An important study of the continuing debate over methods of primary education and of the conflict between child-centred and more traditional­ education; concern about the role of the teacher; and the renewed challenge of 'play' as a tool of education. Froebel wrote, 'Play is a mirror of life', providing the means of intellectual, social, emotional and physical development, and self-discipline and social behaviour.The early death of Froebel's mother is shown to provide the impetus behind one of his over-riding aims: to foster family life. The shaping of his educational philosophy through contact with the ideas of his 'spiritual father', Pestalozzi, and philosophers, such as Kant, Hegel and Krause, is examined. Froebel's reassessment of the function of play in a child's life came to fruition in the concept of the Kindergarten and creations such as Occupations and Movement Games. From the soft ball on a spring, the simplest of the Gifts, to the unravelling of more complex ideas in the Mother Songs, Froebel incorporated the various facets that he saw as important in play: the notion of the symbolic and the surmise, the tension between the known and the unknown, the development of physical dexterity, and care for the environment.Froebel's respect for a child as an independent, searching and creative person, learning from his own actions led to monumental changes. His legacy challenges us to examine the assumptions challenges us to examine the assumptions underlying current trends in education, and our attitudes towards young children.Joachim Liebschner, a trustee of the National Froebel Foundation, has taught in primary schools and universities, and has lectured on Froebel worldwide.