we used cheese graters (and no one got hurt!)

I learned about this activity from Lisa Murphy’s Ooey Gooey workshop. She has great resource books for parents and teachers alike, and I highly recommend them. We used the graters to shred Ivory soap. Lisa recommends Ivory because it’s softer and easier to shred.

Before I let the children use the graters, I demonstrated how to use them properly at the morning meeting. I showed the children how to hold them, and explained that they had to keep their fingers as far away from the metal as possible or it would cut them. The first child up to the table was a 3.3 year old. My assistant and I held our breath as he began, but we had nothing to worry about. All the children used the graters properly and no one got hurt. They were very eager to have their turns though, that’s for sure.

Here are some of their words:

M: This is softer than a blanket.
K: These are shavings.
A: This is hard snow. The flour is soft snow.
K: It looks like salt and pepper.