Monday, February 5, 2024

NATIONAL DENTAL HEALTH MONTH

February is National Children's Dental Health month. There’s a great website with lots of free activity sheets in English and Spanish to get you started. The daily calendar is my favorite.

https://www.ada.org/en/public-programs/national-childrens-dental-health-month


Here are some other websites with free lesson plans:

https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/patient-education/childrens-dental-health/lesson-plans



https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/patient-education/childrens-dental-health/lesson-plans


Vocabulary
What is a dentist? What is a hygienist? What is plaque? What is decay? What is a filling?

Brainstorm
Why do we need teeth? What do we use our mouths for?

Guest Speaker
Call your personal dentist and ask her if she’d like to visit your class to discuss good oral health. You might be surprised that she’d be thrilled to be invited and will bring each of your students a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Tooth Puppet
Let children make a “happy tooth puppet” and talk about nutritious foods. What foods cause decay?



T-Chart
Have children make a t-chart of foods that are good for teeth and foods that harm teeth.

Dental Health (Stephanie Velasquez)
Glue the cut out of a white tooth on a colored sheet of paper and place in a clear sheet protector. Let the children color the tooth with a dry erase marker to represent the “germs" on the tooth after they eat. Children use a toothbrush to erase the germs.




This Is the Way We Brush Our Teeth
(Tune: “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Every morning and evening.

First the fronts and then the sides.
Don’t forget the tops and inside.
First the fronts and then the sides.
Don’t forget the tops and inside.

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Two minutes twice a day.

Now we have happy teeth,

Happy teeth, happy teeth.
Now we have happy teeth
Give a great big smile!