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Last updated 25/11/2025

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Part 1 of 'Hand-And-Eye Training' by George Ricks, subtitled 'Being a development of the kindergarten for junior and senior scholars' (ie pupils aged 7 to 14 years), was published by Cassell and Company Ltd in London, New York and Melbourne in 1889. It has chapters about Paperfolding (limited to preparing folded grids then cutting the grids into tiles and using the tiles to create patterns), Ausschneiden und Aufklaben and Cardboard Modelling. It also contains a rable showing which occupations are suitable for each school year.

George Ricks was Inspector of Schools for the School Board of London.

The introductory material provides a good overview of the place of manual work within primary education at this period and the place of paperfolding within it. It is noteworthy that although the book claims to be based on kindergarten principles and activities there are no activities based on Falten (paperfolding per se).

The Preface explains that:

A full copy of Part 1 of the work can be accessed here.

I have not seen a copy of Part 2, but the table of activities appropriate to each age group in the Preface to Part 1 indicates that there is no paperfolding content in Part 2 (see lower box).

Chapter 2 gives a list of Frobel's occupations, altogether 20 in number:

Those gifts relating to paperfolding are:

There is no other mention of Verschnuren (interlacing) in the work.

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Analysis

Chapter IV

The Paperfolding occupation in this work is limited to:

Cutting Tiles from Folded Grids and Using Them to Form Patterns

ie the folding of various geometrical grids which are then cut into tiles and mounted on paper to produce patterns.

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Chapter VII

Folding, Cutting, Mounting Series 2 - Ausschneiden und Aufkleben

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Chapter VII

Cardboard Modelling

Selected images only.

Polyhedra

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Useful objects

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