Introduction: Friedrich Froebel was an 19th Century German educator, who theorised that the learning experiences of very young children influenced their later academic achievements and – more importantly – the health of society as a whole. He is the father of ‘kindergarden’. (There is lots more information here: http://www.froebel.org.uk/)
He devised a series of ‘gifts’ that encourage creative play in young children.
You can buy them here: http://www.froebelgifts.com/
This is my interpretation of the first gift. You can read more about the first gift here: http://www.froebelgifts.com/gift1.htm
Froeballs can be made from small amounts of DK weight yarn (or similar). A full set should contain 6 balls - red, yellow, blue, green, purple and orange.