The Gift (Froebel's educational materials)

Froebel's "The Gift" refers to a series of thoughtfully designed educational toys and materials created by Friedrich Froebel, the founder of kindergarten. These gifts, made of geometric shapes like cubes, spheres, and cylinders, are intended to develop children's spatial awareness, fine motor skills, and understanding of mathematical concepts through hands-on exploration. The progression of gifts encourages children to build, classify, and see relationships between shapes, fostering creativity and foundational thinking. Overall, Froebel believed these materials support active, constructive learning as children engage with the physical world to develop cognitive and perceptual skills.