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cinnamon grating This new lesson has been quite popular in the classroom this week. Not only does it smell good, but it requires a lot of fine motor strength and organization. Plus,the grated cinnamon tastes delicious when sprinkled on apple slices! Yum! *a small grater
*cinnamon sticks
*a spoon
*a little pot to store the grated cinnamon
*a cloth and a sponge for clean-up

The child rubs the cinnamon stick against the grater. Show him or her how to hold the stick like a pencil - this will keep the fingers away from the grater and help to strengthen the hand for writing. Next, the child pops the lid off the grater and spoons the cinnamon into the cinnamon pot or jar. He or she uses the sponge to clean up any stray cinnamon bits.
Personally, I was a little disappointed about the quantity of cinnamon produced in this exercise. It takes a lot of work to grate a whole cinnamon stick, and you end up with just a sprinkle or two in the pot. Obviously, this is the perfect example of the child's work being different than our adult work. As an adult, I am more concerned with the product (how much cinnamon is in the pot) rather than the process (grating the cinnamon stick). But, as this lesson has been in constant rotation among the children, they must be finding the process of grating cinnamon sticks to be quite satisfying!
Love grating lessons, too? Read about soap and bread grating here!