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 Since it's not always easy to get kids excited about dental hygiene, we've compiled a few ideas and activities to help motivate children in preschool, elementary school, and middle school. You may add these to lesson plans, scout meetings, or even use them at home to bring dental hygiene to the forefront of your youngsters' minds. We know that the earlier kids learn good oral hygiene, the better. So we do everything we can to help educate and excite our youngest patients. |
Download these printable worksheets: |
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PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES Paint your "smile" sparkling white! Materials: Yellow and red construction paper, scissors, glue, toothbrushes, white paint Preparation: Draw a mouthful of teeth on yellow construction paper. Draw lips to fit that mouth on red construction paper. Reproduce the teeth and mouth until each child has one set of teeth and one set of lips. Corresponding lesson: Review with children the correct way to brush their teeth. Art project: Have each child use a toothbrush and white paint to "brush" their yellow construction paper teeth. (This is a good opportunity for them to practice making little circles with their toothbrush.) Have each child cut out their red lips. Once the white paint is dry, let them glue their red lips over their teeth to "frame" their sparkling smile. Sing a Song of Brushing This is great silly fun, and is a fun way for them to practice making those little circles with their "pretend toothbrush." *Note: (chchchh, chchchchchh) – those are brushing sounds. "When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to one, Everyone's asleep and you want to have fun . . . you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh)" "When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to two, Everyone's asleep and there's nothing else to do . . . you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh)" "When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to three, You're getting so bored and humming twiddledeedee . . . you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh)" "When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to four, You think you must have heard a knock at the door . . . you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh)" "When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to five, And you just can wait anymore to come alive . . . you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh)" "you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh) [quieter] you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh) [quieter] you brush your teeth! (chchchh, chchchchchh) [whispering]" |
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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (& ABOVE) ACTIVITIES Experimenting with Foods Materials: small white ceramic tiles, samples of food products or drinks, plastic knives and spoons, flouride toothpaste, toothbrushes Preparation: none Corresponding lesson: Review with children the correct way to brush their teeth. Activity: Have children spread different foods on the tiles (syrup, coffee, peanut butter, jelly) or soak the tiles in beverages (milk, soft drinks, coffee, juice). Then, have them use proper brushing techniques to clean the tiles with toothbrushes and toothpaste. Have the kids assess what foods were difficult to clean from the tiles, which ones stained the teeth, etc. Dental Health Mobile Visit www.crayola.com for fun instructions and printable artwork for each child to make his own mobile celebrating Dental Health month. Dental Health Web Tour For a fun computer lesson or health/P.E. assignment, visit www.lessonplanspage.com for a Dental Health Worksheet to be completed while navigating Nova Scotia's Dental Health website. Experimenting with Fluoride Materials: 2 eggs, 2 glass containers, 1 c. liquid fluoride (as used in the dentist's office), 2 cups vinegar. Preparation: Boil eggs prior to experiment Corresponding lesson: Review with students the importance of brushing their teeth; number of times to brush (at least 2) and floss (at least once) per day; areas to brush: teeth, gums, tongue; and importance of using a fluouride toothpaste. Explain how cavities develop over time and what they can do to prevent them. How can we use fluouride to prevent tooth decay? Activity: Soak one of the boiled eggs in liquid fluoride overnight. The next day, pour 1 cup of vinegar in each of the two glass containers. Place one boiled egg in each container. Can you tell which one was soaked in fluouride? Which egg shell seems to be most affected by the acid in the vinegar? What if you tried it with coffee? Would the fluouride-soaked egg stain? What happens if we try to "brush" the stains from the egg(s) with toothpaste? |
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