1-2-3 Come Do Some Dental Hygiene Activities With Me

With so many things to celebrate in February, I save Dental Hygiene for the end of the month.  Today I'm featuring 3 of my students' favorite tooth-themed activities, plus our featured FREEBIE of course.    

First up is the cute, quick, easy & fun  "Snip & Flip" writing prompt craft.

Students think of 6 ways that they take care of their teeth and write one on each of the "bristles".

The top portion flips up to reveal their answers underneath.

I've also included a traceable, completed "bristle box" for PK kiddos to trim and glue to their toothbrushes.

Besides being an interesting way for students to review their dental hygiene knowledge, this craftivity provides great, fine motor-cutting skill practice too.

Simply run the toothbrush "handle" portion off on a variety of colors. Children choose one, then write their name in the blank, complete their "bristle box" prompt and glue it to the end.

Completed projects make a sweet February bulletin board.

Next up, is a "Timothy Tooth" emergent reader and math center game, perfect for February's Dental Hygiene Month.

Students read, trace and write the numbers and number words, and then draw that many teeth inside Timothy's mouth.

There's a full page, as well as a smaller, two-on-a-page option for the booklets.

I've also included a math center activity where students practice addition and subtraction.

Younger kiddos can simply fill the mouth with "tooth tiles". There's a large and small version for these patterns as well. 

The featured FREEBIE today also has to do with teeth.

It's a set of Dental Hygiene Alphabet Cards, and includes a 3-page tip list of things you can do with them, including the "Kaboom!" game.

Well that's it for today.  I'm running out of days in February to get everything in that I want to! 

However, the sun is shining, the snow has melted and it's time for a walk. Wishing you a stress-free afternoon.

"Life is short, so smile while you still have teeth!" -Unknown

 1-2-3 Come Do Some Tooth Activities With Me!

I never know when to start posting dental hygiene activities.  I always did our tooth unit the last week of February, simply because there was so much else to cover at the beginning of the month: Groundhog Day, 100 Day, Valentine's Day, (We also visited a post office), as well as  President's Day.  Anyone else's brain out there spinning?

"Everybody in this place, please put a smile on your face!"  is a just-for-fun poster that I designed.  I share it with my kiddos when I launch our dental hygiene activities.  Click on the link to grab the Smile Awhile FREEBIE.

My Y5's enjoyed our "Terrific Teeth" unit; I was always amazed that there was at least one child every year that had never visited a dentist!  Today's blog will feature some of my most popular dental hygiene activities.  Most of them are "print & go" to make it easy for you to toss a few tooth-themed activities into your busy day. 

For those of you who like to start your themed-units with a KWL, click on the link for a dental hygiene one you can do as a whole group, as well as a template your students can do in their writing journals.  Dental Hygiene KWL

Another great way to learn where your students stand on dental hygiene is to do some graphing activities. 

Have they lost a tooth?  Do they have a cavity?  Have they ever been to the dentist?  Would they like to be a dentist? What color is their  toothbrush and how many times do they brush a day? 

These are some of the eight tooth-related graphing questions you can ask your kiddos.   Click on the link to view/download the 8 Dental Hygiene Graphs.

Sending a brushing chart home with your students, is also a fun way for them to let you know that they are practicing good dental hygiene.  I've designed 4 toothbrushing charts that children can choose from. 

They can X off the chart, cover with stickers or color the various icons as they brush.  Click on the link to view/download the 4 Brushing Charts.

Studying dental hygiene provides a wonderful way to build vocabulary.  To help you, I made an alphabetical list of 101 words that are associated with dental hygiene. 

To reinforce these new words, I've included several word searches plus a dental hygiene word journal, where students can record vocabulary as well as definitions.

Click on the link to view/download the Dental Hygiene Word packet, which is great for your Daily 5 word work activities too.

After you've watched some dental hygiene videos and perhaps had a dentist visit your classroom, choose several of these graphic organizers to help reinforce the information that your students learned and practice their writing skills in a visual way.  Click on the link to view/download the dental hygiene graphic organizer packet. 

Another way for students to gain more dental hygiene knowledge, is by doing a Flip For Facts File Folder activity. 

Take your students to the computer lab, so they can look for information on teeth and how to take care of them. 

Students jot down their favorite dental hygiene facts and then write them on the template.  I've included tips and links of how to make citations for information found Online. 

This activity is a great precursor for writing a report, which even a kindergartener can do.  Click on the link to view/download the Dental Hygiene Flip For Facts File Folder packet. 

To incorporate some math skills with your dental hygiene activities, I also designed a Timothy Tooth Counting booklet with a matching center activity. 

Students trace and write the numbers and number words, and then draw the appropriate number of teeth in Timothy's mouth.  Click on the link to view/download Timothy Tooth's Counting Booklet.

The center activity has large tooth posters.  Using dry erase markers, children trace and write the numbers and number words and place that many tooth tiles inside the mouth. 

There's also templates for doing some subtraction activities as well.   Click on the link to view/download the Counting Teeth Center Packet.

Finally, the Dental Hygiene Number Puzzles are another way to integrate math, and help practice counting to ten, counting backwards, and skip counting by 10s to 100. Click on the link to grab these FREEBIES.

Thanks for visiting.  If you're still looking for more tooth-themed FREEBIES to round out your week, click on the link to check out my dental hygiene Pinterest board.

Since it's a wind-chill snow day, I have lots of time to play with my "to do" pile.  Hopefully besides sorting through my desk, I'll get to actually design a few things.  Wishing you an energy-filled day. 

 "I want to get close to you, like shoes with laces, teeth with braces, and words in sentences without spaces." -Unknown

7 pages.

Using dry erase markers, students trace and write the color words in matching colors.  When they are done, they cover the white toothbrush handle with the colored one that matches the color word. 

3 pages.

This craftivity provides great fine motor-cutting skill practice.  The packet includes a traceable template with answers, as well as a "bristle box" where students write their own thoughts of how they take care of their teeth. 

23 pages.

Use these dental hygiene alphabet cards for borders, centers, games, flashcards etc.  Includes covers to make itty bitty booklets + several pages of tips and ideas of what to do with the cards, including Kaboom game cards to make things even more fun.

3 pages.

Start your dental hygiene unit off with a KWL to help see what your students know about their teeth.

10 pages.

Here are some graphic organizers that you'll find helpful for your dental hygiene unit.  I've included blank templates, as well as filled-in ones that you can use as anchor charts.

5 pages.

Children choose from 4 different toothbrushing charts.  This is a fun way for your students to remember to brush twice a day, as well as let you know how they are doing with their dental hygiene.

6 pages.

Students read, trace and write the numbers and number words, and then draw that many teeth inside Timothy's mouth. 

10 pages.

Incorporate math skills with your dental hygiene unit.  Print the large tooth posters on white construction paper and then laminate.  Using a dry erase marker students trace and write the numbers and number words and then place that many tooth tiles inside the mouth.