which grinds it to meal, the bags to fill ;
The baker bakes it — he has great skill,
And little children eat with a will.
The many-sided developing influence of this play may
be plainly seen. The final form of the game can be played
as the conclusion of the whole series of exercises, and after
several children have individually represented the mill.
With the circling movement of the legs and feet, the
ball on the string is to be swung so that it describes a
horizontal circle :
%
276 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Round and round quickly my feet I can swing,
And, like the ball, I can make a round ring.
With the circling movement of the ball on the string
(especially when played in the circle), attention may be
called to the fact that one side of the ball looks toward
the middle, or that it always points out the middle by its
string. The child who turns the ball by the string, with
constant attention to its action, sings :
As the ball goes high and low,
It always does the middle show.
This indication now again points to a new series of
pure movement plays. All the children of the circle raise
the right arm to a horizontal position, point with it to the
middle, and, turning in a circle, sing :
Round and round now as we go,
We, pointing, do the middle show.
What was at first done with the right arm is now done
with the left.
Now the children let their arms sink, turn all their faces
toward the middle of the circle, turn themselves, and sing :
In a circle now turn we.
And always do the middle see.
Especial care must here be taken that the circle is a
perfect one. The children will themselves notice that the
more perfect the circle, the more clearly can the middle
be seen and the more precisely can they point to it. This
is also brought forward by the song :
If now the ring is wholly round.
The middle easily is found.
When this is clearly recognized by the playing children
the leader asks : " Can any one now show me the middle ?
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 277
Can any one step into the middle?" A many-voiced
" Yes ! " will certainly follow.
The leader now begins with the child who he thinks
has best understood what he has asked, and says, turning
to him :
Dear one, I pray thee
The center to show me.
The leader then conducts the child as slowly as pos-
sible to the exact middle of the circle, lets him stand there
a few seconds, and then leads him back, singing :
Our order you fulfilled with grace,
Now step back to your former place.
In this manner the leader conducts each child in the
circle to the middle and back again. We saw this play
carried out more than three years ago in several institu-
tions with quite young children, and always to their de-
light. It may also be mentioned that this play was in
one case spontaneously originated by the children of such
an institution. Langethal, to whom this fact was com-
municated, has developed the play and written the follow-
ing words :
Dear one, I beg thee
The middle to show me ;
Then we shall know
How we should go.
If while turning in the circle there is any disorder or
any deviation from the curve, etc., it is the duty of the
child who stands in the middle to call attention to this
deviation by raising his arm toward the side of the circle
where the disorder exists. If the child fails to do this,
the circle has the right to make him attend to his duty,
by singing : ^
Would you in the middle stay f
You must order keep alway.
278 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
This reciprocal effect of center and circumference
upon each other have aroused great interest whenever
the play has been repeated, and the circle has always
joyfully submitted to the decision of the little leader,
although small cases of disorder have been purposely in-
cited in order to test the attention of the leader.
From this play is now developed " Child, turn thee,"
a play which, therefore, should follow those above de-
scribed, and which, just because it has by degrees pro-
ceeded from child life, is very willingly played by the
children.
The children arrange themselves according to their
number in three, four, and even more circles of six or at
the most of eight children. Children of different sizes
must stand in each circle, so that the smaller ones may be
joined with the larger. The circles must be so disposed
in the playroom that, considered together, they again
form a whole circle.
The largest child in each circle is the leader of that
circle ; the general leader of all the circles stands in the
middle, so that the movements in all the circles take place
simultaneously. Particular and general are beautifully
brought together, and, as it were, reciprocally join hands
for united and clear representation ; for the very spirit
and character of my plays demand that the child act with
the fullest and purest demonstration of his individual life,
and at the same time in accord and harmony with, in
respect for and with acknowledgment of the whole and
its requirements. Without fidelity to this higher spirit of
play and life which can actually show itself even with ten
or twelve children, the plays would lose their significance
for mind and heart.
The children, arranged as described, turn and sing at
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 279
the same time in the different circles at a sign from the
play-leader :
We stand here hand in hand, and sing,
And wish to turn round in a ring ;
But first we would the middle know ;
To the child who will it show,
Our hearty thanks shall surely go.
The child who offers himself for this position, or any
child the leader chooses, is now placed exactly in the mid-
dle of the well-formed circle, and the children in the cir-
cle bow toward the middle, and sing :
We bow to you, we bow to you,
We bow to you.
And while your little song you sing.
We'll join, and move round in a ring.
The child standing in the middle claps its hands, and
sings (the rest softly accompanying it) :
Around, around, in ring around, in ring around.
Always around, yes, always around.
Upon this, the circle turns to the right.
At the end of the song the child claps his hands again,
and the circle turns to the left, to the accompaniment of
the same song.
After the conclusion of the song the child claps again,
the circle stands still, and sings in chorus :
Now, all standing still, will we
Your smooth dancing like to see ;
We to you a song will sing.
While you dance in this round ring.
The children in the circle now clap their hands and
sing while the child turns exactly in the middle of the
circle, and as nearly as possible upon his own axis.
280 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
For small children this spinning movement is difficult,
so the leader may enter the circle with the child and ex-
tend to the latter the middle finger of her right hand.
Holding the leader's finger, the child easily turns like a
wheel about its axle.
When the song is completed, the children standing in
the circle clap their hands, whereupon the child in the
center spins around, beginning toward the left instead of
toward the right. The game is repeated until all the
children have had the chance to spin.
The reciprocal activity of the individual and the whole
circle is also marked in this game, for which reason it is a
favorite for children.
At the close of this whole series of games the several
small circles are again merged in the one large circle from
which they were previously formed. In this way the par-
ticular, the individual, and the universal are shown in
gradation and harmony. Through experiences of this
kind the child is prepared to recognize the relationship
of particular and universal in nature and in life, and
finally to realize the significance of these relationships in
the structure of the universe.
Among the most important experiences of life for the
child, as for the adult, must be reckoned the experience
that in the process of development from each given object
is evolved its antithesis. The manner of this evolution
is also most significant.
To enrich the child with this experience, while he is
in the age of innocence and purity, should be one chief
aim of early education. This truth of evolution by an-
tagonism should therefore be adumbrated in his plays.
Later, a wise education will lift it into the region of
clear consciousness and reveal it as a guiding law of life.
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 281
Happy the child, happy the youth who has been led to
recognize this weighty truth ! The child educated in this
way possesses a talisman which secures to him in his im-
passioned youth not only purity of life, but, what is higher,
purity of mind and heart.
Such an experience we offer the children, particularly
in our circling movement plays. Take for example the
play " Seeing each other and not seeing each other." The
children form a circle ; the circle moves around. The fol-
lowing words (written in part by Langethal) are sung :
In circle we are winding,
La, la, la, la, la, la, la,
Each other's faces finding,
La, la, la, la, la, la, la,
Clip-a-clap, clip-a-clap.
And now the middle showing,
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
Round which the ring is going,
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This is splendid — 'tis fine, so
In a ring to go !
The circle now divides. The leader turns with his next
playmate toward the outside and moves in the opposite
direction from that before pursued, this time with his
back to the center of the circle — while all the players
follow him hand in hand, and so by degrees each turning
from his place backward — close round the circle, accom-
panying their movements, all the children sing :
Now turning, we are winding.
The ends together binding.
According to the size of the circle, this is to be done
after singing the words once or twice. As the circle is n^w
closed, and the turning has caus^ all the players to stand
282 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
with their faces turned outward, the leader, immediately
followed by the whole circle, begins to sing :
In circle we are winding,
La, la, la, la, la, la, la.
Each other now not finding,
La, la, la, la, la, la, la,
Clip-a-clap, clip a-clap.
We trust the middle surely,
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes ;
So look around securely,
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This is splendid — 'tis fine, so
In a ring to go.
Upon this begins again, as before (but reversed), the
turning of the face toward the inside, with the words :
Now, turning, we are winding.
The ends together binding.
And now the play can begin anew, as above.
In order to let the children see, as it were in a mirror,
their different ways of standing, they may clap the palms
of their hands together at the beginning, when the faces
are turned toward one another ; but later, when back is
turned to back, strike the back of their hands together.
Such comparisons of position, by aid of touch, are quite
essential to help the child to clear insight, and must be
retained whenever presented. In so far as play affords
this comparison it has a developing, educating, formative
influence. In the games presented by me this compari-
son has been employed with clear consciousness of its
significance.
The game of " Seeing and not seeing each other "
may, if the playroom admits, be played in a second and
prettier way.
The game begins as before, with the exception that the
MOVEMENT PLAYS.
288
circle is made only large enough to occupy one half of the
free space of the room (a), so that in the other half may
be formed the second circle (Z>), wherein the children's
faces are turned toward the outside. Standing in a, the
children sing, as before :
In circle we are winding,
La, la, la, la, la, la, la.
Each other's faces finding,
La, la, la, la, la, la, la.
Clip-a-clap, clip-a-clap.
And now the middle showing,
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
Round which the ring is going,
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This is splendid — 'tis fine, so
In a ring to go.
The leader opens the circle toward the side J, where
the second half of the space is as yet free, and moves with
the rest, following hand in hand, as if she would form a
circle similar to the first. Turning, however, toward i,
she moves in such a way that with the second circle now
to be formed the backs of all are turned toward the mid-
dle, and their faces toward the outside, so ^ that the whola
forms a winding line. , ;
21
284 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
While this is going on the players sing :
Now turning, we are winding,
The ends together binding.
Upon this the second circle h is closed, with the faces
turned outward in the second half of the play-space. The
circle, turning as above, then sings :
In circle we are winding, etc.,
Each other now not finding, etc. ;
We trust the middle surely, etc. ;
So look around securely, etc.
Here also applies the previous remark about the different
ways of clapping the hands.
The leader opens the circle as before, but toward the
opposite side, toward a, and forms again a winding line
in the opposite position to the first, to which the whole
circle again sings :
Now turning, we are winding, etc.
The play then begins anew. The figure, therefore, which
the movement of the play makes, regarded as a whole, re-
sembles a horizontal eight.
Here conclude the movement plays proceeding from
the ball, and the indications of their significance for the
MOVEMENT PLAYS. 285
physical, intellectual, and moral life of the child and of
the future man. What is omitted here will be beautifully
supplied by the more definite and sharper movements of
the sphere, from which the further progression of the
movement plays proceeds.
XV.
HOW LIKA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ.
A Pretty Story for Children who like to be busy.
LiNA was a little girl about six years old, who liked to
employ herself independently. She could accomplish a
great many things with simple playthings; could build
many pretty things with cubes and bricks ; and lay many
pretty things with tablets of different forms and colors,
and with sticks, etc. She could make many beautiful
things in various ways by putting together colored sticks,
strips of paper, and other material ; make many objects
with her little playthings, which were on that account so
much the dearer to her.
Lina could also easily catch the ball, and had by this
means acquired such dexterity and such control of the
body — such skillful use of her limbs — that she did not
easily let anything fall, nor awkwardly push it out of
place.
Lina also knew many pretty little songs, and could
sing them. She could accompany many of her little plays
with songs, which increased her pleasure in the plays, for
the songs instructed her as to what she was doing, and so
she did not need to be always disturbing father and mother
by asking, " What is that ? " " Why is that ? "
So Lina was always cheerful and active, for she never
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 287
felt time hang heavily, and so was never ill-humored. On
the contrary, because she was always contented and cheer-
ful, she was the special delight of her parents, as well as
an example for other children who would like to be the
delight of their parents, and who like to play and are
happy in lively, orderly activity.
As Lina, on account of these good qualities, was per-
mitted to be much with her parents and to play beside
them, she noticed, one day, that her father was very glad
to receive a letter, and soon after sent one in reply. Turn-
ing entreatingly to her mother, who was in the room, she
said : " Give me a little piece of paper, dear mother, please,
please ; I want to write a letter too, like dear father."
" Little children like you, dear Lina," said her mother,
** can not write like your father, and still less on paper.
Your little fingers are too weak for skillful holding or
guiding of a pen or pencil. But I will show you how you
can lay letters with little sticks, and so, in a certain way,
write at least as much as you wish to or are able to." So
spoke the good mother to her little Lina, who went on
entreating :
" mother, teach me ! But could other people read
what I write in that way ? "
" Let us try at once, my child. I have sticks here at
hand, and this smooth, dark-colored table just suits our
purpose; the pure white wooden sticks will look very
pretty on it."
" But do you know also, my child," the kind mother
went on, " that when your father sends a letter he always
writes his name at the close of it, and on the outside he
writes the name of the one who is to receive it? So, my
child, you must first of all learn to write your name —
that is, learn to lay it with sticks."
288 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
" Oh, yes, dear mother, that I will, that I will."
" Now, what is your name, my child ? "
" Oh, you know that ; my name is Lina."
" I know your name indeed," said her mother, " but
if you wish to write it, or at first lay it with sticks, we
must listen to it carefully, and give attention to the dif-
ferences between open and close sounds which we notice
in it. We must learn to know the signs for these open
or close sounds, so that we may lay those letters next to
each other, just as we hear the open and close sounds
follow one another in your name."
So said the dear, thoughtfully instructive mother to
the attentive child, and went on : " Now, little daughter,
tell me your name again, very slowly and clearly, and
notice what different sounds you find in it. I will then
also tell you what I hear."
The child, eager to learn, now spoke her name slowly
and clearly — " L-i-n-a."
" I heard the sounds i and a," said the mother ; " now
we will try to speak your name once more together, and
notice whether you hear the same open sounds as I."
Mother and child now say together : " L-i-n-a,
L-i-n-a; i— a."
" I hear the same as you, dear mother," said Lina ;
" the open sounds are i and a."
" So, in Lina, we hear the open sounds i and a."
" Now, my child, I will lay this straight stick vertically
before you," went on the mother, | . " When you see
it in this position let me hear at once the sound i." The
mother now again laid the stick several times vertically
before the child | and the child at once uttered the
sound i.
" See," the kind mother now said to the child, " this
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 289
vertical stick " — pointing to it — " is always the sign for
the sound i."
The mother, for practice, now laid the sticks several
times before her little daughter, who at once said " i."
" But did we not hear a second open sound in your
name ? " questioned the mother.
" Yes, the sound a," answered the child.
" See," said the mother, " now I lay two sticks here,
close to each other at the top, and join them by a third
smaller one in a horizontal direction — A* ; when you
see this sign let me hear at once the second open sound
of your name."
The mother now took away the sign, and laid it again
repeatedly, and the child uttered the sound every time as
soon as the sign lay before her. Lina and her mother had
such a lively, happy time, that it was a pleasure to watch
them ; for the mother laid now the vertical stick ( | ),
when the child immediately uttered clearly the sound i,
for which it was the sign ; now again the three con-
nected sticks (A), and then the child uttered at once the
sound a.
Then they changed : the child laid the sticks and the
mother gave the sounds. Another time the mother again
made the sounds, and the child had to lay the right sign
or letter for each sound.
* Since it would not be possible, or at least would be very diflfi-
cult, to represent the stick-letters by simple strokes of equal width,
the Roman capital letters must be here employed to indicate them.
I must also remark that the round lines in R, P, D, 0, etc., are to
be laid with slender sticks which have been nipped or indented on
the inside, in little incisions between the thumb nail and that of the
forefinger, and then curved, one of which is used in the R and P,
but two in D, 0, Q. ^
290 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Now both signs or letters
I A
lay before the child and mother. The mother then asked
her child, " But is your name only i and a? "
" No, my name is Lina."
" Well, then, we need some more signs for your name.
Say it to me once more, very slowly, but pay attention to
your mouth, and especially to the movement of your
tongue, and listen carefully too, and observe whether you
notice anything."
The child said, as her mother had desired, " L-i-n-a."
" Now I will also speak your name in the same way,"
said the mother. " Be attentive — L-i-n-a."
" Oh, yes," the child immediately remarked, " there
are some more sounds added to the i and a by the move-
ment of the tongue."
" Quite right, my child ; now attend once more. Be-
fore the letter i I lay the sign for the close sound which
you hear before the open sound i —
LI.
Now, that is Li ; and before the letter A I lay the
sign for the close sound which you hear before the
sound a —
NA.
Now, that is na ; and the two put close together —
LINA—
make Lina."
So the mother taught the attentive child, who was
eager to learn; and the delighted child read, and said
" Lina — Lina." Then she took the signs away and laid
them anew.
" Oh, how glad I am, dear, good mother, that I can
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 291
now lay and read my name ! How I thank you ! But
could father and other people read it too ? "
" It is about noon now," said her mother ; " your father
and uncle will soon come home ; then we will see if they
can read what you have laid."
" If father and uncle were only here now, how glad I
should be ! "
As the child said this, they came into the room, and
Lina scarcely left them time to speak to her mother be-
fore she caught hold of her mother's dress and looked up
at her entreatingly. The mother understood the implor-
ing look, and took the father by the hand and led him to
the table, saying, " See, father, what Lina has laid here."
The father looked, and read : " * Lina.' Ah, my child,
you have really laid your name. You can write your
name with sticks."
Then the uncle came up, and said : " Now I must see
that too. It is really so. 'Lina' is written here with
sticks."
Then they were all very glad.
But the father said : " Now, my child, let me see you
lay your name. I will take up the sticks ; now write it
again with them."
And she said, " Directly, dear father," and again laid
LINA.
Now the father, then the uncle, asked first about the
one, then about the other, letters or signs, and the child
was required to utter the open or close sound, signified.
Then, changing the order, they pronounced one of the
sounds of the name Lina, and the child had to lay the
sign for it.
The pleasure and delight of this needed to be seen in
order to be realized. •.
292 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
But the mother said : " Children, you are forgetting
your dinner. The food will be cold."
When they had all come to the table, Lina's uncle
said : " The dear mother takes care of us all ; first she
helps Lina, and now she takes care for us that our dinner
may not get cold. You have to-day, Lina, given us pleas-
ure by laying and reading your name; to-morrow give
us pleasure by laying and reading the beautiful word
* mother.' "
" You are quite right, dear uncle," said the child.
And every one at the table was as pleased and glad as
if they were celebrating a birthday.
The next day, the hour which the careful mother usu-
ally devoted to her child had scarcely arrived when the
child came to her, entreating, " Please teach me to-day to
lay the beautiful word ' mother,' so that I may again please
father and uncle when they come home."
" It is indeed a beautiful word which you, my child,
wish to lay, and we will learn to lay it," said the mother.
" But there is another word just as beautiful and dear, and
that is Do you know what that is ? "
" Ah, yes — ' father,' " said Lina.
" Well, we will learn to lay this to-day, so that father,
when he comes, may see that we thought of him and love
him."
Now the mother required the child to utter again, very
plainly, the word
V-A-T-E-R,
and asked Lina what open sounds she heard. It was not
only easy for her to answer a [as in far] ^ and " e" [e, as
in prey ^ quickly spoken, a little longer than e in get]^ but
she also said at once, ' ' See, mother, I already know the
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 293
sign for the sound * a ' " ; and she laid it on the table
before her mother —
" That is fine," answered her mother. " Now I will
teach you the sign for the open sound e [a, spoken
quickly] ; and she laid, at a little distance from one
another,
A E.
By means of Lina's attention and her mother's help
the close sounds in the word (V T R) and the three signs
for them
V T R,
were soon found, and learned by means of practice and
change of place, and the beautiful word
. VATER
lay before them. And this also Lina could read just as
easily as she had before read her own name, and, after the
sticks were taken up, she was soon able to lay the word
herself.
There was now again great delight — her present de-
light, and that which Lina expected when her father and
uncle came home again. The little girl, pleased with
what she had done, and eager to learn, wished to go on.
" Mother, dear mother," she said entreatingly, " my uncle
wanted me to lay the beautiful word 'mother' [Mutter].
Please teach it to me, so that when he comes to-day he
may be pleased ; and father certainly will be glad also if
I can lay it."
" Willingly," answered her mother ; " only you must
not forget the old as you learn the new."
" Oh, no, certainly not ; you can question me whenever
you wish."
294 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KlNDERGAUTEN.
Now the mother asked her little daughter first to speak
the word slowly and distinctly, and to notice the open
sounds u [oo] and e [a, quickly spoken]. The child soon
found that there was only one new open sound (u), and
her mother at once taught her the sign for it,
u, , .
and told her to lay the two letters on the table before her,
a little way apart, which she did, thus —
U E.
The new close sound, m, which occurs in the word,
was also soon found, and the sign for it,
M,
was learned by the child. So there soon stood, or rather
lay, before her on the table the whole word
MUTTER,
to which the child, full of joy, added the word she had
already learned —
VATER.
After the mother and child had in various ways com-
pared the sounds and signs in the two words, and discov-
ered the resemblances and the differences in the two, and
the child could with certainty both lay and read them,
then, to her great delight, her father and uncle entered
the room.
The child's eyes shone as brightly as they had done
on the last Christmas morning, when she saw the joy of
her beloved father and of her dear uncle.
Signs and sounds were examined, and, as Lina answered
all questions correctly, her pleasure was so great that she
at last said, " I will take up the sticks for both words, and
then lay each again." No sooner said than done. The
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 295
sticks were taken up, and soon there lay again, beautifully
arranged, before them all —
VATER,
MUTTER,
and quickly, too,
LINA
lay beneath.
Then the father added to his little daughter's name
the word
LIEB [German for DEAR],
and said, laughing, and asking to test her knowledge,
"Now read also what I have written."
" I know the first sign already," said Lina ; " the sec-
ond and third I know too ; but I do not know what the
bow above the IE means."
The mother : " It shows that the two thus connected
are the sign for the somewhat lengthened I [pronounced
like the English ee in seen]. Now say what you know."
"Lie" [Lee], said the child. "Now close your lips,"
said the mother. " And you have the word ' Lieb,' " said
the child.
" Now read both words," said the father encouragingly.
" Lieb Lina" [Dear Lina], read the child, and clung
lovingly and gratefully to father, mother, and uncle, look-
ing up at them with glad eyes ; and she softly said, " My
beloved father, my good mother, my dear uncle ! "
" Yes, to have good parents is a great good fortune for
children," s^id the uncle. " Let us see now, Lina, if you
can lay these beautiful words for us to-morrow." And
then they all went quietly to dinner.
The next morning, when the appointed hour brought
mother and child together again for common employment,
296 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
it was Lina's first care to fulfill her father's and her uncle^s
wish, and to lay the words which they desired.
By exact observation of the words and their parts, the
child then soon discovered that only two new open sounds,
and but one close sound, with their signs, occurred in the
whole : namely, the open sound ei, sign EI [like the Eng-
lish letter I in pine], and the open sound o, with the sign
; then the sound h, with its sign H.
All this was soon learned by the attentive Lina, guided
by her faithful mother, and, after thorough and repeated
practice, the desired words lay before mother and child
on the table :
" MEIN LIEBER OHEIM " [My dear uncle].
" MEIN LIEBER VATER " [My dear father].
To these Lina quickly added :
"MEINE LIEBE MUTTER" [My dear mother].
" MEINE LIEBEN ELTERN " [My dear parents].
Great was the joy ; but it was greater still when the
father, after he had come home with the uncle somewhat
earlier than usual, had read what was laid ; and Lina
had, with the help of her mother, read the words which
he added :
"LINA 1ST UNSER LIEBES KIND"
[Lina is our dear child] ;
for it soon appeared that there were in it but three un-
familiar signs — S, K, D — which the good mother easily
•pointed out to the child.
Now, when the father and uncle had again read the
words aloud, Lina took her mother by the hand, led her
to the window where her sewing table stood, and whispered
something to her. Then the mother looked kindly at the
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 297
child, made some marks with her fingers on the sewing
table, and Lina, satisfied, went back to her father and
said to him : " Go to the window for a little while ; I will
now lay something more, and see if you can read it."
With her mother's quiet help the following soon lay
on the table :
" DU BIST UNSER GUTER VATER "
[You are our good father].
The mother had to show Lina but one new sign, G. " Now
come, dear father," said the mother, " and read what Lina
and I said to you in silent words."
After he had read it he embraced mother and child,
and said, " You are my joy, my happiness."
Then the uncle quietly approached them, and said,
" Now let me be the fourth in your band of happiness,
joy, and peace."
" I have indeed thought of you, dear uncle ; but there
is no more time now to make words, for mother says the
dinner is waiting for us again."
Thus passed many a joyous day for the happy family.
Lina always had her box of sticks at hand, and whenever
she could she tried to lay the names of the members of
her family and point out their relations to the whole
(whether cousin or grandmother), so that there was soon
no name and no relationship that she had not been able
to lay with sticks.
At this time the father was obliged to take a journey,
which he said would keep him away from home for some
time. As soon as her father had gone, the child's old
wish arose again. *' Mother, I wish I could write, so that
I might send a letter to father."
" As far as possible I will grant your wish," said the
298 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
kind mother to the expectant child, who immediately
sprang np joyfully, embraced her mother, and jubilantly
cried :
" To-morrow ! to-morrow ! "
The next day came, and with it the hour fixed for the
mutual employment of mother and child. Full of expec-
tation, Lina hastened into her mother's room. She had
scarcely taken time to say " Good morning" to her mother,
who was working at her sewing table, when involuntarily
her eyes, head, and body turned toward the table in the
middle of the room, whence a beautiful new slate seemed
to beckon to her kindly. By the slate lay a slate pencil
glued into a penholder, and with a few flying steps the
little girl stood next to the table looking joyfully at the
slate, and, as it were, caressing it, turning it on all sides,
and twirling the pencil between her fingers. Again at-
tentively examining the slate, she ran with it to her
mother, exclaiming, " See, mother, the beautiful straight
marks and the many little squares on the slate ! "
" Yes, my child, they will make writing easy to you."
All at once Lina stood quite perplexed, and as if awak-
ened from a dream, before her mother ; at last she found
words, and said : " mother, I thought I should write
now with the pen on paper. I can not send this slate to
father as a letter."
" You will very soon be able to write on paper," said
her mother consolingly, " although not yet with pen and
ink, but with a lead pencil, so that you can write a letter
to your father and send it before he returns ; only you
must be as attentive as you were before."
" mother, that I will be certainly ! "
" Come, then, we will begin at once."
Her mother now taught Lina first how to hold the
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 299
slate pencil properly, so that the unpracticed little fingers
would not be unnaturally bent and pressed together. Then
she desired her again to lay her name, " Lina," with sticks
on the table, and showed her how to indicate the length
of one of the sticks laid on the table by a straight mark
two squares long. After some help from her mother, Lina
had soon written her name with her pencil on the net-
work of the slate. When, after some practice, it stood
completed on the slate, she showed it to her mother.
" See, dear mother, is it right ? —
' LINA.' "
" Quite right," said the mother.
The child joyously exclaimed : " Oh, how nice ! how
nice ! Now I will lay and write ' father ' and ' mother '
and ' uncle ' ; and * dear father ' and ' dear mother ' and
' dear uncle.' Then I can certainly send a letter to
father."
" Gently, gently, my child ; one thing at a time. Your
desire shall soon be granted, but do not be in too great a
hurry."
You, dear children, may imagine that this new ad-
vance in ability was gladly made known to Lina's uncle,
who had not gone away with her father, and that he took
a great interest in it ; and he thought to himself, " Lina
is so diligent, and gives her father and mother and me so
much pleasure, that I must give her a pleasure the next
time I come." And as he thought, so he did the next day.
" Mother," said Lina, when the hour for employment
brought them together again, " let me to-day at least try
to write a little letter to father on the slate ; then, when I
write a letter on paper, some time, it will be easier."
" Well," said her mother, " we can try, even if we do
not succeed."
22 ^
300 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
" Oh, with your help, mother, it will go beautifully,"
said Lina joyously.
" But what will you write ? " asked her mother.
Lina thought for a short time, and then said, "Dear
father, please come home again soon."
" Stop a moment," said her mother ; " we will first see
if we can write all this. The first two words you can
easily manage." These words were soon placed on Lina's
slate. The other words were slowly spoken (one at a
time), the letters for each word fixed upon, and after a
short time the following stood as a letter upon the slate :
"LIEBER VATER, KOMME DOCH BALD
WIEDER."
" Is the letter finished ? " asked Lina's mother.
" Oh, no ; I must tell father that I can now write on
the slate."
And soon, with the mother's help, there appeared upon
the slate —
"10^ KANN SCHON AUF DIE TAFEL
SCHREIBEN."
" Now the letter is done," said Lina.
" Oh, no," replied the mother, " there is something still
wanting. I told you, when we began the laying of words
with your name, what is required in every letter."
Then, after a few moments' thought, the little girl
said : " You said, whoever wrote a letter must also write
his name underneath it. I will do that too."
"DEINE LINA"
she wrote below the letter, and said, " has written this
letter to you."
She had just finished, and had shown the letter to her
HOW UNA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 301
mother, who was satisfied with it, when her uncle came
into the room. Lina sprang from her chair, caught up
her slate, ran to her uncle, and held it out to him in
joyous expectation.
" Ah, what do I read ? " said her astonished uncle.
" A letter to your father already ? That is well, my dear
Lina ; your father will be pleased." In a lower tone he
added : " But the slate letter will cost a good deal of post-
age. I am afraid it will be broken before it reaches your
father."
In a sorrowful tone Lina replied : " I have asked
mother for paper ; but she thought I ought first to try to
write with the pencil on the slate, and so this letter is
only a trial."
" Only wait," said the mother consolingly to Lina ;
"we will let the letter stand on the slate, and, as you
have done very well for the first attempt, I will to-morrow
morning bring some cross-lined paper and a lead pencil
with me from the city, and then we will copy the letter to
your father and actually send it."
Then the uncle laughed pleasantly, and said, while he
took something wrapped in gay paper from the breast-
pocket of his coat, " Well, the first is already provided."
He unrolled before the child a sheet of paper ruled with
cross-lines, and laid a colored pencil beside it.
Greatly surprised, Lina stood by the table, and looked
with delight at that which lay before her, and then at her
uncle, who said : " That is yours, Lina. To-morrow you
can write your letter with the pencil on the paper to your
father."
" I call that being an uncle indeed," said the mother,
"who can guess people's thoughts. I wish I also had
such a good, dear uncle."
302 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
" Ah," said he, " the wishes of grown people can be
guessed, but not so easily granted as those of children."
This was the first really cheerful noon they had passed
since Lina's father went away ; for he lived always in the
remembrance of the happy little circle.
^ The next day it was Lina's first object to copy care-
fully on the beautiful paper, and with the gay-colored
pencil which her uncle had given her, the letter to her
father.
The letter was actually sent off by the next post, to the
great delight of the child.
" Oh," said Lina to her mother questioningly, " will
my dear father write me a letter, as he does to other peo-
ple when he gets letters from them ? "
" I do not know, and so I can not tell you. Your
father has a great deal of business to do on his journey,
and we must wait and see what he will do."
Anxiously the child now looked forward to each fresh
post-day and each approaching letter-carrier. At last the
carrier came, and brought a letter to Lina's mother. It
was actually from her father. Lina knew it immediately
from the seal and writing. Full of expectation that there
might be something in it for her, she stood by her mother
as the latter opened the letter.
And, to her great delight, Lina noticed that the mother
took out a folded paper and held it between her fingers.
She waited silently till her mother should have finished
reading her letter. Then the mother turned to the child,
and said : " Your father sends you kind greetings, and
thanks for your little letter. He sends you one also ; you
may try to read it, in order to find in it whether your
father has read your letter, and has understood what you
wrote in it."
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 303
With these words the mother gave Lina the folded
page which she had till then held ; it was the father's an-
swer to the little girl. Joyfully and gratefully she received
it from the hand of her loving mother, who was thus de-
veloping the child's inner nature in the apparent fostering
of outward life.
Happy over this unexpected gift, the child went with
it to the window, and after she had looked into the dear
sheet, thinking and comparing, separating and uniting,
showing this by the quick motion of her eyes, she cried
gayly to her mother, holding up the sheet to her :
" Mother, I can read father's letter ! "
" Well, my child," replied her mother, " come here and
read it aloud to me." (The father's letter was written in
the same way as Lina's, with Eoman capital letters, or,
in other words, with simple straight and curved lines, but
without a network.)
"LIEBE LINA:
" DEIN BRIEFCHEN HAT MIR VIEL FREUDE
GEMACHT, ABER KOMMEN KANN ICH JETZT
NOCH NIGHT, W^ARUM?— WIRD DIR DIE LIEBE
MUTTER SAGEN. MIR DAGEGEN MACHE DIE
FREUDE UND SCHREIBE RECHT BALD WIE-
DER.
" DEIN DICH LIEBENDER VATER."
" That I will," said the little girl, made glad by her
* Dear Lina : Your little letter has given me great pleasure ;
but I can not return home just yet. Your mother will tell you the
reason why. So you must write me again very soon and give me a
new pleasure. From your loving fa^er.
304 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
father's letter. " But tell me, dear mother, why does father
not come home now? He promised so certainly, when
he went away, to come back again very soon, and now he
has been away so long."
" Your good father has not been away so very long,"
said the kind mother, " only the time till his return seems
long to you. But I confess that I am glad of this ; for
your wanting your father so much is a proof to me of your
love for him."
" Oh, yes, dear, good mother, I love you indeed very
much, and am glad to be with you ; but I love father
also, and wish he may come back soon."
" As I have already told you, I am very glad of it ; but
we must be patient for some time longer before he can
come."
" But do tell me why, dear mother."
" Have you not often heard your father say, when he
went away : ' I have a great deal of business to do to-day ;
eat your dinner without waiting for me '? That was not
agreeable to us; but when later your father came back,
and met us with such glad looks because he had success-
fully completed his business, his return brought us double
pleasure. You see, dear Lina, he has business now also
which he would like to finish successfully for the pleasure
of us all. But now we too will do something, my dear
child, so that we on our side may give pleasure to your
dear father on his return."
" Oh, yes, dear, good mother ; tell me what I shall
do."
" That is easy. Your father wishes to have another
letter from you, and says it will give him pleasure to re-
ceive one. This wish of your dear father you can easily
grant if you choose."
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 305
" best mother, only tell me when you write again
to father, so that I may inclose a little letter."
" J. shall write again in a few days, for your father, in
his love for us all, will be very glad to have news of us
soon, and to be certain that all is well with us. Now, till
I write again, take great pains with your writing, so that
your father may find an improvement in your letter."
" That I certainly will," said the little girl to her
mother quietly, but with self-confidence that was rooted
in a firm will, and which greatly delighted her mother.
After this, all Lina's activity had a quite peculiar ex-
pression of earnestness and of joyousness and inward hap-
piness.
With the next letter the regular correspondence be-
tween father and daughter began. The wish of the absent
father to obtain information of the health and life of the
family he had left behind gave almost more material for
the little letters than their writer could manage, and so
they had a developing influence on the dear little girl's
capacity, knowledge, and power; but the certainty that
her letters pleased her father (as each succeeding answer
from him expressed in ever-new ways) increased Lina's
diligence, and with its growth her courage also grew ;
with the growth of both, her perseverance also grew, and
so in turn grew the comparatively greater completeness of
the little girl's results. She deeply experienced the truth
of the words of our poet, without knowing anything of
them or of him :
" Joy, joy drives the wheels in the great clock of the world."
But her mother and uncle knew the words and the
poet, as well as the truth, and so they fostered and
strengthened, by little gifts, the child's capacity, will, and
power of action, and, above alL the results of these three.
306 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
Thus the father's desire to please the dear child was
also increased. — But what delights a child more, what
gives it more pleasure, than to have a book of its own ? It
understands as yet nothing at all of the contents, but, not-
withstanding, sits in a corner of the room with the book
turned upside down, and imagines, strangely enough — de-
ceiving itself — that it finds and reads in the book that
which springs out of its own inner being in its uncon-
scious striving after development.
This experience, or remark, which may have been re-
called to his mind, determined the loving father, who felt
actually grateful to his little daughter, and also wished to
encourage her (since his absence was to be longer than he
himself had expected), to send home with the next letter
a Story and Picture Book for Children, which he had met
with in the family of one of his friends, and had found to
be developing and instructive, and at the same time pleas-
ing, and which had been particularly recommended to
him in this respect by his friend.
The eyes of the astonished little girl shone with joy
and surprise when her dear father's book and the accom-
panying letter came forth from the sealed wrapper, and
were handed to her by her mother with the following
words : " See, my child, your father sends you this. Be-
cause your little letter gave him pleasure, he wishes to
give you pleasure also."
Yes, with a joyous and happy heart, Lina went to the
nearest window — now reading her dear father's letter,
now looking at the pretty book and turning over its
leaves.
As usual, the sympathizing uncle entered the room (it
was just the dinner hour), and with great delight Lina ran
toward him, arms and hands stretched out holding the
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 307
beautiful gift. " Only see, uncle, what papa sent me ! "
And then she drew him to the table, where, after a slight
glance at the book, he explained the pictures to her.
The midday meal (which had to-day been a festival)
passed pleasantly, and a part of the afternoon was glad-
dened in the little circle by giving, receiving, and sharing
happiness, to which the invisible but faithful thought of
the absent father gave a peculiarly spiritual character.
But now, called away by his business, the kind uncle
had to leave the happy circle. The mother, drawn away
by domestic cares, had also left the room, and Lina found
herself alone with her new companion — her book. She
devoted herself wholly to looking at the pictures. At first
she tried to recall, as she looked at them, what her uncle
had said to her about them, and then she added to this
what she could discover herself. But after some time she
had come to an end of this also, and now she stood
thoughtfully with the book in hand. Anticipation and ex-
perience within the circle of her surroundings, especially
of the life and actions of her mother, said to her — " If I
knew the printed letters here, and could read what is said
by means of them, then the book could tell me its beauti-
ful little stories." Eagerly she tried to find a resemblance
between the letters written by her with simple straight and
simple curved lines and those printed here, and she actu-
ally succeeded in bringing out certain similarities here
and there, especially with the capital letters. However,
they were not so clear that she could with certainty recog-
nize her written letters in the printed ones.
So, in wishing, anticipating, seeking, and hoping, time
had passed and the twilight hour had come. For her
dear mother — taught by her own experience in childhood
and youth— had, as we shall later see, with good foresight
308 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
— that is, with a true fostering sense of educating by de-
veloping, and with a view to the welfare of the child — ^^left
her alone with her book ; and, though separate and absent
from the child, she nevertheless knew well what thoughts
were stirring in her during this time. Now the mother,
whose presence Lina had so long desired, entered the
room. Lina went to her at once, saying, in a mournful
voice, " dear mother, I can read father's letter, which
is written ; I wish I could also read the book, which is
printed ; but the letters in the book are so different from
those which father and I have written, and which you
have taught me ! "
" They are not so entirely different, my child. If you
are only earnest in learning to know the printed letters,
you will soon find that there is but a very slight differ-
ence between the two, and such as you can easily see and
remember. And so you will soon find the likeness be-
tween the two kinds of letters — that is, between those you
have written and which your kind father used in his letter
to you, and the printed letters in the book."
" Yes, dear mother, it seems so to me in regard to a
few of the letters ; but there are so many lines that curve
like a snake, and I do not at all know where they come
from, what they mean, and what I am to make of them."
" My child, you shall very soon see how the simple,
straight, and curved lines are connected with the winding
or snake lines (oq S), so that not the smallest line of the
latter is superfluous or accidental. You will then easily
find your written letters again in those in which your
book is printed."
" Do, do, dear mother, show it to me now ! "
" Well, you have already told me that you found a
likeness between some of the letters which you have until
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 309
now used and those printed in the book, although you
could not make quite clear their complete agreement.
Now, show me these letters in your father's letter, and in
your book."
The child then pointed out the letters D and D, B and
33, and several others.*
" You are quite right," said her mother. " The like-
ness between the letters you have used and those with
which your book is printed appears at first generally in the
so-called large letters, but mostly in those you have just
pointed out. But it is too dark to be able to further indi-
cate to you the likeness — indeed, the agreement — between
each two of the letters you pointed out, and it is not yet
dark enough to have lights ; let me, then, as my house-
keeping is done and 1 have time to chat an hour with
you, first tell you a little story ; and then, when the light
comes, show you the agreement between the letters."
" Yes, tell me a story, dear mother. Here is a chair ;
sit down."
" You know that you played with your doll, and talked
with your father, your uncle, and with me before you could
write, even before you knew anything about writing. So
also the people who lived on the earth a long, long time
ago, surrounded by objects, talked to them, but especially
with one another, just as you also have done at times;
they even talked to themselves before they could write,
before they knew anything about writing, before writing
was found out.
" But now what is writing, and being able to write ?
Just think about it. Judge by your own observation and
experience whether I am right, when I say that writing is
* English letters do not present this difficulty. — Tr.
S
310 PEDAGOGICS OP THE KINDERGARTEN.
the joining of the sound that we hear and which passes
away, with a silent and still sign which is permanent ; or
putting the picture or sign which is permanent in the
place of sound which is transient, vanishing."
" That I understand very well," said Lina ; " that is
just the way we did when you taught me to first speak
my name correctly, and the dear, dear words ' mother ' and
'father,' and then to lay them with silent sticks, point
them out, and at last write them."
" You are quite right, my Lina ; and here you can im-
mediately remark this great fact of life : that one under-
stands everything which is said and taught, or even told,
much better if one has already experienced it, although
perhaps in a different way in one's own life — that is, in
outward action and inner observation. Try, therefore,
my child, to notice your own actions and the actions of
others, and to gather for yourself many kinds of expe-
riences, even now in your happy child-life. You will in
that way much better understand what you meet with,
what you see and hear, which you will now prove to
yourself.
" I will go on with my story. They say that when
men could not yet write — that is, had no fixed, exact, mute
signs for the single open and close sounds of the words
by which an absent one could again make audible what
was spoken, or the writer recall what was thought — then
a shepherd, who had pastured his sheep on a grassy island,
invented writing. It is also said that the shepherds dis-
covered many things — for instance, the observation and
knowledge of the glorious, starry heavens, raising the
heart, and so lifting man's feeling to God, the giver of
all good. In the starry sky they perceived the signs of
language for praising and thanking God. You see, my
HOW LlxNA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 311
child, it was a shepherd who was to find out how to write
with letters. We can both now explain, by our own ex-
perience of life, why the finding out and invention of so
many excellent things is ascribed to the shepherds ; we
can appreciate the truth of it. Did we not, when we last
wandered on the hillside, see how the careful shepherd
always kept the flock as a whole in view, and looked upon
each individual sheep — even the smallest lamb — as an es-
sential part of this whole? — and so always in reference to
the whole, and to the aim and object of the whole, the
fostering of life. Thus, you see, a genuine shepherd, gath-
ering his flock unto himself, learns to look upon others
(e. g., the hunter or fisherman) as seemingly separate but
in truth related to one great whole ; indeed, related to the
fundamental unity back of all things. Thus it was with
the lonely shepherd in a foreign country many, many
years ago. He talked for himself and with himself ; he
heard himself ; he spoke perhaps at first the name of a
dear absent one, as the name of your father is now es-
pecially dear to you. This name sounded perhaps in his
heart ; perhaps the echo repeated it. And so his thought-
ful mind and reflective intellect easily observed the differ-
ent voice-sounds, and the different open sounds in the be-
loved word, as we did in the dear names of Lina, mother,
father.
" Now we have ourselves, as you know, in our frequent
ramblings seen thoughtful and active shepherds with their
crooks dig out the turf at their feet into figures express-
ing their thoughts, while their flocks grazed or lay down
around them. The thoughtful shepherd in our story may
have sought some sign that he could see by which to rep-
resent what was speaking within him, and what he saw
around him ; and the obedient hand may have indicated
312 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
on the level ground, may even have marked upon it, as it
were, involuntarily, that which his mind sought for and
possibly perceived in the movements of the mouth when
speaking aloud ; for we have observed elsewhere that the
inner activity of thought and the outer creative activity
of the hand stand in unconscious relationship to each
other, react upon each other, and often in their united
action seem to flow into each other and to be as one.
Thus the individual absorbed in thought, holding some
long object in his hand — i. e., a stick — and unconscious
of all about him, involuntarily draws something with this
stick, makes impressions on the ground spread before
him. These signs and figures thus traced are in the main
straight or simple curved lines, because of the manner in
which they were produced. They may also owe their
origin to the different positions of the mouth necessary
in uttering the sounds ; for you will remember how we ob-
served the various positions of the mouth in connection
with the sounds i, o, and a, when I taught you how to
write. And su we may readily understand, my child, as
we remarked before, how writing and the alphabet may
have been invented by a shepherd in a far-away country
thousands of years ago ; and that these traveled from that
country through all these many, many years, and finally
reached us, came to me, and through me to you ; but they
must have been much changed in the course of these
wanderings through many countries and among many
peoples these many, many years.
" Therefore regard shepherds with respect whenever
you meet them ; think at least, at such times, how one's
solitary hours can be made useful by thoughtful observation
of what is nearest — as in this case the shepherd's speaking
with himself — and how we can thus discover what may be
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 313
of great benefit to children as well as to grown people,
and give pleasure through endless years. Only think of
the writing which even now gave you so much pleasure,
and of the reading which will soon no less delight you.
Think, therefore, as often as you write, or will hereafter
read, that you should always employ your time well even
when you are alone, like the shepherd who invented writ-
ing and the alphabet, and by their means taught reading.
But now it has become quite dark without our noticing
it. Go now, Lina, and get the light ; we will employ the
rest of the time, since I have nothing more in particular
to do to-day, in teaching you what you wish and need for
the understanding and reading of your book — namely, the
correspondence between written letters and the printed
letters of your book."
With a deep, long-drawn breath, which told that what
she had heard had awakened in her mind many things
before unfamiliar, the thoughtful child went to do what
her mother had bid her.
The light, when brought, altered the whole scene, and
also Lina's whole frame of mind. Joyously she entered
the room with the light, and scarcely had she placed it on
the table before she ran to get her dear book, which was
to bring her so much pleasure.
" Come, sit down, dear mother ; here is the book. Now
teach me to know the letters in it."
" Willingly, my dear child ; but you must also take
one of your dear father's letters as a help. You have al-
ready rejoiced over the greater neatness, exactness, and
completeness with which his letters were written in com-
parison with yours. We now need these more perfect
letters for satisfactory comparison.
" Now take the I in your father's letter and observe
\
314 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
the printed 3 in your book, and compare them. What do
you find ? "
" There, nothing but straight lines ; here, nothing but
wound or twisted lines ; there, a long, large, vertical line ;
here, a large line wound in a vertical direction ; there, two
smaller parallel horizontal lines ; here, in a horizontal po-
sition, two winding spiral lines almost parallel in their
windings. So the two horizontal parallel straight lines
in the written I are almost opposite to, yet like, the par-
allel spiral lines in horizontal position, with only the
little difference that each of the two straight parallel
lines goes beyond the vertical line on both sides, but the
parallel bent lines stretch out wholly on the left side."
" Then what do you find, dear Lina, when you com-
pare the two letters I and 3 ? "
" That the two are like one another, but with the dif-
ference that the lines of the first are straight, and those
of the second curved."
" Now let us look at the two Fs. What do you find
there?"
" I find almost all that I did before ; only here the
upper horizontal curved line of the ^ stretches on both
sides beyond the vertical curved line, and that the lower
horizontal line of the I — which also lies in a horizontal
direction in the 3 — has curved upward further in the F.
So that thus both letters F and 5, except these two little
differences, are again quite like one another."
" Quite right, my Lina. Now compare once more, after
what you have already found out, the two letters L and 2,
and tell me what their comparison shows you."
" As F and L are alike — only reversed — so that the line
which is above in the F is below in the L, and, on the
other hand, what is below in the F is above in the L, and
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 315
that the L has. not the triangle in the middle which points
out the F, so also in an equal degree % and S turned
round are like one another except the small hook " (in
the g).
" Now we will repeat them all, comparing them with
one another. Now, my child, do the thrice different letter-
forms show you something alike in each kind, yet differ-
ent in the two kinds, and yet again a resemblance in this
difference ? "
" Yes, my dear, good mother, the same we spoke of
before : that where the first kind of letters always has
straight lines, the lines of the second kind are always
winding, and at times there are slight changes in the po-
sition. But do you know, mother, in what the likeness
is very close ? It is in the letters T and Z ; what is
straight in the first is simply crooked in the second."
" Very good, my Lina. But you have already told me
this afternoon that you found a likeness between the let-
ters B and 33. What is it?"
" Ah, dear mother, you see that better than I do, and
can also say it much better. The first likeness is, that
what is straight in the B is again bent in the S3 ; only
that in the former letter the main line, which is straight
in B, forms in the 33 not a double curve, but only a simple
bent line ; and what in the B are mere circular lines, are
in the S3 differently curved lines ; also the apper small
horizontal line in the B forms a downward curve in the
33 ; but the lower horizontal line is according to the prin-
ciple of the J, a twisted curve."
" Since you found this agreement, it will be easy for
you to find that between R and 91, K and ^."
" Yes, quite easy ; looking at the 33 and 3 teaches
that."
23 \
316 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
" Now, for to-day that will be enough. To-morrow, if
I have time, we will go on. Till then, can you try with
your father's letter by your side to find the rest of the
large letters in your book, and learn to know them ? The
more of these you learn the more I shall be pleased, and
your uncle will certainly be glad, too, when he comes at
noon. Now I will get supper ready."
As Lina had gone to bed the night before thinking of
her book, she rose the next morning with the thought of
the dear letters in it, and of her mother's wish that she
should find out the rest of the large letters in the book.
Lina had been brought up until now in all-sided life-
union, without anticipating it, still less actually knowing
it, and still less being able to designate it by a precise
word, but showing it in life, in action, in feeling, and in
mind; and so also the careful mother had fostered in
the thoughtful, intellectual child the gradual anticipation,
which was scarcely yet an impulse, quietly to pray to Him
who is the giver of all good which we receive and enjoy,
for the things which she desired for her parents, her
absent father especially, and all other dear ones ; and so,
as she remembered what her mother had said yesterday
evening at the end of their talk, unconsciously to herself,
and in scarcely audible childish words, the wish of her
heart uttered itself : " Thou who givest all good, grant to
me also to-day that I may give mother and uncle the
TDleasure which they expect from me."
Cheerfully and quickly Lina's dressing was done. The
love of the earnest, fostering mother had led the child on
in the one day, so that each day was to her a valuable gift
which pointed to an invisible fount of blessing.
The simple but wholesome breakfast had been cheer
fully eaten, and the child hastened to draw forth her dear
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 317
book, in order, first of all where it was possible, to examine
the yet remaining large letters in it.
By degrees, and with a great deal of comparison, she
succeeded in her attempt, and recognized the U in the U,
the f in P, the D in 0, the D in D, the @ in S, the 31 in
A, the ^ in H, the m in M, the 5^ in N, the 2B in W, the
35 in V, the d in C, the ® in G ; finally, the 3 in Z.
So it was not yet quite noon when Lina could show in
her book all the letters her father had used.
Her mother was still employed in domestic matters,
and had not yet been able to come back into the family
room. But Lina could not wait ; she had to find her in
the house, and in the midst of her business to say that to
her great joy she could now point out, in the capital let-
ters of her dear book, the letters which she and her father
had used.
" I will come to our room soon," said her mother, shar-
ing the joy of her child.
" But if uncle would only come, so that I could show
it to him too ! For he certainly does not know or believe
that I know already the large letters in dear father's beau-
tiful book. If he only would come ! He stays away so
yery long to-day."
" The stay is no longer than usual," soothingly replied
her mother. " He is sure to come, only wait quietly."
And he came, this much-desired uncle. How Lina's
eyes beamed as she joyously held out to him her father's
present, and could tell him of the advance she had made
since yesterday ! Her uncle heartily shared her well-earned
delight, which he increased yet more by letting her find
the same letters on different pages, and very many differ-
ent letters on the same page.
Then, at last, Lina's mother joined the happy pair.
318 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
She fully shared in the joy which came no less from the
heart of the uncle than from that of the haj^py little girl,
who clung closely to her mother, as if she had received
from her the power to win what she had won, and wished
to obtain yet more from her. Lina looked also at her
uncle from time to time with joyful, shining eyes, as if
the sympathizing clear gaze of his eyes would make her
perceive more clearly what her heart desired.
The dinner was scarcely ended when Lina with her
two treasures — the book and her father's letter — settled
herself by her uncle, who usually spent some time after
dinner in the midst of the little circle, in order to enjoy
with him the pleasure of comparing and finding out the
likenesses and the differences in the two kinds of letters.
The mother, having attended to her domestic duties, soon
made a third in the bright group. It was clearly per-
ceived by all three that there is a simple, comprehensive
law, according to which our common large printing let-
ters were formed from the predominantly straight-lined
ones — namely, that the straight lines of the latter are
mostly replaced in the former by winding, rarely by sim-
ple curved lines ; and the simple curved lines of the latter
are replaced in the former by pointed and irregularly
curved lines ; but that the two kinds of letters are in the
main alike in their internal construction and connection
of parts.
Lina now showed great skill in recognizing the large
printing letters, but, instead of being delighted, she turned
with unexpected sadness to her mother : " But, dear
mother, I can not yet read in my book, for there are
so few large letters in it, and there is only one of them
in any word ; but there are so many small letters ! How
shall I learn to know them all ? Oh, do teach me ! "
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 319
" Do not be uneasy, my child," soothingly said her
mother, who had expected this request when she came
into the room ; " there are really no more of these than of
the others you already know ; only a few of them show
some difference. If you are attentive, and will compare
them yourself as you did before, you will easily learn to
know these also."
" Well, then I shall surely be glad to-morrow," said
Lina's uncle, rising from his seat. " Now I must say good-
by to you for to-day, since my business calls me, as you
know. So to-morrow we will have as pleasant a meeting
as to-day."
" Certainly," said the mother.
" Yes, certainly," said the child, " if dear mother helps
me again.
" Please do, now," was all Lina said when her uncle
had gone away; and the mother understood the child's
simple words.
" Now sit down by me, and bring your father's two
presents with you. I need not tell you much ; you will
soon be able to help yourself as before, and will like to do
it, for you have now found out that what we learn by our-
selves not only gives us greater pleasure than what we
learn from others, for we gain from it the beneficial and
strengthening feeling of our own activity ; but we also
much more easily retain what is thus learned, and can
apply and use it again much more readily. What was the
first letter which we learned to know ? Show it to me."
" Here it is— 3."
" And from which of those you knew before did it
result by changing the straight lines into the waving or
winding lines ? Show me this also."
" Here, from the I."
\
320 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
" Yes, the 3 has sprouted from the I, as the curled-up,
unopened leaf from the germ, the bud. But you know—
for we have a great many times wonderingly noticed it in
our walks and among our flowers — that the many-petaled
flower or blossom bring forth the simple seed, and seems
to gather itself up in this once more. So it is, my dear
child, with very many things ; they must become small
again — that is, they must be drawn up into themselves
and concentrated before they can be really of use. And so
it is with our large printing letters : they also had to be first
simplified, drawn into themselves as it were, stripped of
all ornaments, before they could serve the great purposes
and prepare the many pleasures for which they were in-
tended — by reading. Let us see once more.
" Look again in your book. Which of all the little
letters in it could well represent the 3 and I ? "
" This one, I think."
" And you are quite right. You can really find again
in the small i all the crooked coarse and fine lines and
ornaments which the 3 shows. They are reduced to the
vanishing point; only the upper ornamental stroke has
freed itself and become independent, although reduced
to a small dot. Now compare 3 and I once more by the
light of what we know, so that the differences and like-
nesses may be clear and vivid to you, and so that you may
find them again with other letters. Now, which of the
small letters do you think indicates the ^? But I must
tell you beforehand that you must cut off many ornaments,
and only keep the essential part. Now what may be the
essential part of the g beside the curved middle line ? "
" I think the little stroke which is at the right, and
also the curved roof. The little line bending upward to
the left may very well be left out."
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 321
" So I think too. Now try which among the little
letters has some likeness to the large ?5-"
Examining and comparing, the child sought in her
book, and looked somewhat doubtingly at her mother,
pointing at the same time to the f in the book.
" Let me see if you are right. First, there is the prin-
cipal stroke, only more vertical and but little curved ;
second, there is also here the little stroke at the right.
The essential part of the twisted roof is also left ; only the
little curved line at the left has disappeared. And see,
you are right — the f indicates among the little letters what
the ?5 does among the large ones. We will now try to find
among the small letters one more which means the same
as one of the large letters ; then that will be enough for
to-day. I mean the X), and compare it first with the let-
ter which it started from, the D. Notice what is the
most essential part of it, and then try to find it among
the smaller letters."
It was not long before Lina pointed, with greater cer-
tainty than before, to the b.
" See, this time you have found it easily and quickly ;
this gives me pleasure. But now we will place the three
letters X), D, t> side by side, and see if you are right. Yes,
it is true ; the principal stroke is in all of them — in the
first very winding, in the second quite straight, and in the
third something of both. So also the principal curved
stroke is in all three, but in the first it curves downward ;
in the third, on the contrary, upward ; but in the second,
the middle one, neither way, but goes straight from the
vertical line. We now must stop for to-day ; you know
house affairs need my attention. You, my Lina, if you
like, may easily find some more resemblances between the
large letters which you know and the small ones which
\
322 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
you do not yet know. To-morrow you can show me what
you have found ; now you may play what you like."
" If I may, I would like to go once more to the kin-
dergarten."
" Willingly, my child ; you may go for your little
neighbor, Minna, and take her with you."
" Oh, that is nice, if I may do that ! I like little Minna
very much. Thank you, dear mother."
The two children, hand in hand, went happily to the
kindergarten, which both had attended daily until a short
time before ; but now Minna, who was the younger of
the two, was the only one who still went regularly. Lina
only went occasionally, since during her father's absence
her mother could devote more time to her, and because
she had already outgrown the kindergarten and was to
attend the primary school after the return of her long-
expected father.
But now how delighted were her former playmates and
companions in work, to see her whom they all loved, after
being deprived of her company for what seemed to them
a long time ! And how happy was Lina once more to
join the circle in which she had been so often and so
joyous !
What was more natural than that she should be ques-
tioned as to what she had done at home during this time,
and what she was still doing? The kindergartner also
willingly permitted Lina to answer these questions, so
that her little audience might hear how children could be
busy at home also, and how good children actually were
so, for she knew Lina's employment.
But what Lina first spoke of — for her heart was full of
it — was of her beautiful book, which her absent father had
sent to her because she had written letters to him.
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 323
" Written letters ! " cried the children, astonished.
" Where did you learn ? Who taught you ? "
These and other questions were at once pressed upon
her. She told how her mother had first taught her to lay
her name with sticks.
" Show us — show us how your name looks laid with
sticks."
" Yes," said the kindergartner, who was quietly listen-
ing to their talk, and had again convinced herself how
children unconsciously teach one another and like to
learn from one another — "yes, show it to us, for we have
figure-laying with straight sticks; so that comes in very
nicely. Come, place yourself at the middle of the table ;
then all the children can see very well."
And Lina laid her name, and showed her former com-
panions what signs indicated the I and the A, the L and
the N.
" Can you lay my name too ? " said Minna coaxingly,
standing by her side.
" Oh, that is easy," said Lina. " Listen — your name
sounds almost like mine : Minna — Lina — and only one
closed sound, the first, is different ; and one closed sound,
the middle one, you can hear double." So she now easily
laid with sticks the name Minna.
" Oh, if we could only lay our names too ! " said the
larger children. " Do teach us ! "
" I will ; but you must first speak your names very
plainly, find their parts, and notice which of the sounds
are open and which are closed ; then you must learn
to know the particular and proper sign for each of the
sounds."
" The dear gardener " (so the children liked to call
their loving fosterer, as, on the other hand, she liked to
"l
324 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
call them her plants and flowers) " will certainly like to
teach it to you, as my good mother did to me."
" Certainly," answered the kindergartner kindly, " only
we must also fulfill the condition which Lina mentioned
to us : that is, we must first speak clearly and in full
tones."
" Oh, certainly, that we will," said all the children, who
understood what she said. Some of them clung lovingly
to the kindergartner ; others looked with joyous gratitude
into the clear eyes of the happy little girl. Two of the
children clung entreatingly round the neck of their com-
panion, who now wished to go away.
" No, you must not go yet, Lina — must she ? " said
they all, turning entreatingly and questioningly to the
kind kindergartner, who they were sure would carry out
their wish.
" Lina must do as she wishes," she replied. But before
Lina could answer, the children had drawn her into the
circle for their favorite play. The Doves, which was fol-
lowed by a second and a third play. But now Lina be-
gan in earnest to prepare to go home. The two little
ones who had formed a peculiar, silent friendship for her,
again embraced her, kissed her cheek, and said :
" Come soon again ; you brought us beautiful things."
" Yes, come soon again," repeated the vigorous voice
of a healthy, blooming boy almost five years old, who
with a few companions of his own age had been hitherto
a silent listener and thoughtful observer of the little
teacher.
And nodding a cordial "Yes," almost involuntarily
the departing child vanished behind the door which closed
upon her ; for, almost unconsciously to herself, the atten-
tion of the children (since one development always de-
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 325
mands another) had called forth in her the urgent desire
to endeavor in her home to meet her mother's wish and
expectation.
" Yes, see," said the child-loving kindergartner — who
made use of every circumstance to lead her little charges
to notice the phenomena of life around them, but especial-
ly to observe their own life and action — " see how nice it
is to know something, and to be able to teach others !
Lina is only a little older than the oldest among you,
and only a short time ago was your playmate and the
playmate of us all ; and now she comes and kindly
teaches us beautiful things. You see that those who are
attentive and diligent can, even when still young, be of
use to others."
But Lina's short visit had been not only useful to the
children, but had also brought them much good. It had
made them attentive to all which concerns the perception
and relations of forms, for on that partly depended the
knowing how to lay the letters ; but especially does it de-
pend on attention to correct and full-toned speaking, in
order to learn to write ; for even the smallest child, in
order to meet the requirements put upon him, must have
the feeling, however dimly, that from this tax upon his
power, out of this exercise of his will, there will proceed
that which is beneficial to him.
This foreboding in the child is by no means a hidden
self-seeking, but the natural outcome of the desire and
impulse toward spiritual selfhood, self-dependence, and
the wish to place himself in perfectly harmonious rela-
tionship to his entire environment.
After returning from the kindergarten it was Lina's
first act, as on the afternoon before, to compare the large
letters which she knew in her dear book with the small
326 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
letters in it, in order to find out those which correspond,
which she actually succeeded in doing, to her great de-
light. So was it also the next morning : after all the little
duties of cleaning, arranging, and clearing up which were
required of her were done, and the simple breakfast was
enjoyed, she immediately sought out her dumb teacher,
which in a remarkable manner taught her — under her
mother's thoughtful guidance — to inform and instruct
herself.
She first of all compared the large letters again with
each other, and soon found that in one there are three^ in
another two^ and again in still another there is one essen-
tial line, however curved it may be. She discovered, too,
which of the hooks, bows, or curves were essential, and
which unessential. She found the same to be the case in
the small letters — three, two, or even one stroke, but
(now with, again without little strokes, circles, or curved
lines) were essential. And so she succeeded in finding
out a considerable number of the small letters whose simi-
larity to the corresponding large letters was now readily
detected. With some of the former it was of course the
case, in spite of all repeated comparison, that she could
not at all see her way clearly. Yet in all these difficulties
she hoped for her mother's certain glance and guiding
word. So, with glad expectation, she looked forward to
the noon, when she was to give an account to her mother
of what she had found ; and she joyously cried out, as
business brought her mother into the room, " I know al-
ready twelve more of the small letters."
" I am very glad to hear it. When we have eaten our
dinner you can show them to me, then we will examine
what you have found. Now you can do your other work,
and then provide what is necessary for the noontime."
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 327
And the noon, which Lina so longed for, came at last ;
but her uncle, whom Lina had expected with equal long-
ing, did not come for an unusually long time, and Lina
had to practice patience, and could not tell him of the ad-
vance she had made and of her delight in it. But finally
he came, having been detained by business. His com-
munications to her mother prevented Lina from gaining
his attention for her dear letters. At last appeared the
desired opening, and, with a long-restrained, deep-drawn
breath, Lina brought forward the proofs of her diligence,
and said, turning to her uncle : " Ah, dear uncle, now I
know nearly all my little letters, and I can soon read in fa-
ther's beautiful book. — But look here, dear mother, and see
if I am right," and she pointed to the letters which she
had found, by careful comparison in her father's letter
and in her book, as having the same meaning : M, ?!)?, m ;
N, 9Z, n ; U, U, u ; W, SB, » ; V, 35, d ; 0, O, o; P, §>, ^ ;
H,^,^; B, 33,b; S,@, ^; K,^, f; R, 9^,r; Z, 3, g. She
was doubtful as to the letters 21, a ; S, c ; ®, g ; Q, <| ;
2;, t ; S, c ; and she did not know in the least where to
place the letters f, ff, % g, d^, f^, ff, j, and several others.
" Will you please tell me, dear uncle, what these signs
mean, and how they are to be spoken so that they can be
heard ? " said Lina, turning to him entreatingly. .
" That I shall be very glad to do, my child, especially
as I have some time to spare, for I did my afternoon's
work this morning. But I will not encroach upon your
mother's office of teaching, which she does so well."
" Do so now, since you have time ; it will please me
particularly, for I have a great deal to do to-day. I will
then later," she added jestingly, " test whether you two
have done your work well," and with a farewell, accom-
panied by a kind nod, she left Ijhe room.
328 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
" Now bring your slate and pencil here and let us try
what we can do," said her uncle.
And the uncle, who could draw a little, drew first the
three forms of each of the doubtful letters plainly side
by side ; and then again drew two of each of these, one
within the other. In this way Lina could easily perceive
what was too much in one form and too little in another,
but principally what was essential and therefore abiding
in all three forms ; and, to the child's great delight, the
vanishing doubt changed to complete certainty.
" But what shall we do with the other single letters,
which seem to belong nowhere ? "
" See, Lina," said the uncle, " only look at them more
carefully ; they are mostly letters made up of two or more,
and you already know most of them singly. The few that
you do not know are this, and this," pointing to the f and
the j. " That you could not find these two letters among
those you knew is no fault of yours, for they have been
changed greatly. The two beautiful curved letters S and
(S have straightened themselves in f, and so are scarcely to
be recognized again in it, although the latter comes quite
simply from the former."
" I can very well imagine that. It is like a crooked,
bent wire which is almost straightened."
" Quite right ; and now you will be able to tell what
they are, and also to sound them, which you did not know
how to do before. See, now, first of all, the ff."
" Oh, that is all quite easy. It is a double f. "
"And that?" asked the uncle, pointing to the let-
ters fl.
" That is quite easy too ; it is an f and t joined to-
gether."
" Yes, and spoken in one open sound. And do you
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 329
know how you have to write this joined, double, open
sound with your letters ? Show me."
" I know that very well ; it is St.
" That you could not make out this letter " (pointing
to the 5) "is no fault of yours. It is also a double letter —
that is, an f and a g — and means that the open sound f is
to be sharply spoken."
"Yes, I know that too. Mother taught me. the sign
for it— SS."
" Quite right. I am glad that you have been so atten-
tive to your mother's words. I shall tell her how glad I am.
But now you must also learn to explain the double sign
here " (pointing to the c^), " and to sound it. Look at it
closely ; you know the single signs."
" Ah, I know these very well ; they are the c and the ^.
But in c^ I can not speak the two letters in one sound."
" No ? I think you can. How did your mother teach
you to write these two signs or letters ? Show me upon
the slate."
" That I know very well : C and H " (drawing both on
the slate).
" And if you should speak these two signs as one
sound ? " « .
" Oh, now I know : ^ means the open sound OH."
She drew the sign quickly on her slate without difficulty.
" See how any one who is attentive and compares
thoughtfully can easily find out many things for himself.
We have next a sign made up of three letters " (pointing
to the fci^) ; " can you analyze this for me and point out
its sound ? "
" Just let me try, uncle. Are not the three letters
f c ^ joined here in one sign ? "
" Well, but do you not ren^ember that you have al-
380 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
ready joined them, and so shown that they were to be a
single sound, when you were writing under your good
mother's directions ? "
" Of course, I know it now, as you are so kind as
to help me to it ; it is the sign SCH for the sound "
(she utters the sound).
" Now we have another sign which you could not ex-
plain—it is this" (the letter j) ; "but you have already
learned to know a similar letter. Do you remember it ? "
" Certainly ; it was the i " (looking it out in the book
and pointing to it).
" Well, what capital letter, and which of your letters,
are like that ? "
" The I and the 3 " (pointing to each in the letter and
the book).
" Now, you must know that the signs or capital letters
I and 3 each have two sounds : first, the voice sound j,
for instance, in the name Ida ; and, second, a soft, flowing,
open sound, for instance, in Julie, Johann." *
" But now if this soft, flowing, open sound is to be
represented by a small letter, it is done by the sign or
letter j (j), which, as you quite rightly noticed, is like the
small t, only it is made longer below so as to indicate its
flowing. So you see the sign j, the small letter, represents
an open sound similar to that of the cj " (pointing to this
sign in the book), " only very soft ; as, for instance, when
you say [in German] ' That picture pleases me.' " " I
want that doll." f
" How glad T am that I know all these small letters,
and can find them again in the large ones, and show them
* The German J has the sound of our English Y. — Translator.
f " Jenes bild gefallt mir." " Jene puppe mochte ich haben."
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 331
to my mother ! How I thank you, uncle " (nestling up
to him), " for being so kind, and helping me so nicely by
your drawing. Without that I should not have found it
so easy ! "
" You are right, my child ; drawing makes it much
easier to notice and examine. Therefore give heed to the
instruction in drawing which your mother gives you. It
will at a later time, like a shining light, show you the
way many times even when you would not expect it. But
now I must go too. Do you remember what your mother
said jestingly when she went away?"
" Oh, yes ; she said she would examine us by and by,
to see if we too had done our work well."
" You have remembered very well. Since we are both
to be examined, go over it all by yourself very carefully.
For to-day, farewell. Say farewell to your mother also
for me."
" Farewell."
Lina's first act now was to open her book according
to her uncle's advice and request, and to pronounce the
signs or letters wherever she pleased. When she had
done this successfully several times, she ran to her mother
to give her uncle's message, and to give an account of the
new advance she had made, and of her kind uncle's assist-
ance. " Do come soon, so that I may show it to you."
" I am very glad. I knew that your uncle, who is
skilled in drawing, would teach you more easily and better
than I. Now, my child, go to your usual work. I shall
soon be ready, and then I will come to you. If you are
ready before I come, and have done your work well, you
can play whatever you like."
" May I then go for our neighbor's Minna, and lay,
interlace or build something with her ? "
24 \
m
382 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN,
" You may, if you have done what you were told."
" Oh, that is good — that is good ! "
The little girl was in an extremely happy mood. The
employment under the guidance of her uncle, the prog-
ress which she had thus made, and the new knowledge
she had gained had made her so glad, and the joyous hope
of being permitted, after well-done work, to get her dear
little neighbor to play with her, had called such serenity
into her soul that her remaining work was not only done
with unusual quickness, but also so well that she had no
doubt that her mother would be satisfied with it when she
afterward gave an account of it. And so she went to her
young neighbor, Minna, with the request : " Come with
me, Minna ; we may play ; my mother is willing. Go and
ask your mother if she will let you go home with me to
play." And scarcely had the words passed Lina's lips
when Minna hastened to her mother to beg the desired
permission, with which she soon returned.
" Take your great doll with you, and give me your
building boxes, and your laying and interlacing sticks.
We will play kindergarten, and will teach our dolls the
building, laying, and interlacing, the counting, writing,
and reading."
So a pleasant play soon began ; but the time passed
quickly to the happy children thoughtfully and busily
employed.
" Minna," said Lina soon after the play had begun, in
quite an earnest tone, "we must leave what our dolls
build, interlace, etc., so that when mother comes she can
see what our dolls can already do — counting, writing, and
reading."
The mother came.
" Oh, what have you there— a whole market?"
HOW UNA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 333
" Yes, we have been playing at kindergarten. Only see
what beautiful things our dolls have made ! They can
count, and write, and read too. Only see here : my doll
has written her name Fanny, and Minna's doll her name
Anna. They can read too — just hear. Anna can read the
name Fanny, and Fanny the name Anna," and she sup-
posed that the creations of her imagination would be
reflected in her mother's mind. And the mother did
actually rejoice like the children, but in a different way
and from other causes. She rejoiced that the instruction
which life gives to children becomes a vital part of their
lives, and so again blossoms and bears fruit in full, fresh,
healthy lives.
" This is all very beautiful," said the mother. " Your
dolls have been quite diligent, now they must rest again ;
but, before they go, tell them they must put things in
order, each thing in its place. Then, thanking her for
playing with you, take Minna home and thank her mother
too for letting her come. Come back soon, and then I
will, as you wish, see what your uncle has taught you."
Before her mother was aware Lina had returned and
greeted her with the entreating question, " You stayed
here, did you not, that 1 might show you what my uncle
has taught me?" And, not waiting for an answer, she
seized her mother's hand and drew her to the table.
" Come, sit here ; here I can show you all that my uncle
taught me, and how he taught it to me ; for see, it is still
all upon the slate."
And Lina now showed her mother first the relation
and development of the form of the letters A, 51, a ; E, S,
e ; G, ®, 9 ; Q, D, q ; T, J, t ; C, S, c ; that she could
comprehend and make them again on the slate. In doing
this many things became clearer to her, for the mother
II
334 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN
made her notice this and that thing which she had either
forgotten or overlooked in her uncle's explanations. She
also pronounced for her mother the signs |, f, and the
compounds formed of the latter, ff, ft, f, f(^, c^, and the
doubled and sharpened ff.
" I will beg your uncle to be your teacher for the
future, for you have retained his instructions as easily as
you have understood them."
" Only see how nicely he has drawn it all for me ! It
is just as if one thing grew out of the other, like the
blossoms from the buds, and from the blossoms again the
fruit or the seeds. Do you know how prettily you showed
me this on our blossoming apple tree, and the June apples
you picked up ? "
" Yes ; you see, my good child, we can show, by means
of drawing, a great many things which it is either very
difficult or quite impossible to show by words ; and, again,
the living forms of nature testify to the truth which, as
it were, lies slumbering or even dead to us in word and
picture. Therefore, my dear daughter, esteem highly the
teachers, inwardly bound together like three loving sis-
ters: : the living nature, the representative drawing, and
the explanatory word — this latter heard as well as read.
One explains the other, and makes what it says more com-
prehensible."
" Then I am glad, my dear mother, that my kind
father sent me this beautiful book, for now I can read a
great many words in it; and I was able to read them just
as soon as I knew the small letters. May I show you ? "
" Yes, I am eager to hear."
" Oh, it is easy ; they are the same letters and words
you have taught me to write, and which I can read in
father's letter. See, I will show you all the words I can
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 335
read now : in, im, an, am, urn, tin, mein, metne, meine^, bein,
'otint, betner, 'tdmm, teitte^, nein, fcitt, fein, ^tn, nimm, fann,
man, tarn, ta, ba^, bac^. And see, here I can read a whole
line : ' When the child cried, a man came at once and
said, " What do yon want, child ? " "I want to go to my
mother," said the child.' "
" That is well done indeed," said the mother to Lina ;
" now you will soon be able to read the whole book ; at
least, you may try the first story to-morrow."
" Yes, if you will help me, I shall get along very well."
" If you can not immediately read a word, you must,
as soon as you know all the letters of it, make it with your
writing letters, then you will be able to read it more easily."
" How glad I shall be when I can read the whole
book ! "
" Well, to-morrow we will see. At present you have
had enough. Now we must go to other work."
That evening after supper, before she went to bed, and
early the next day when the morning tasks were done,
Lina took her dear book in hand to try to read the first
story in it, from the beginning to the end, aloud to her-
self, and she succeeded quite well, so that her heart beat
with delight to be able to read aloud to her mother and
her uncle the first story in her book ; and she could not
hide her joy when her mother came into the room to set
another task.
" You seem so pleased, that it is a good omen for this
noon."
Laughing joyously, Lina set about her task, for such
it actually was ; and to the delight of her mother and
uncle, as well as to her own, Lina read ^uite accurately
the first little story in her book ; only her mother had first
to make her notice the meaning of the punctuation marks.
V
336 PEDAGOGICS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
After the general joy over Lina's progress in the little
book had somewhat subsided, she nestled up to her mother
mournfully, and said, " I only wish I could read the stories
aloud to father, and that he could thus hear that I can
already read in his book."
" Well," replied her mother, " he will believe us if we
write to him that you read the first story aloud to us this
noon. But I know another way in which you can prove
to your father that you have read the story. Write off a
part of it for him with your letters and in your writing ;
for your father will easily see that you could not write
anything from the book if you could not first read it."
" That is really excellent ! What good advice your
mother knows how to give everybody ! " said her uncle.
" Oh, that is good ! " said Lina, delighted. " Please,
dear mother, give me some paper and draw me some lines ;
I will write at once."
" You shall have paper and all else you need presently,
but there is no such hurry about the writing ; you can
take great pains with it, for I shall not send the letters
for some days."
" I am very glad of that," said the uncle, " otherwise
I should run the risk of not seeing Lina's work at all.
Business will prevent my coming to you for the next two
days. But I shall be so much the more pleased to see
something new when I return. Now, good-by."
During the next few days Lina was busy in doing the
work she had set herself. With the kind help of her
mother she succeeded to the satisfaction of the latter, and
to her own delight, as well as to that of her uncle, who
took such hearty interest in the development of little
Lina, when some days after, as he had promised, he again
appeared at the dinner table.
HOW LINA LEARNED TO WRITE AND READ. 337
Scarcely was the meal finished than she availed her-
self of her mother's permission to show her work to her
uncle.
" But what a great sheet this has become ! " said her
uncle. " That will scarcely go into the letter," he added
jestingly.
" Oh, yes," said Lina, turning entreatingly to her
mother. " I wish, dear mother, that I could write as fine
as you and father do, and use such letters. It is so
quickly done when you write ; besides, you do not use
so much paper as I do. Please, mother, teach it to me !
Please do ! "
" Yes, my child, that can be done ; but we should have
to give more time to it than I can spare, now that your
father is away. You will learn it better at the prepara-
tory school, to which you are to go when your father,
whom I soon expect, has returned ; till then you will have
to be contented. You can pass your time in reading
your book."
" Oh, yes ; and after that I will write as you do."
PLATE I.
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