Table of Contents

I: Introduction: Learning to play with toys that teach



II: Gifts of Awakening

•Gift 1: Balls of yarn introduce color, shape, and motion.

•Gift 2: 3 geometric shapes: the sphere, the cylinder, and cube



III: Gifts of Construction & Building

•Gift 3: Make a simple box and the 8 blocks to go inside

•Gift 4: Rectangular tiles in a box

•Gift 5: A larger box with smaller cubes and triangles

•Gift 5B: The larger box with half-rounds and coved blocks

•Gift 6: Flat tiles and columns create a more complex version of gift 4.



IV: Gifts of Design

•Gift 7: Wooden Tablets

•Gift 8: Sticks for Drawing

•Gift 9: Steel Rings for drawing

•Gift 15: Interlacing slats

•Gift 16: Linking Sticks



V: Going Forward: Using Froebel’s Concepts to Create Life-long Learners

About the Author

Doug Stowe has been a self-employed woodworker since 1976. In addition to working is his wood shop, Stowe teaches children at the Clear Spring School a program called "The Wisdom of the Hands," a course dedicated to the concept that working with one's hands is essential to learning. The author of eight books, his most recent is "Beautiful Boxes, Design and Technique" published by Taunton Press in September 2014. He also writes for Fine Woodworking and other woodworking magazines. He currently lives with his wife Jean on a wooded hillside overlooking the beautiful historic community of in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.