I was watching BBC’s, “How Clean is Your House” and they provided a great, non-toxic silver cleaner for kids to use. They used this cleaner on silver plate. You can purchase this type of silver very cheaply at thrift stores and yard sales.
Here is how to make your own kid friendly sliver polish for Montessori practical life skills:
Use white chalk powder, mix with water to make a paste. Dab a clean cloth in the paste and rub your silver dish or mug until clean. Use a soft duster to buff the object to a brilliant shine.
You can grate white chalk sticks to make chalk powder.
Provide a cleaning activity tray lined with a placemat, a dish of chalk powder, a small jug for water, a cleaning cloth, a soft polishing cloth and the dirty sliver object. Show how to make the silver paste, clean the silver and buff it. Just do a small patch of the silver piece to demonstrate the activity. Let your child do the activity. My kids always loved polishing silver.