Dental Health for Preschoolers Part 2

As we concluded our dental health unit, I felt quite happy with what we covered. This was a mere introduction for Adrian who is still, after all, only 4, so we didn't go through the parts of a tooth and things like that but I wanted to make the unit fun so he'd understand why we have teeth, why we need to take care of them and most of all...why dentists are around. After all, this dental health unit was part of our community worker/helper section. More helpers/workers will be covered of course but that may have to be in a different month... :)

Toothpaste Flavor Factory - Color Mixing

After seing this on The Nature of Grace, I was sold. I had to "make my own"...even though Adrian is pretty good at color mixing and knowing what will make what. I considered it a "revision" lesson! :) Using some shaving cream and washable water-based paint, Adrian mixed colors to create "toothpaste flavors" in the "toothpaste factory". It was really fun. Adrian could have gone all day. Naming the flavors was fun too. Adrian's favorite to make was "chocolate" he said because it used lots of colors and because he loves chocolate! :)

Pratical Life / Fine Motor - Brushing Off Plaque

This was actually a lot harder than it looks. I printed some teeth templates, laminated them, cut them up and drew some "plaque" in red with a dry erase marker. Adrian had to remove the plaque with an old toothbrush he had. Applying the right pressure and making sure the plaque was all gone was quite strenuous.

Adrian in Action

Language - Sorting Teeth by Word Family

3Dinosaurs recently came up with a free package (yes, yet another!) about the Tooth Fairy. Now the tooth fairy thing has never been explained to Adrian and hopefully won't have to for a while (if ever...still debating) so I didn't bother getting into the details here. I really only wanted to use this one page from their package where Adrian would have to sort the teeth. We've been working hard at beginning sounds so providing all the letters and then choosing the word family was a huge surprise to him. Usually, he only looked at word families to get to know them so today he proceeded carefully in the matching and and did very well.

Happy Tooth versus Sad Tooth

I saw this activity on so many blogs and websites. I actually got the teeth from Pre-K Fun but decided to use real foods instead of the cut out foods provided with the teeth. I like using manipulatives and well, I thought it'd be nice for Adrian to sort with the foods he actually likes eating. Prior to sorting the foods, we discussed what makes teeth strong and healthy and how some foods stick to the teeth and how food in general can cause cavities, how to prevent them and how moderation is key when it comes to certain foods. Then, off he was sorting lollipops, chocolate, crackers, banana, tomato and yogurt.  He did well but was really hoping crackers would be on the "good side".  Can hardly blame him! :)

Spray painting with a toothbrush

I remember this technique being all the rage when I was in high school. We'd decorate anything from birdhouses to shelves using paint and toothbrushes. I thought I'd introduce Adrian to the technique since we so happened to have his old toothbrush on hand. :) He quickly understood he had to dip in the slightly thinned water-based paint and use his thumb to make a spraying motion towards the paper. Thankfully, it was a nice day out because paint still flies in unwanted areas during the learning process. If you do try this, I highly recommend being outside and wearing old clothes...and using washable paint! :) One last tip, putting less paint on the brush means less splatter on the paper and as such less undesired run offs.  

Final result of the toothbrush Art!

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Today, I'm happily linking up to

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If you would like me to link up with you, please don't hesitate to ask, it might take me a week or two, but I generally do!

Dental Health for Preschoolers Part 1

Dental Health Week in May? "Wasn't National Children's Dental Health Month back in February? At least in the the United States?" you may ask. Well, it was but somehow, when I planned this school year, I planned this week to be all about community helpers/workers and somehow, I hadn't thought about how many possibilities there would be for just, say...the dentist. When I sat down to plan the unit a few weeks ago, I realized that one week to talk about ALL community helpers would be impossible. I then decided to pick one and spend a week on that one. The other helpers would have to...sadly wait for another week to come by. Why was the dentist picked first? I don't know. I think it's because when I started planning the unit, I started jotting down ideas for that helper first and that's why I realized I wouldn't be able to cover anyone else. On another note...it might also be because at some point I did think about working in dentistry. :)

Fine Motor: Extracting rotten teeth from Theraputty

Rotten smile anyone? Could barely help it. The idea here was to include Theraputty this week again (a great hand and finger strengthener and always a favorite of Adrian's). I put the two gums together only for the picture. (Theraputty sticks together quickly so for Adrian's sake, the gums were placed separately on the tray.) Adrian was provided with a bowl and a lid for  this task. After the rotten teeth (black beans) were extacted using his fingers, they were to be put in the bowl. Once this first step was completed for both gums, the rotten teeth were replaced by beautiful pearly whites to be found on the lid (Cannellini beans)! 

Adrian extracting teeth carefully

Toothbrushing Cards Sequence

Sequencing is something that's always given Adrian a bit of trouble, even when only 4 pictures were presented. I thought we'd try to sequence something he knows well: toothbrushing. This sequence had many more cards but these were all steps he knew well. He simply had to think it through and carefully. It worked well and he felt quite accomplished this time. These cards were found at Williams Syndrome Family of Hope. They have other sequence cards for routines you may like as well such as hand washing, shoe tying, etc.

Overview of the Toothbrushing Sequence Cards

Practical Life: Brushing Teeth

What's better than putting the toothbrushing sequence in practice? And to my surprise, I did not even get a "But mama, I already brushed my teeth this morning!" Instead, Adrian was actually excited to brush his teeth (not that he ever complains about it honestly). I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he brushed them in the powder room instead of the upstairs bathroom?

Practical Life: Flossing practice

After seeing this great floss practice on the Preschool Experiment, I knew I'd want Adrian to try it too. So we did. I just wish we had a red/pink MegaBlok to represent the gums better. :) Well, whatever the color though, the practice was great. The concept still stood and fine motor-wise, it was a nice exercise. Adrian (and the entire family actually) is quite fond of "Plackers" instead of the regular floss string so I had to show Adrian how to twist the floss (wool string) around his fingers to get the food (play dough) out from in between the teeth (Mega blok).

Adrian removing "food debris" with the "floss"

Counting Cavities with a Magnifying Glass

It has been a while since we last used our magnifying glass and I remember how Adrian loved using it so I thought it'd be nice to include it this week seeing how dentists use tools to look for cavities. I drew mine with a marker on cards I already had so they were quite obvious unfortunately but Adrian still liked using the magnifying glass. To add to the challenge, I suggested Adrian write the number of cavities on the tooth once he figured out how many there was. He was quite happy about that part even though he was a bit careless in the writing process.

 

"Hmm. This person did not brush enough", Adrian said.

Writing the number of cavities found on the front of the card;
small control of error number found on the back of the cards

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Today, I'm happily linking up to

Montessori Monday, The Kids Co-Op, Show-and-Share Saturday, Link & Learn, TGIF, Share it Saturday, Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, Sun Scholars's For the Kids Friday, Stress-Free Sunday, Thursday Toddler & Preschool, Tuesday Tots, Preschool Corner &5K, Hammock Tracks' Look What We Did, Life's Little Adventures, Serenity Saturday, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, and We Made That.

If you would like me to link up with you, please don't hesitate to ask, it might take me a week or two, but I generally do!