"Toothy" Crafts for Children's Dental Health Month
February is children's dental health month and there's still a few days to get some awesome "toothy" crafts in before the month comes to a close. Here are a few of our favorites!
Painting with Toothpaste
Your students are sure to love experimenting with this unique art medium! For a complete toothpaste painting experience, here are a few considerations:
- Provide several flavors {and therefore scents!}
- Make sure there are multiple colors
- Aim to provide several textures (i.e. gel as well as paste)
In honor of dental health month, invite your students to paint a tooth cutout or freehand a set of "pearly whites".
Painting with Toothbrushes
Have your students experiment using toothbrushes as painting tools. Provide several different types of brushes (i.e. different bristles) - soft, firm, cross sectioned, uneven, flat, etc. - inviting your students to explore how the prints differ. For some extra messy fun, have your students use the brushes to splatter paint, running their finger over the bristles to create fun colorful patterns.
Pretend Play Dentist Reflector
Cut sheets of white construction paper lengthwise, creating several 2" strips. Provide each student with two strips, inviting them to glue the two end to end creating one long strip, then set aside to dry. From 3" cardboard circle templates, have your students trace and cut two circles - one from poster board and the other from aluminum foil. Invite them to mount the foil circle on top of the poster board circle. This will add some strength to the foil reflector. Returning to the glued strips, have your students attach the foil reflector to the middle of the band, add some medical symbols (like a red cross, etc.), them come to the front to get "fitted" for their dentist reflector. Measure the band to their head, marking where the two ends should be glued together. After the glue has dried and the excess has been trimmed away, your students will have a fun pretend play prop perfect for acting out proper dental health habits!
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