How can we use Friedrich Froebel's play theory in order to analyze ECEC, Early Childhood Education and Care? Wolfgang Klafki builds his theory of categorical "Bildung" on Froebel's play theory, which presupposes the interaction between child, adult and content, as in the didactic triangle. Froebel's play theory was lost in the hands of his followers Bertha von Marenholtz-Bülow and Henriette Schrader-Breymann. Developmental theories such as the cultural level theory and the recapitulation theory had a strong influence. One result was a child-centered laissez-faire pedagogy, waiting for the child to mature enough to be able to start school. With Klafki and his perspective on Froebel, it is possible to ask a set of questions in order to describe and analyze contemporary ECEC programs: (i) What are the didactic relations between child, adult and content, as in the didactic triangle? (ii) What is the content and how is it selected and organized? (iii) What kind of play and learning is intended?