Teeth

My 6-year-old had a no-school day so we did a couple of Teeth projects you could use during T week.

• Tooth Painting
  1. Draw a large smiley mouth on a piece of yellow construction paper.
  2. Give the kids toothbrushes and white paint and let them "brush" their teeth until there is no more yellow showing.
  3. (I did have to remind my 1-year-old to brush the paper teeth, not her real teeth ... a little confusing!)

• Floss Painting
  1. Give the kids a length of dental floss and a plate with some paint on it.
  2. Holding both of the ends, dip the floss in the paint, then dip it on white paper. Makes some neat line paintings.
• Food Experiment
  1. While they were doing these projects we talked about why we need to brush and floss our teeth everyday.
  2. Offer the kids 1-2 Oreo cookies without a drink.
  3. Look in the mirror and see how the cookies stick to their teeth.
  4. Offer the kids 1-2 apple slices.
  5. Again, look in the mirror. Their teeth should be much cleaner.
  6. Point out that some certain foods stick to our teeth more and we should brush more after sweets and sticky foods or eat them with meals to limit their sticking to our teeth.

• Tooth Chart
  • Show the kids this tooth chart from the American Dental Association.
  • They have 10 teeth on the top and 10 on the bottom.
  • Look in a mirror and see if you can see each of your teeth matching the chart.

   

• Great Tooth Brushing Books
  1. Read “Brush Your Teeth Please” by Leslie McGuire … a great pop-up book with moving toothbrushes and floss to practice on the animal’s mouths. Highly recommended for little ones learning to brush.
  2. Read “Clarabella's Teeth” by An Vvombaut … Poor Clarabella can’t play like her friends because she’s still brushing all of your crocodile teeth. Have the kids pretend to brush and brush and brush their teeth as you say “she’s brushing and brushing and brushing and brushing and brushing and brushing her crocodile teeth!”

• Tooth Brushing Chart
  1. Print this free brushing chart from Colgate.com (click the image)
  2. Color the sun and moon each morning and night that you brush your teeth for four weeks.
  3. Maybe the kids could earn a new toothbrush!

Snack Idea ... Apple Smiles. Spread peanut butter on two apple slices. Sandwich them together with 3-4 mini marshmallow in between, so it looks like a big toothy smile.