These hands-on dental activities are awesome for teaching kids about dental care, nutrition and how to have healthy teeth. They are great for kids in preschool up to second grade.
Dental Craft Activities
The following crafts help kids develop their fine motor skills while also learning about how to have healthy teeth.
Kids can create a cute tooth fairy or a fun teeth model. They can also brush a set of teeth sparkly white. If you’re a glitter loving teacher like me, you can get the kids to sprinkle some glitter on the teeth to make them look sparkly clean!
I love the brushing teeth activity because it’s a great way to integrate a pronoun lesson. Kids can write my, his or her to complete the sentence. These crafts are easy to prep and all of the templates are included.
Hands-on Dental Activities
The following photos show some examples of sorting activities. These help kids learn about nutrition for teeth and that some foods are good for our teeth and other harm our teeth.
I’ve included orange juice in this activity because juice is an interesting health topic. I always explain that juice can be harmful for teeth because it contains high levels of sugar and acid – a lot like soda. Vitamin c is important for teeth health, but eating a real orange is a healthier option. I encourage children to eat a real orange instead because it contains fibre and less sugar. Drinking a glass of juice is like eating 3 to 4 oranges.
There’s also some sorting activities that help kids identify things that help our teeth. These activities help develop kids understanding of dental care products such as toothbrushes and floss too.
Dental Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
The following pictures show examples of some of the dental health worksheets I made. I try to keep things kids friendly and hands-on. Each activity helps kids learn about topics such as nutrition, dental care and teeth. There are more activities that cover things like how to brush your teeth too.
Dental Activities for First and Second Grade
I like to challenge kids who are a bit older by teaching them more of the science side of dental health. I have a degree in Health Science as well as Education, so it’s a favorite topic of mine!
The following activities help kids learn about the different types of teeth and parts of a tooth. They’re fun ways to teach kids how to label, sort and classify. There are also sequencing activities to remind children how to brush their teeth.
To check out the full range of dental activities click here or on the picture below.
Dental Surgery Dramatic Play Center
I absolutely love teaching kids through play! The following dental surgery is a fun center to set up during your dental health unit or dental health week.
I absolutely love teaching kids through play! The following dental surgery is a fun center to set u during your dental health unit or dental health week. It’s easy to prep and you can make some of the things pretty easily with everyday materials. For example, I made a dental pick and mirror with some aluminium cooking foil and popsicle sticks. The center includes everything you need such as signs, labels, a dental X-ray and more.
To grab this fun dramatic play center click here or on the picture below.
FREE Dental Clip Cards
These free dental activities help kids to identify foods that are good and bad for our teeth. Before playing I usually explain that many treat foods are bad for our teeth because they’re high in sugar. I call these sometimes foods because we need to eat them less often and in smaller amounts.
Preparation – Print and laminate the cards for added durability. Then grab a basket of pegs. I’ve grown very fond of mini pegs for clip cards – they’re often hidden in the craft aisles of most discount stores. But any pegs will do.
How to Play – First kids need to look at the food and say what it is. Then they need to think about whether it’s good for our teeth or bad for our teeth. Next they place a peg on their answer – the good tooth or bad tooth.
Tip – If you want the kids to self-correct their answers, place a sticker on the back of each card behind the answer.
Grab these free clip cards below.
