Brush Those Teeth!
Teaching your children how to brush their teeth -- and care about brushing -- is an endless battle. And it’s easy to give in and give up. But you’ll hate yourself when your child is sitting in the dentist’s chair getting a cavity filled!
Finding ways to make brushing fun is the key to making it part of their everyday schedule, and if you care they will to. They want to make you happy! I recently revitalized our brushing routine and have been pleasantly surprised by the excitement my kids have for brushing now - they even remind me. Haha
STOCK UP ON SUPPLIES
In our house, we tend to brush our teeth downstairs before we leave for school, and at night we brush upstairs. So we need enough toothbrushes and toothpaste in both areas so we aren’t carrying them (and losing them) all over the house.
You can find these supplies at any local store, but if you’re busy like me Amazon can save the day quickly!
- Soft Toothbrushes (softer and smaller for kids)
- Training Toothpaste (if your child is too young to spit)
- Toothpaste for Kids (we love mixing Crayola color toothpaste)
- Step Stools (one for each so no drama!)
- Toothbrush Holder with cups (the kids love the brushing station) or Toothbrush Holder for Wall (simple and keeps the toothbrushes covered from dust)
SETUP YOUR STATION
Put the toothbrush holders on the wall at a height that your children can reach their own toothbrushes. Make it special and more personal by letting your children pick their own colors and put their names on the cups or above the wall.
Create or buy a star chart and place above the toothbrush holder in all brushing areas of the house. Fill the weekly chart for mornings and nights to win a prize. There’s just something about those gold stars that is so motivating for kids!
MAKE IT FUN WITH ELMO
We put on Elmo’s “Brushy Brush” Song on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wxMrtK-kYnE. It’s a really fun song and it’s filled with celebrities like Bruno Mars and Nicole Kidman.
We play the song 2-3 times to make sure that they’re brushing long enough (about 2 minutes for little kids), and they seriously love listening to it and want to follow along.
There is another song by Super Simple Songs that is pretty great too: https://youtu.be/wCio_xVlgQ0
