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.)

He devised a series of ‘gifts’ that encourage creative play in young children.

This is my interpretation of the first gift.
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.