The ‘tooth’ is, teaching dental health is so important during the preschool years. In this post, you’ll find loads of ideas for a dental health preschool theme, including literacy and book ideas, arts and crafts, plus math and science learning. These free dental health preschool lesson plans are a great additional to your February lesson plans as you learn more about dental health month. You’ll find the whole bundle of FREE activities at the end of this post in a free download!
FREE DENTAL HEALTH ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS INCLUDING FREE PRESCHOOL LESSON PLANS
Dental health month may not sound all that interesting but it can be a really fun and exciting theme for preschoolers. Dental health month activities can include fun hands-on dramatic play as well as pretend brushing activities, dentist role play, and even science experiments!
Since February is National Children’s Dental Health month, many preschools opt to infuse a dental health theme into their lesson plans. We have created over 15 hands-on and developmentally appropriate activities centered around dental health in a preschool classroom. Plus, they are completely free!
So grab these preschool toothbrushing ideas and make planning your dental health theme a breeze!
FAQ About a Dental Health Preschool Theme
You may have a few questions about teaching this preschool theme! Check out these frequently asked questions for how to teach your preschoolers about dental health.
The best way to introduce dental health with young children is to discuss good oral health habits such as brushing, flossing, and making sure to keep a brushing routine in place. Preschoolers love to practice brushing with real toothbrushes and pretend play kits or using arts and crafts to make different models of the mouth.
It’s all in the planning! We have put together so many fun and hands on dental activities that include videos, books, songs, and even art with a toothbrush! Children learn that being responsible and clean helps keep their bodies strong and healthy.
This theme can be tied into food and nutrition and learning about healthy food choices. Additionally, learning about what a dentist does is a great way to tie into community helpers and occupations into your dental health theme.
Important Info about these Dental Health Lesson Plans
These lesson plans for preschoolers are just one theme in a set of over 40 that will become a part of my free Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans.
The Learn at Home Preschool Activity Plans are a set of free activity plans you can use to teach your preschooler at home.
Each set of lesson plans is centered around a weekly theme and includes a minimum of 16 activities that can be done throughout the week. They are designed to be done at home with parents, but many preschool teachers are using these lesson plans, too!
Just glance over the lessons each day, gather the very few materials needed, and you’re ready to go!
All the preschool learning activities are quick and easy to set up, requiring very little (if any at all) prep and only require the most basic of household materials. This makes them especially easy for parents to implement…and this makes preschool teachers happy, too!
These activities also work wonderfully in the classroom, and if you’re a preschool teacher who is remotely teaching you can send these lesson plans to your student’s parents.
Engaging Preschool Activities for a Dental Health Theme
There is nothing ‘acci-dental’ about this fun and lively hands on preschool dental health theme! With lots of academic opportunities and engaging ideas, this set of of ideas is perfect for planning your dental theme.
Literacy Activities for a Dental Health Preschool Theme
Alphabet Teeth Cleaning – This fun alphabet activity practices letter recognition while learning about oral health! Print a copy of the ‘mouth’ and the teeth letter cards. Using a dry-erase marker, write a letter on each tooth. Call out letters or have your preschooler pick up different letter cards, then find each letter on the tooth mat and ‘clean’ it by erasing the letter. If you play this fun alphabet game with more than one child, write different letters in each mouth.
Dental Health Rhyming Match-Ups – Rhyming is an essential pre-reading skill and these rhyming matching cards are perfect for a dental theme and are such fun to use! Simply print the toothbrush mats and the tooth cards. Then find the rhyming matches! These are simple CVC (3 letter) words so this activity is a great introduction to rhyming with preschoolers.
Don’t Forget Picture Books!
Infusing high-quality picture books into your dental health theme is one of the best ways to teach preschoolers about the importance of good oral hygiene! This is a book list of our favorite picture books for a dental health theme. Click the book covers below to learn more about each book!
Math and Science Activities for a Dental Theme in Preschool
Dental Health Count & Match – Build number recognition and number sense with this fun count and match number board.
Tooth Counting Graph – Print and grab the mini marshmallows! Invite your preschooler to add marshmallows vertically to each column of the graph. What do they notice about each section of the graph (it becomes one more)?
Playdough Flossing – Why is flossing our teeth important? Using a plastic ice cube tray, playdough, and a pipe cleaner, invite your preschooler to wedge playdough between the bottom of the ice tray. Then use the pipe cleaner to floss out the food and germs left behind in our teeth!
Playful Preschool Learning Activities for a Dental Health Theme
Hot Potato Game – Play the classic game of hot potato with you guessed it, a potato! Grab a potato and some music and pass the potato around with a few friends or family until the music stops! Whoever is holding the potato is out until the game is over.
Taste Tester – Gather a sample of different foods and place them on a plate. Have your preschooler cover their eyes and taste an item. Can they guess what they are eating?
Animal Exercise – Can you stand on one leg like a flamingo? Can you walk like a crab? Can you fly like a bird? Challenge your preschooler to come up with 10 silly animal moves. Make a list of all the animals they came up with and celebrate!
Social-Emotional Activities for a Dental Health Preschool Theme
Easing Apprehension About Going to the Dentist – Go to YouTube and read the story, Just Going to the Dentist by Mercer Mayer. It’s perfectly normal for young children to have some apprehension or nerves about visiting the dentist. This book shows how calm and relaxed Little Critter is even after a dental cleaning and a fixed cavity. It helps to ease fears about the dentist and the things that we might experience when visiting.
Happy and Sad Tooth Collage – Our teeth can feel happy and sad based on the foods we are eating! Print two of the teeth patterns and draw a happy face on one and a face with a line for a smile on the other. Then using a magazine cut out photos of foods that are good for our teeth and foods that are sometimes foods. You can discuss how brushing and flossing our teeth really well is extra important after eating sometimes foods because we want to make sure to get our teeth extra clean! It’s important to ensure that children don’t feel shame around food so the focus is more on great tooth-brushing routines than food choices.
Just Plain Fun Dental Health Activities for Preschoolers
Toothbrush Art – This art tooth craft uses shaving cream, glue, and a toothbrush to paint the tooth with a fun fluffy medium. Plus, painting with a toothbrush is extra exciting!
Model of a Mini Mouth with Marshmallows – With just construction paper, glue, and mini marshmallows, your preschooler can make a replica of a full mouth with teeth. This model can be used to teach about flossing, different types of teeth, and the importance of good oral hygiene. Plus it’s a fun way to practice brushing and teach kids proper brushing technique.
Parts of a Tooth Playdough Model – Collaboratively, you and your preschooler can make a model of the parts of the tooth, including the pulp and dentin.
Get Online Activities for a Dental Health Theme
Online Story – Go to YouTube and listen to the story, Brush Your Teeth by Leslie McGuire. After reading, ask your preschooler to share: What might happen if we don’t brush or floss our teeth? Role-play a dentist’s office by using a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a mirror. Invite your preschooler to be the dentist.
Daniel Gets His Teeth Cleaned – Daniel Tiger takes a trip to the dentist to get a check-up. The doctor walks Daniel through all the tools and procedures and Daniel feels much better about his visit!
Brush Your Teeth Song – Sing along and give your preschooler a great reminder of the proper way to brush your teeth.
Make Your Dental Health Theme Even Better!
Sometimes including additional themed materials are a huge hit for preschoolers and can really bring your theme to life! These are some of our favorite dental health toys and activity kits my preschoolers love to use.
Get Your Free Dental Health Lesson Plans Here
Want to include these dental health activities in your lesson plans? Ready to grab your free printable lesson plans with all these dental health theme activities for preschoolers?!
No problem. I’ve made a printable for you. Just fill out the form below and it will be sent to your inbox.
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I am an educator, book enthusiast, and a stay at home momma to two precious and long-awaited littles. My degree is in Early Childhood Education and Curriculum and Instruction and I have spent the last 15 years working with young children. I feel very fortunate to have this time to watch my babies grow and I can’t wait to share my passion for learning and reading with you!
