Dental Health Fun!!

We had such fun this week doing a Dental Health theme for storytime. We had this great book and as we read the book we would add the felt piece that corresponded to the silly stuff she found in her teeth.  I had all of the pieces except the mouth already in my many felt sets.  The mouth was an easy make with some different patterns on the WEBS. lol. This was an effective and fun way to use pieces that I haven't used in years and keep the kiddos very engaged!  I also have a few other teeth related items that we did HERE and HERE.  We had a easy craft and table activity also! It was a BIG hit this week with our young patrons.  Dental Health is important and Fun with Friends at Storytime.

Tooth Fairy game

February is National Children's Dental Health Month so I thought this felt set would be a great addition to my previous 'teeth' theme posted here.  I found some resources at the American Dental Association's website.  I found an old set already made in the files at my library and couldn't wait to make my own set. Here's the game and printable patterns at Making Learning Fun.  I enlarged and tweaked the pattern a little and added glitter and gems and ribbon and some slick fabric paint to make my set.  I plan on using this like the Little Mouse hiding in the color House game.  We'll identify the colors of the pillows and then help the Tooth Fairy look for the teeth. There was a cute rhyme in the library's set that someone must have added; "Children, children look and see. Can you find the tooth for me?"  I know this is going to be a LOT of Fun with Friends at Storytime!

I found this Tooth Fairy Flannel Friday post at Storytimes with Moxie. Here's another cute post with a tooth fairy too. The Flannel Friday Roundup is hosted by Lisa at Thrive after Three!  Have questions about Flannel Friday? Check out the Flannel Friday official blog.  Be sure to  join us on the Flannel Friday Facebook page and enjoy the great Flannel Friday Pinterest boards too!

Growing a Smile - Teeth!

I'm typing this post after doing several Halloween themes and maybe the thought of all that Halloween candy is what reminds me of Teeth!  I know that's pretty random, but they do somehow go together in my mind, LOL! I found cute flannel rhymes to use with a Dental Health theme at this post and this post at What Happens In Storytime.  I was inspired to make a couple of my own too. I used pictures of my grandsons, who LOVE to brush their teeth, to illustrate my rhyme. 

J. is such a happy boy!

Growing a Smile!

by Kathryn Roach

When I was a baby, I had a toothless grin.

I began to grow and soon, my first 2 teeth came in!

2 on top and 2 below, my poor gums were so sore.

Then as I grew, tooth by tooth, my mouth held many more!

Without my teeth I couldn’t chew; my bottle was my treat.

C. is a fun loving little guy!

But now with lots of teeth there are so many things to eat!

Yes, getting all my shiny teeth took a little while.

But now I’m glad to show them off with a happy smile!

I actually had 4 pics of the boys from a toothless baby to these last happy smiling pictures.  You could use your own or some Google clipart. I mounted each pic on colorful paper and laminated them.
I also made up a color toothbrush rhyme that I made 2 different ways. I made a felt set of color toothbrushes and I made a cute filefolder version. 

My Colorful Toothbrushes

by Kathryn Roach

I went to the store to buy a toothbrush

I looked at each one, I didn’t want to rush.

I know that brushing my teeth every day,

Is an important way to stop tooth decay!

So…..     

(sing the following rhyme to tune of 'Mary Wore Her Red Dress')

*I could use a blue one, blue one, blue one,   

A new blue toothbrush is such fun!

*repeat with each color...

(speak this last bit)

I liked all the colors so I bought every one.

Having clean, healthy teeth is colorful fun!

Here's a fun youtube clip of Raffi singing 'Brush Your Teeth'. It is on his CD, 'Singable Songs for the Very Young'  I just sing/chant this without the CD. I also found that Jim Gill sings, 'Hands Are For Clapping' on his CD, "Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes" that has a whole verse about teeth and toothbrushing!

I used a Google clipart image for the felt and  file folder. I cut out the handle part of the toothbrush and glued on the white bristles and toothpaste and tube of toothpaste and then laminated the folder. I stacked the colors in the folder and taped a copy of the rhyme on the back. For the felt toothbrushes I did use some slick white fabric paint on the bristle part to give it a little more dimension.

Good dental hygiene is so much Fun with Friends at Storytime!