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Dental Health Theme for Preschool
This Dental Health Preschool Theme page is filled with preschool activities and ideas for all areas of your classroom.
Dental Care is but one of the personal and social development learning areas for preschoolers.
You'll find more themes to help you with your planning on my preschool themes page.
Preschoolers are learning about themselves as individuals, as family members and as part of their classroom group.
This theme helps them to develop positive habits and skills that will last a lifetime
Let the Dental Health Theme Planning Begin!You can either scroll down through this page to see all of the preschool lesson plans for this theme.
Or click the picture links below to go to specific preschool activity types you are looking for.
Dental Health Theme Art
Tooth Brushes
Materials Needed: pre-cut toothbrush handles on white construction paper; pieces of yarn; crayons; glue
Children decorate the handle. They then glue the yarn on as bristles.
Tooth Printing
Materials Needed: Tooth shaped stamps*, white paint; various colors of construction paper
*If you don't have tooth shaped stamps, make them by cutting out tooth shapes from foam. Glue that to a wooden block!
Children dip stamps into paint and make a dental health picture.
VARIATION: Also make stamps for toothpaste tubes, tooth brushes, floss, etc.
Dental Health Theme Block Center Ideas
Going To the Dentist
Provide cars, a car/ road mat or carpet and little people for the children to act out driving to the dentist office, building a dentist office,etc.
Dental Health Theme Circle Time Ideas
Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your Dental Health Theme!
Dentist Visit:
Invite a Dentist or Dental Hygienist to visit the classroom and discuss Dental Health. Have questions prepared in advance from the children including all the questions they have about teeth!
Healthy or Not Healthy for Teeth?
Turn 2 small boxes into faces (tape on a drawn face). Cut out the mouths of each. Make one smiling and one sad. The children place the foods into the happy face if the food is good for you and the frowning face if it is not.
How I Brush My Teeth Fingerplay
Make up your own hand motions to go with the lines!
Up and down and all around.
That's the way I brush my teeth.
I brush my gums and shining fronts
Then I reach up underneath
I rinse my brush and place it
In my space to dry
And put the cap on the toothpaste tube
At least I try!
Then I look into the mirror and I grin
To show myself how good a brusher I've been.
Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your Dental Health Theme!
Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation! Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific theme questions while making these fun snacks!
Grape Yogurt Snack
Ingredients and Items Needed: fruit flavored yogurt (2 or 3 different flavors); seedless grapes; small paper cups; tablespoons; plastic knives.
Discuss with children that milk products are good for our teeth because it has something called calcium in it and that gives us strong teeth and strong bones!
The children cut up 4 grapes.
They scoop a tablespoon or 2 of each type of yogurt into their cup.
They put the grapes on top!
YUM!
Dental Health Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area
Dental Health Office
DENTAL RECEPTION OFFICE
Table, play telephone, clipboard, pens, pencils, dolls, stuffed animals, dental books
Like this theme so far?
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It's Free to Join!Themed Ideas for your Easel--More Than Just Painting
(Although that is always THE favorite in our classroom!)Tooth Themed Painting
Encourage the children to paint pictures of teeth, going to the dentist, their family smiling, etc.
Dental Health Theme Large Group Games to Help Your Preschoolers Build Their Muscles While They Have Fun Together!
Drop the Brush Into the "Mouth"
One teacher had large mouth plastic containers (like juice containers) and had the children try to drop the toothbrushes into the container by holding the toothbrush about an inch or so over the opening!
Dental Health Theme Ideas for Your Library and Literacy Activities for your Preschool Classroom
Book Suggestions for the Library
Arthur's Loose Tooth (I Can Read Book 2) by Lillian Hoban
The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Crocodile & the Dentist by Taro Gomi
Going to the Dentist (Usborne First Experiences) by Anne Cirvardi
I Lost My Tooth! (Hello Reader!, Level 1) by Hans Wilhelm
Just Going to the Dentist (Little Critter) (Golden Look-Look Books) by Mercer Meyer
Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth by Lucy Bate
My Dentist by Harlow Rockwell
My Tooth Is About to Fall Out (Scholastic Reader Level 1) by Grace Maccarone and Betsy Lewin
The Prince's Tooth is Loose! (I'm Going to Read Series, Level 1) by Harriet Ziefert
Timothy tiger's terrible toothache (A Little Golden book) by Jan WahlFlannel Pieces
In the library, provide a flannel board. Have dental health flannel pieces available for them to use while reading books, singing songs you have taught them during this theme or just to use while talking about their own experiences! Have flannel pieces such as toothbrushes, teeth, toothpaste, toothpaste cap, floss, healthy foods, dentist, dentist chair, etc.
Dental Health Theme Math Activities to Help Your Preschoolers Develop Their Math Skills and the Small Muscles in Their Hands!
Lace A Tooth
Materials Needed: Tooth shapes cut out of colored poster board; colored laces, hole punch
If you don't have tooth shape lacing cards, make them! Cut out a tooth shape from colored poster board. Hole punch around the edges. Provide laces with a knot in one end.
Provide other dental health items as lacing cards such as floss shapes, toothpaste, etc.
How Many Teeth?
Materials Needed: Hand mirrors, paper, crayon or marker. Let them try and count how many teeth they have!
EXTENSION: Have a paper with each child's name on it (or, encourage them to write their own names). Have number cards. Encourage them to write the number of teeth they have on top on their paper. Post on a chart of How Many Teeth in your classroom.
Count the Teeth
Materials Needed: pink playdough and small craft sticks
Have children manipulate playdough into an oval shape. Give them each 20 small craft sticks. Tell them that children have 20 teeth, called baby (or deciduous) teeth. They then count out and place 20 sticks into their playdough gums!
Adults have 32 adult teeth, including wisdom teeth! Perhaps they would like to count to 32!
Dental Health Theme Music and Movement Activities and Ideas to Get Your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!
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Just tell me where to send your goodies below!Brush Your Teeth Song sung to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Brush, brush, brush your teeth,
Brush the germs away!
Happy, healthy teeth you'll have,
By brushing everyday!
Floss, floss, floss your teeth,
Floss the germs away.
Happy, healthy gums you'll have,
By flossing every day!
Healthy Teeth Song sung to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Eat, Eat healthy foods
Eat some every day
If you do, "I Love You"
is what your teeth would say!
Brush, brush, brush your teeth.
Brush them every day!
Brush the fronts and brush the backs
And clean your teeth will stay!
Visit, Visit, Visit the dentist,
two times every year!
The dentist helps your teeth stay healthy
So you can smile from ear to ear!
Dental Health Activities for the Sand and Water Table!
Brushing Teeth
Add toothbrushes to your water table. Add small baby dolls that are smiling to brush teeth! Or, add the foam egg cartons and pretend they are alligator teeth for them to brush (and scoop water with!).
Dental Health Theme Science Activities--for Your Preschool Scientists in Training!
Dental Health Tooth Experiment Thanks, Pam, for this suggestion!
Use 2 clear cups, 2 eggs, vinegar, cola, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a magnifying glass.
- Soak an egg in a cup of cola and a second one in vinegar.
- Overnight the eggs will turn brown and the other one will lose it's shell.
- The cola one can show what happens if you don't brush (It will come off with a toothbrush and toothpaste).
- The second one shows that if the acid continually builds up in your mouth, it will decalcify, just like the egg.
Tooth Brushing Thank you, Pam, for this idea!
Use the bottom of liter soft drink bottle cut off and painted white. Provide old toothbrushes to practice brushing!
Acidic Teeth
Materials Needed: 1 hard boiled egg; glass jar; white vinegar
Tell the children that some foods are what we call "acidic" and can hurt the enamel of our teeth.
- Place the egg in a jar and pour in enough vinegar to cover the egg.
- Let sit for 24 hours. Children should observe it throughout the day. They will see small bubbles forming on the eggshell.
- The next day, take out the egg and rinse it.
All of the eggshell will be gone. The vinegar is an acid that decalcifies the egg shell much like acids in food do on our teeth.
Here's my video demonstration:
Writing Activity Ideas for Your Preschool Classroom's Dental Health Theme!
Tooth tracing and Dental Health Words
Materials needed: Provide tooth shapes (made on cardboard or manila folders for durability); markers or colored pencils; scissors; dental health word cards (such as index cards with the words and pictures on them of: TOOTH, DENTIST, CAVITY, BRUSH, etc.).
The children trace and cut out their teeth. They can decorate with markers or colored pencils and write words on it as well!
Magic TeethMaterials Needed: Tooth shapes you have cut out and laminated; low-odor dry erase markers
Provide these materials at your writing table. Encourage the children to write their names, draw, etc. They can erase their writing with a facial tissue and use over and over again!
Dental Health Miscellaneous Activities
Dental Office Field Trip
Yup, you knew it was coming! Visit the dental office! If you can not arrange this with your group, invite a periodontics dentist or hygienist to visit your center. Offer for them to give you brochures about their office so that you can sent them home with the children (free advertising for them!).
Brushing Chart
Encourage children to brush their teeth by printing and sending home a chart.
Colgate has a cute, free chart you can print out! CLICK HERE to check it out!
EXTENSION: Send the chart home and ask that they bring it back completed in a week!
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Hey there! Welcome to Preschool Plan It! I’m Cheryl, a preschool teacher of over 20 years.
I KNOW, I know, you spend hours of time developing your preschool themes, activities and preschool lesson plans each week. You are commited to planning preschool themes and activities that are engaging hands-on, interactive, fun AND meet the goal of supporting each child’s level of growth and development.
I am commited to providing you, the preschool teacher, with everything you need to develop preschool lesson plans and preschool activities for your classroom all in one place!
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