Fröbel, Friedrich Wilhelm August, << FRU buhl, FREE drihkh VIHL helm OW gust >> (1782-1852), was a German educator who founded the kindergarten movement. Fröbel, whose name is also spelled Froebel, started his first kindergarten in 1837. Other educators had established schools for very young children, but Fröbel was the first to use the word kindergarten for such schools. This word comes from two German words meaning garden of children. By 1900, kindergartens had spread throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States.
Fröbel designed the kindergarten to help children learn naturally. His innovative concepts included free play, games, and such activities as clay modeling, paper cutting, and weaving. Fröbel designed instructional materials known as Fröbel Gifts that remain in use today. Fröbel Gifts include educational toys that range from simple wooden blocks to colorful balls to rectangular- and triangular-shaped objects and other materials.
Fröbel believed in the unity of God, nature, and humanity, and this belief guided his philosophy of education. He thought education should promote the natural development of a person’s spiritual being. His book The Education of Man (1826) explains his philosophy. Fröbel’s ideas have had considerable influence on modern thinking about early childhood education, including that of the internationally known Italian educator Maria Montessori.
Fröbel was born on April 21, 1782, in Oberweissbach, near Erfurt, Germany. He began to teach in 1805. He opened his first school, an institution for older children, in 1816. Fröbel died on June 21, 1852.
