In 1851, the Prussian government feared that Friedrich Fröbel's scandalous new approach to education might teach disobedience and lead to peasant rebellion.
The name of Fröbel's school?
Kindergarten.
Its controversial curriculum included singing and dancing, gardening, painting, and playing.
Prussia banned kindergarten, enforcing a strict system of supervised classrooms and government-approved lessons that clearly separated learning time from playtime.
And over the next century, the Prussian model inspired public school systems around the world.
But while it might seem traditional now, the belief that play and learning are at odds with each other is a relatively new idea.
Before the last few centuries, children around the world spent most of their time learning through play: observing and mimicking adults, roaming their surroundings, and sharing what they learn with friends and family.
Many communities and educators still believe play is one of the best teachers we have, and they've taken a variety of approaches to keep this kind of self-directed learning alive.
In his kindergartens, Fröbel provided specially designed toys to help kids learn concepts like volume, density, and even the principles of geometry.
