Children’s Dental Health Month - Make a Monster-Sized Mouth

February is Children’s Dental Month, and it’s a great time to do some fun educational crafts with your kids! Cavities are the most common chronic disease among children in the United States, seven times more common than seasonal allergies and five times as common as asthma. The good news is that cavities are preventable. We’ve got a tooth-tastic activity that you can do with your kids at home!

Items needed:

• Six to ten plastic bottles
• Scissors
• Paint brush
• White paint
• Glue gun
• Pink and red construction paper
• 12 inch piece of yarn
• Large brush (this can be from a dustpan)
• Green playdough or crinkle paper
  
  

1. Take the plastic bottles and cut them in half, removing the top portion. To be safe, this should be done by an adult.
2. Have your child paint the inside of the bottles white.
3. Cut down vertically, two inches from the top of each bottle half, spacing out your cuts about one to two inches.
4. Fold the cuts flaps of the bottle into each other and secure using the hot glue gun. This should make a flat and slightly rounded bottom. These will be your teeth.
5. Cut a large piece of pink cardboard or poster paper in the shape of a mouth. Add a red tongue made out of similar material to the center of the pink mouth.
6. Using the glue gun, add the teeth around the tongue.
7. To simulate plaque, add green crinkles or playdough around and in the crevices between the teeth.
8. Cut a piece of yarn to use as floss and grab a large brush from your dustpan to represent a toothbrush.
9. Show your child how to brush their whole mouth, getting every tooth and every surface – as well as the tongue. Then ask them to floss each tooth, making sure to get each bit of plaque out.
   
   

For more resources on taking care of your children’s oral and overall health, including fun recipes and activity booklets, visit our Wellness Library.