Our Little Sous is getting super excited about an upcoming event! He’s so ready to dive head first into all of the preparations, that he was thrilled to get his hands a little messy mixing up this all natural polishing paste to shine up some silver!
We found this gorgeous silver platter in the back of a cabinet in our furnished apartment here in Tirana, Albania. Eager to make it beautiful for a centerpiece display, Our Little Sous readily returned to his Montessori roots and gathered the necessary ingredients from our pantry for this very common Practical Life activity!
Tarnished silver is actually silver that has reacted with sulfur to create silver sulfide. It can range from a rusty brown to dark black in color. This tarnish can be removed in a number of different ways. There are a variety of commercially-available polishes that you can purchase for use by adults or older children. There are also methods that encourage the utilization of boiling water and aluminum to create an electro-chemical reaction which converts the silver sulfide back into silver, leaving the sulfurous residue behind.
We were most interested in something that was completely safe, non-toxic, and child-friendly for the job. Enter our simple to-part paste. This easy-to-make-mixture comes together with a couple of very common household ingredients that you likely have in your cupboards right now. It’s even edible–although it doesn’t taste very good! This is important if the small finger participating in the activity have a tendency to wander toward the lips, as young children should be encouraged to do. Using our all-natural method, parents can rest assured that their children’s multisensory explorations of this kitchen science lesson will be just as safe as it is memorable!
Watch the brief video below, as Our Little Sous demonstrates the process:
The result? A shiny silver platter, and a very satisfied Little Sous!!!
Now he’s looking forward to piling this pretty platter high with all manner of special treats! Wanna see what deliciousness we’re baking up to put on our new plate? Come on over and join our #PLAYwithYourFood Community, where you can get the latest snapshots and stories of all the great things we’re cooking up in Our Kitchen Classroom!!!
