Froebels Occupations

s Sewing earliest? substances, for useful and decorative favorite1 sewing, is one of the most ancient and Emrpfoy- universal employments. The tool may ment. jje a thorn, or a needle fashioned from wood, bone, or steel; the thread, a tough grass, the fibre of a leaf or tree, the sinews of an animal or strips of its hide; or it may be the product of the silkworm, the flax, or the sheep, ? yet all have been used in much the same way and for the same purposes since our primeval ancestors first made holes in the skins they wore and drew them together for a more complete covering. And as it is now, so has it ever been in regard to the two varieties of sewing, ? for use and for ornament. Even among uncivilized tribes and semi-barbarians, we find their scanty clothing embroidered with bright colors, and we know the art to have been one of the earliest employed by the Eastern nations. Children, too, readily take it up in the nursery, partly by inherited instinct, perhaps, and partly by imitation ; and a needle, a stout thread, and a piece of cloth, which is straightway drawn up into surprising shapes and strange bunches, will often keep a little child amused and happy for many minutes together. The fact that Froebel's occupation-materials contain nothing new, but are based, on the contrary, upon the traditional employments of childhood, is one of the strongest arguments in their favor, for they must have been wholly wrong from a psychological point of vi...