Making Classic Toys that Teach

Build the Gifts for Creative Thinking…

As the inventor of kindergarten, Friedrich Froebel designed and crafted the world’s first educational toys. Known as Froebel’s Gifts, this deceptively simple set of playthings, based on the principles of self-activity and creativity, changed how children think and interact with the world. By influencing Maria Montessori, Frank Lloyd Wright, Vassily Kandinsky, Albert Einstein, Paul Klee, and many more, Froebel’s gifts have had an immense impact on our world’s art, design, and education. In Making Classic Toys that Teach, this concept of hands-on learning comes full circle as Doug Stowe, a woodworker and teacher, outlines step-by-step instructions on how to build each each toy—and the box to hold it—so Froebel’s timeless lessons of creative and interactive thinking can be passed on to a new generation of young minds.