ion every time his forms fall to the table when
constructed without due regard to its principles.

He soon sees its practical significance, takes care to follow its
manifest expression, and to observe with more care the centre of
gravity. Great liberties could be taken with the stolid little cubes
and they seldom showed any resentment; they quietly settled down into
their places and resisted sturdily all the earthquake shocks which are
apt to visit a kindergarten table during the building hour. The bricks
on the other hand have to be humored and treated with deference. The
moment one is placed upon another, end to end, the struggle begins,
and in any of the high Life forms, the utmost delicacy of touch is
necessary as well as sure aim and steady hand.

Here comes in, too, a necessity of calculation not before required.
The cubes could be placed on any side and always occupy the same
space, but the building with the bricks will vary according as they
are placed on the broad, the narrow, or the short face. They must also
fit together and bear a certain relation to each other.

In the dictations it will be perceived that we now have to specify the
position which the brick must take as well as the place which it is to
occupy. We designate the three faces of the brick as the broad face,
the narrow face, and the short face or end.

Fourth Gift Building.

The symmetrical forms are much more interesting than before and
decidedly more artistic when viewed in comparison with the somewhat
thick and clumsy designs made with the cubes. The fourth gift forms
cover more space, approach nearer the surface, and the bricks slide
gracefully from one position to another, and slip in and out of the
different figures with a movement which seems like a swan's, compared
with the goose-step of the stubby little cubes.

It is a noteworthy fact that "the buds," as Froebel calls them, of all
the fourth gift Beauty forms were contained in those of the third
gift, and have here opened into fuller bloom.

The Life forms are much more artistic now, and begin to imitate a
little more nearly the objects they are intended to represent. We can
make more extensive buildings also since we have an additional height
or length of eight inches over that of the third gift, and thus can
cover double the amount of surface and inclose a much greater space.
In the first play with the gift, the children's eyes, so keen in
seeing play possibilities, quickly