Polishing Glass

Material

- A Mat (oil cloth)
- A Basket to hold a container with polish
- A dish for polishing
- A Cotton Ball
- A Stick (small manicure)
- A Cloth (flannel)
- A Sponge
- One Apron

Presentation

Introduction

Invite a child to come by telling them you have something to show him. Tell the child that we will need aprons for this activity. Put on an apron and then have the child put one on as well. Have the child bring the mirror-polishing basket and have them place it in the top right corner of your table. Then go back and bring the appropriate mat for the mirror polish. Slowly take off the mat ring by sliding it up the rolled mat and place the ring in the top left corner of the table. Place the flap of the mat on the right side of the table and roll out the mat in a horizontal way. Turn the mat over so the oilcloth side is facing up. Then, bring an object made of glass and place it in the center of your mat. (For this write-up I will use a mirror as my object.) Have the child sit down first, and then you sit down in front of the material. Tell the child that you will be showing him how to polish a mirror.

Preparation

1. Begin by taking each object out of the basket starting with the polish bottle and going clockwise with the objects in the basket. (polish, dish, cotton ball, stick, cloth, brush, sponge)
2. Place each object in the lefttoright order at the top of your mat.
3. As you take each of the objects out one by one, name them or have the child name them if you feel he may know what they are called.

Presentation

1. Take the bottle of polish with your left hand and place it closer to you by bringing it directly below where it was sitting.
2. Show the child how to open the bottle of polish by holding the bottle with your left hand and placing your right thumb directly under the tab of the bottle mouth and your index finger opposite your thumb. Rotate your thumb up, thus pushing the tab upwards and open. Then remove your right hand and then left.
3. Bring the dish closer to you also by bringing it directly below where it was sitting.
4. Hold the bottle in your right hand and slowly tilt it above the middle of your dish and squeeze it so that only one or two drops fall from the bottle opening into the dish.
5. Replace the polish in its original spot on the mat.
6. Show the child how to get a little piece of the cotton ball onto the end of the stick and pulling up a piece and twirling it around the end of the stick. Then securing it in place by twirling your left index finger and thumb around the cotton.
7. Dip the stick into the polish and apply the polish to the mirror in small circular movements from left to right, and top to bottom.
8. Continue these movements (dipping the stick into the polish if more is needed) until the entire mirror is covered in a light coat of polish.
9. If necessary, apply polish around the edges.
10. Wait for the polish to dry completely!
11. While waiting for it to dry, bring the child’s attention to the changing physical aspects of the drying polish. Look to see the difference of where the polish is still wet and where it is drying.  
12. Show the child how to hold the cloth. (see Dusting a Table)
13. Remove the polish in small circular movements from left to right and top to bottom.
14. If you see that some polish has gotten under the edges, use the brush to brush away the remains of polish by brushing around the edges of the mirror.
15. Clean the mirror one more time with the cloth holding it and using it in the same way as before.
16. Check to see if the mirror is clean.

 If it is not clear of polish, use the cloth and clean in circular movements until all of the polish is cleaned.

Completion

1. Remove the cotton from the end of the stick by taking it off with the cotton ball.
2. Replace the stick in its spot of the mat.
3. Clean the dish with the cotton ball and replace the dish in its spot at the top of the mat.
4. Close the polish bottle by holding the bottle in place with your lef thand and placing your right index finger behind the tab and rotating it down toward your body to shut it.
5. If needed, clean the bottle with the cotton ball. Then place the bottle in its spot at the top of the mat.
6. Throw away the dirty cotton ball in the bin and show the child where he can find clean ones. Then replace the cotton ball with a new one.
7. Place the dirty cloth into the laundry basket show the child where he can find clean cloths for this activity. Then replace the cloth with a clean one.
8. Come back and sit at the table to show the child how to replace the objects back into the basket. (In the same order as when taking out, starting with the polish bottle and placing the objects in a clockwise manner ending with the brush.)
9. Look to see if any polish has been spilled onto the mat. If so, use the sponge to clean it up using the sponge cleaning movements from the activity of cleaning a table.
10. Then replace the sponge into the basket.
11. Wash you hands and then take off your apron and hang it up.

                       
Invite the child to polish the other side of the mirror. Tell the child that when he is done, you will show him how to put everything away.

To put everything away, begin with the mirror and then roll up the mat. Then place the mat ring back around the mat and replace the mat on the shelf. Come back and bring the basket back to the shelf. Then have the child wash his hands and hang up his apron.

Purpose

Direct: To show the child how to clean objects in his environment.
 
Indirect: Development of concentration through order and sequence and development of muscular control.

Points of Interests
Making sure only one or two drops of polish come out of the bottle for use.

Age
3 -  5 years

Questions, Comments ?

Share your experiences in the Forum