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1. PHILOSOPHY OF EARLY
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

2. WHO IS FROE B E L?

3. IS THE RE A NY C ONNE C TION
B E TWE E N THE S E TWO
PIC TURE S ?

4. RE VIE W
Classical and Current
Theories of Play

5. What do we know about
the study of play?
Where should our search for information
begin?

6. E arly Influences on
Play S cholars hip
• Plato
• Comenius
• John Locke
• Rousseau
• Pestalozzi
• Froebel

7. E arly C ontributions to
the S tudy of Play
• Johann Amos Comenius
Children are innately curious, and different materials should be used to
encourage their creativity.
• John Locke
Children are a blank slate and can learn through play when adults use toys to
teach concepts.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Children are innately good, and nature is a primary force in learning.
• Pestalozzi
Children should be free to explore, and they learn through action (learn by
doing).
• Friedrich Froebel
Children learn through play.

8. Froebel’s E ducational
Pedagogy
• free self-expression
• creativity
• social participation
• motor expression

9. Froebel’s Gifts
• Object lessons can be extended by specific
objects.
• He specifically designed 10 that he believed
were important:
1. solids (balls) 6. proportion
2. shapes 7. surfaces
3. number 8. lines and circular
4. extent 9. points
5. symmetry 10. reconstruction

10. Froebel’s G ifts
Firs t G ift: S olids (B all on s tring)

11. Froebel’s G ifts
Firs t G ift: S olids (B all on s tring)
The first gift is six soft, round spheres with strings that
the child can manipulate.
These are generally made of different colored worsted
wool and measure about an inch and a half.
The round balls can be manipulated by the child, rolled
along a surface, or tossed into the air.
This shape reflects the round spheres that occur in
nature and expresses the idea of individuality—that “we
are here”(1895, p. 285).

12. Froebel’s Gifts
S econd Gift: S hapes

13. Froebel’s Gifts
S econd Gift: S hapes
In contrast with the softness of the first gift, the
second gift is hard.
Wooden spheres, cubes, and cylinders can be
manipulated to demonstrate different properties.
These can be manipulated and moved through
the air.
This expresses the concept of personality.

14. Froebel’s G ifts
Third Gift: Number

15. Froebel’s G ifts
Third Gift: Number
The third gift consists of eight cubes (1 x 1 inch)
that can be put together to form a 2-inch cube (2 x
2 x 2).
This is designed to stimulate self-selected or
solitary play.

16. Froebel’s G ifts
Fourth G ift: E xtent

17. Froebel’s G ifts
Fourth G ift: E xtent
The fourth gift expands the notion of the third
gift to rectangles.
It consists of eight rectangle-shaped blocks (2 x
1 x ½) that form a 2-inch cube.
This is designed to encourage obedience
because it says to the child, “Study us” (p. 286).

18. Froebel’s G ifts
Fifth G ift: S ymmetry

19. Froebel’s G ifts
Fifth G ift: S ymmetry
 A combination of rectangles, squares, half
shapes, and quartered shapes form a 3-inch cube
(3 x 3 x 3).
 This gift is designed to stimulate an interest in
unity and beauty.

20. Froebel’s Gifts
S ixth Gift: Proportion

21. Froebel’s Gifts
S ixth Gift: Proportion
 Twenty-seven brick-shaped blocks, three bisected
longitudinally and six bisected transversely, forming
a 3-inch cube.
 Obedience is the goal of this gift as the child
controls and manipulates the blocks.

22. Froebel’s Gifts
S eventh Gift: S urfaces

23. Froebel’s Gifts
S eventh Gift: S urfaces
Squares and equilateral triangles can be used to
create designs.

24. Froebel’s G ifts
E ighth G ift: Lines and C ircular

25. Froebel’s G ifts
E ighth G ift: Lines and C ircular
 The gift of lines is found in straight sticks of various
lengths that reflect multiples of the third gift, a 1-
inch cube.
 Rings reflect knowledge of circular entities.
Wooden, metal, or paper rings of various sizes;
whole circles, half circles, and quadrants are
included.

26. Froebel’s Gifts
Ninth Gift: Points

27. Froebel’s Gifts
Ninth Gift: Points
 The ninth gift consists of points such as beans,
lentils, or other seeds, leaves, pebbles, pieces of
cardboard paper, and so forth.
 The child has progressed from the solid to the
point.
 This last gift enables the child to represent the
surface and solid with points.

28. Froebel’s Gifts
Tenth Gift: Recons truction

29. Froebel’s Gifts
Tenth Gift: Recons truction
The child can reconstruct the set of gifts from the
solid to the point using sticks and a material for
holding them together.
(See F. Froebel [1885] for additional details.)

30. POP QUIZ!
20 MINUTES DRILL – a group of two
(pair activity)
• List all 10 gifts as stated by Froebel.
• Draw each of them.

31. Froebel’s Occupations
The occupations furnish material for
practice in certain skills, lead to invention, and
give the child power.
These activities develop fine motor skills as
well as contribute to the child’s sense of self-
esteem.

32. E xamples
 Solids: plastic clay, cardboard work, wood-carving
 Surfaces: paper-folding, paper-cutting, parquetry,
painting
 Lines: interlacing, intertwining, weaving, thread
games, embroidery, drawing

33. E xamples (cont.)
Points: stringing beads, buttons, perforating
Reconstruction: reconstruct the surface and
solid synthetically from the point. It consists of
softened peas or wax pellets and sharpened
sticks or straws.
(Adapted from Froebel, 1885)

34. Classical Theories of Play
 Surplus energy theory of play
 Relaxation and recreation theories of play
 Practice (or pre-exercise) theory of play
 Recapitulation theory of play

35. S urplus E nergy
Theory of Play
 Children have too much energy and play rids them of
excess energy.
(Von Schiller, 1954)
 Criticism
 No evidence exists to support theory.
 The reason for play would be the same reason for work.

36. Relaxation and Recreation
Theories of Play
 Play is necessary to regenerate energy used at
work.
(G. Patrick, 1916)
 Criticism
No evidence exists to support the theory.
Play can be as exhausting as work.

37. Practice or Pre-E xercis e
Theory of Play
 Play develops skills necessary for
functioning as an adult.
(Groos, 1901)
 Criticism—children may practice what
they see adults do, but they cannot
know what will occur in the future.

38. Recapitulation Theory
of Play
 Eliminate ancient instincts by reliving
evolutionary history of the human species.
(G. Stanley Hall, 1916)
 Criticism—if evolution is still occurring, it
should also be evident in play.

39. C hild S tudy Movement
G. Stanley Hall—father of American
Playground Movement
Patty Smith Hill—promoted free play and
large hollow blocks
Caroline Pratt—unit blocks
Harriet Johnson—block play at Bank Street

40. Modern S cholars
of Play
 Freud
 Erikson
 Dewey
 Piaget
 Vygotsky

41. Freud
 The child’s motivation is to seek pleasure and
avoid pain.
 The pleasure principle is the primary
motivation to play.

42. E riks on
Purpose of Play
Play as ego mastery for emotional development
Play as social
Play as a lifelong phenomenon

43. E riks on’s Play Levels
The autocosmic level of play occurs in the first
year of life when children explore, experience,
and investigate their own body as they
discover that they are separate from other
people.

44. E riks on’s Play Levels
• Microsphere
– Toys are used in two ways.
• Props for acting out their emotions
• Tools to discover the limits of rules established by caregivers
– Child gains mastery over the world as she controls toys
and materials.

45. E riks on’s Play Levels
• Macrosphere—The child develops a
shared view of the world as she engages
in sociodramatic play and games.

46. Piaget
• Purpose of play
– Play provides for wish fulfillment.
– Play follows development.
– Play allows children to sublimate reality through a
process involving accommodation and
assimilation.

47. Piaget (cont.)
• Accommodation occurs when the child adjusts the mental
schema to accept new knowledge.
• Assimilation occurs when the individual fits information into
existing mental structures.
• Play is disequilibrium with an imbalance of assimilation and
accommodation with a dominance of assimilation over
accommodation.

48. Vygots ky
• Purpose of play
– Ego mastery
– Rule bound
• Play allows child to engage in wish fulfillment.
• Play creates the zone of proximal development. Play leads to
development and is the highest level of intellectual
development prior to formal instruction.
• “The child always behaves beyond his average age, above his
daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller
than himself” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102).
• Play leads to development.

49. Influential S cholars
• Mildred Parten—play occurs in separate,
distinguishable social levels.
• Jerome Bruner—play leads to cognitive
adaptation.
• Brian Sutton-Smith—play is inter-disciplinary
and necessary for survival.
• Gail Carnella—play may not be valuable.