A grain cradle is a type of tool that helps people harvest wheat, oats, or barley. It's sort of like a long wooden basket that has long, curved teeth at the bottom to rake through the stalks of grain. The curved teeth help to pull the grain down into the basket as it's harvested.
People who use grain cradles hold the tool in one hand and use the other hand to grab a handful of grain stalks. Then, they sort of slice through the stalks with the teeth at the bottom of the cradle, pulling the grains down as they go. Once a few handfuls are harvested, they dump them into a bigger container to collect all the grain.
Grain cradles used to be really important for farmers who didn't have big machines to do the harvesting for them. It was a lot of hard work, but farmers used the cradle to make sure they could get every last bit of grain from their fields. Nowadays, machines can do the job faster and easier, but some people still like to use grain cradles for a traditional and nostalgic feel!