e, and I found myself a green tree
waving its branches in the wind. I was frightened and self-conscious,
but I did it, and nobody seemed to notice me; then I was a flower
opening its petals in the sunshine, and presently, a swallow gathering
straws for nest-building; then, carried away by the spirit of the
kindergartner and her children, I fluttered my clumsy apologies for
wings, and forgetting self, flew about with all the others, as happy
as a bird. Soon I found that I, the stranger, had been chosen for the
"mother swallow." It was to me, the girl of eighteen, like mounting a
throne and being crowned. Four cunning curly heads cuddled under my
wings for protection and slumber, and I saw that I was expected to
stoop and brood them, which I did, with a feeling of tenderness and
responsibility that I had never experienced in my life before. Then,
when I followed my baby swallows back to their seats, I saw that the
play had broken down every barrier between us, and that they clustered
about me as confidingly as if we were old friends. I think I never
before felt my own limitations so keenly, or desired so strongly to be
fully worthy of a child's trust and love.

Kindergarten play takes the children where they love to be, into
the world of "make-believe." In this lovely world the children are
blacksmiths, carpenters, wheelwrights; birds, bees, butterflies;
trees, flowers, sunbeams, rainbows; frogs, lambs, ponies,--anything
they like. The play is so characteristic, so poetic, so profoundly
touching in its simplicity and purity, so full of meaning, that it
would inspire us with admiration and respect were it the only salient
point of Froebel's educational idea. It endeavors to express the same
idea in poetic words, harmonious melody and fitting motion, appealing
thus to the thought, feeling, and activity of the child.

Physical impressions are at the beginning of life the only possible
medium for awakening the child's sensibility. These impressions should
therefore be regulated as systematically as possible, and not left to
chance.

Froebel supplies the means for bringing about the result in a
simple system of symbolic songs and games, appealing to the child's
activities and sensibilities. These he argues, ought to contain the
germ of all later instruction and thought; for physical and sensuous
perceptions are the points of departure of all knowledge.

When the child imitates, he begins to understand. Let him imitate the