Increasing Independence In Children – Grating

Children Grating Cheese

This post is part of a series of simple activities that can help increase your child’s independence. These activities are aimed at children aged two and above. Previous posts can be found below:

Teaching children to grate cheese

Equipment:

  • 1 small grater. (I picked up a couple of these graters at Kmart a couple of years ago. I am not sure if they still stock them though.
  • Plate
  • Cheese

When To Do It:

This is another activity that you can set up for your child when you are cooking. They can grate a small component of what you have to grate for the meal and gain the satisfaction from having contributed to preparing the meal that the family will eat.

Increasing children's independence grating cheese

What To Do:

With all these practical life tasks I give a display of the activity first without words, allowing the child to take in the actual hand movements required. Too much talk can distract them from observing how the task is done.

  1. Show which side of the grater to use.
  2. Emphasise the angle with which you hold the cheese before you begin grating.
  3. Position the other hand on the handle of the grater.
  4. Begin grating the cheese.
  5. As the child masters this activity, they can then begin grating harder items like carrots etc.
  6. Finish the activity by having the child clean up . This could be as simple as placing the dishes in the dishwasher and food scraps in the compost or you can have them hand wash all the materials used.