Fun Ways To Teach Kids Good Oral Hygiene Habits

This post and party were sponsored by ACT Kids Toothpaste but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

As parents, there are a lot of life skills that we have to teach our children- from helping them learn to feed and dress themselves to organizational skills that help them succeed in school. My past eight and a half years of parenting have been spent teaching (and re-teaching) my children these various skills. Some skills have taken my boys just days to learn and others have taken years for them to master.

One skill that is very important for kids to learn is good oral hygiene habits, from proper brushing to flossing to rinsing. There are also other things they need to learn when it comes to oral hygiene, like what foods they should avoid and the importance of visiting the dentist. The best way to teach children all of these skills is to make learning them fun and what better way to do that then to have a little party with friends?

Here are some fun, easy ways to teach kids good oral hygiene habits at a TOOTHtastic party.

Help children develop an oral hygiene routine.

Getting Lucas to brush his teeth is a daily struggle and I know I’m not alone in this. According to a recent survey, nearly 4 in 10 moms say getting their kids to brush their teeth is one of their most frustrating daily battles.* I have discovered that my boys are more likely to follow an oral hygiene routine if it’s enjoyable so we’ve tried many things to make brushing a more fun experience, from picking out a cool toothbrush to choosing pleasant tasting toothpaste. Other things you can do are to use a timer for kids to make sure they are brushing long enough and a tooth brushing chart to let them track their progress and make sure they brush at least twice a day.

Help your children learn about foods that are good for their teeth and foods that are bad for their teeth.

For younger children you can do a “happy tooth, sad tooth” activity. Draw and cut out two large teeth on paper and then draw a smile on one and a sad face on the other. Use clipart from the computer or cut out foods from grocery ads and then let your child sort the different foods and decide which ones make teeth “happy” and which ones make teeth “sad”. When they are done with the sorting activity they can color the teeth “happy” and “sad” colors as well.

Teach children how to care for their teeth.

• Brush twice a day for two minutes each time

• Add rinse (when they turn 6)

• Floss daily (as soon as they have two teeth that touch)

ACT has a number of oral care products that are perfect for children. ACT Kids Toothpaste, available for kids ages 2 years and older in bubble gum and fruit punch flavors, strengthens and protects developing teeth and helps prevent cavities. The new ACT Kids Toothpaste is available at a variety of retail locations, including select Walmart, Walgreens, and Target locations. ACT Kids Anticavity Fluoride Rinse is also a good option for kids 6 and older because swishing with it for just 60 seconds a day reduces children’s cavities by up to 40% versus brushing alone. Get a coupon for ACT products here.

How do you help your children learn good oral hygiene habits?

* This survey was sponsored by Sanofi Consumer Healthcare and conducted online using Toluna’s QuickSurveys methodology between February 13, 2017 and February 14, 2017 among 1,150 moms with children between the ages of two and 12 in the USA. Respondents for Toluna QuickSurveys are selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Toluna surveys.

Toluna’s SmartSelectTM methodology was used to promote sample representativeness. SmartSelect relies on statistical matching rather than probability sampling to select survey respondents, based on demographic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics that match those of the target population. Figures for age, gender, region, race/ethnicity, education and income are also weighted to bring them into line with their actual proportions within the population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in Toluna surveys, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.