Teaching the importance of dental hygiene to your toddler can be one of the hardest lessons you ever have to teach. Not only is this one task that you have to stay on top of, it is hard for a child to see the rewards and benefits of dental hygiene because the harsh effects of not brushing and flossing are gradual. Luckily for you, children learn much better when the lessons are fun and interesting. Below are two of the best ways to make learning about the benefits of good dental hygiene fun and exciting for your small one.
Coloring
Engaging your child in coloring time is one of the best and most effective ways to teach them about dental hygiene. Coloring is a fun activity for your child because they won't even know that they are learning anything.
Cut out two teeth from a piece of white construction paper and draw a smile on one and a frown on the other. Hand your child a white crayon and a yellow crayon. While sitting at the kitchen table, name different foods that your child comes in contact with every day. Instruct your child to color the frowning tooth with yellow for every harmful food they hear and color on the white tooth with the white crayon for every good food that they hear.
After the game is over, point out that the tooth with the good food is still white and happy while to tooth with the bad food is yellow and gross.
Picture Perfect
Picture perfect is an excellent game to play in order to teach your child about eating healthy foods to keep their teeth protected from harmful cavity-causing bacterias. It is best to play this game during snack time because it involves fruit or vegetable slices.
Look through your refrigerator and pick a fruit or vegetable that your child can eat while playing the game. Allow your child to watch you cut the chosen food into slices. Take this time to properly instruct your child on which foods are appropriate for teeth and which aren't.
Next you will want to find a magazine and begin cutting out various pictures of different fruit. Choose foods that are both good and bad for your teeth. Hold up one clipping at a time and have your child tell you whether the food will help your teeth or damage your teeth. With each picture they get right, reward them with a fruit or vegetable slice.
Teaching excellent dental hygiene habits can be exhausting. Your child might not understand the immediate importance of brushing and flossing regularly. By implementing games while teaching your child about proper dental hygiene, you will be able to get your small one more excited about taking care of their teeth.
Share15 December 2015
When the bottled water craze began, I jumped on the bandwagon with everyone else who was drinking water from bottles instead of from the tap. I wasn't sure why bottled water was healthier, but I liked the taste. When I went for my next dental check-up, I had my first cavity in a while, so I had it filled and didn't think much of it. Well, I had two more during my next check-up after that, and I began trying to think of why my teeth were suddenly going bad. The only change in my habits was the switch to bottled water, so I made the switch back to tap water and my teeth began to improve. I created this blog to encourage others who have begun getting cavities suddenly to look into their changes in habits. They may find they made a change similar to mine.