Gently encourage kids to brush their teeth properly, twice a day, with these fun and playful teeth brushing activities. We made an Easy DIY Giant set of teeth to clean and used a dry erase printable to teach Miss T to brush her teeth properly. There’s a little video at the end of the post that shows how we did it. These simple teeth brushing activities give parents an opportunity to show children how to brush, in a fun playful manner- No stress! Its much easier to teach kids where they need to brush properly, where food and plaque builds up and to encourage good dental hygiene with these DIY Giant set of teeth and a Dry erase printable.
Teeth brushing activities.
How to make a Giant Set of Teeth.
- Collect some white yoghurt tubs
- Find a plastic base – try a plastic table cloth, an old place-mat or an ice-cream container lid
- Have your Hot glue ready
- Lay your “teeth” yoghurt tubs out
- Glue them into place
- Use water based paint to resemble dirty teeth, food scraps and plaque.
- Add some small paper snippets, or even some real food.
- Let it sit for 5mins to dry
- Gather some old tooth brushes
They are ready to play with. We used an old tooth brush, a cup of water and I mixed up some “tooth paste” from a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda and a few drops of vinegar- Enough to make it into a paste. Miss T took to brushing the teeth straight away and we chatted around brushing properly; up and down, round and round, side to side, remember the backs of the teeth.
(HINT: Always supervise! Miss T has just turned 4, so I knew she wouldn’t stick the paint and bi-carb covered brush in her mouth)
She noticed where I had put the paint and pointed out that the teeth were dirtier and harder to clean around the edges or the ‘gums’ and in the gaps between teeth. Once she had gotten most of it off, we used water to sprinkle over them, to “rinse” them, and then I wiped them clean. The great thing about both of these teeth brushing activities is that you can easily make them, store them and use them time and time again. Whenever you need to remind your child about good dental hygiene, or when ever your child shows an interest in playing with them, you can simply use them again then wipe them clean.
How to use the Dry erase teeth brushing print out.
- Click here
- Print it out on A4 paper
- Laminate it
- Use white board markers to draw pieces of food
- Use an old tooth brush
- Sing the tune and brush away.
- Wipe clean when finished.
This is a great follow up activity that uses the same concept of teaching children where germs gather and how the hidden gaps, gums and backs of teeth are important too. Use a white board marker to draw the food scraps and germs in between teeth and around the gums and teach your child the tune to sing as they brush away.
To the tune of row row row your boat – “Bush brush brush your teeth, brush them twice a day. In the morning, in the night, Gentle scrub them clean and white.”
Teeth brushing tips.
These teeth brushing activities are great to help encourage kids to think about how they brush their teeth and to make it a normal every day topic. But of course not every kids loves to brush their teeth. So here are some tips that you can put in to place to encourage healthy brushing habits.
- Start them early, even before teeth – Babies can “brush” too
- Have bright, fun tooth brushes. Let me pick their own brush from the grocery shop.
- Have a Cool egg timer, or sand timer and make it a challenge.
- Make brushing time playful: sing songs, watch them and praise how much their care for their teeth, playful say that they missed a bit and tickle under their chin. Ask to see their sparkling teethy pegs!
- Make it a twice a day habit that is consistent with your routine.
- Model good dental hygiene. let them see that you brush twice, or even brush at the same time they do.
- Make sure they can see themselves. Kids love looking at themselves anyway, but especially when brushing teeth.
- Add it in to their daily routine chart and give them a sticker each day they brush well.
- Talk positively about teeth hygiene, regular check ups and the dentist.
- Encourage only water and milk as a majority of their drinks but only allow water in the couple of hours before bed.
- Talk positively about their teeth and their smile. “What a friendly smile you have, those clean healthy teeth are well looked after. You really care about them” – “A happy face needs a happy smile”
- Give them the control. Children often engage in power struggles, they like to be in control, which means often if you try to force them to do something they will push back and refuse even more so (eg: they don’t brush properly so you try to do it for them, or you try and make them do it). Let them do it, encourage them to do it. if you have to, tell them you need to check up the back and give them an extra brush over.
- If power struggles occur, give them an option. Eg: Do you want to use your blue brush or your green brush. Do you want to brush your teeth before we read a book or after. You can brush your teeth in front of the bathroom mirror or in the kitchens mirror.
- Make it a game. Time them with a stop watch & tell them to start slow and then race as the two minute mark is approaching. Or make them only brush in zigzags, and then only brush in tiny circles and then try only on their tongue. Tell them so switch hands and see how fast they can go and so on. If it is fun, they wont see it as an unnecessary chore and it will become part of every day life before you know it.
Thanks for reading my teeth brushing activities and tips
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I would love to hear from you.
Do you have any teeth brushing tips that you can share with other readers? if so, leave a comment for others to read 🙂
Simone Emery says
This is such a great activity. Definitely something that I could recommend to parents. 🙂