Helping Your Child Brush: Fun When You Know How
Should my child be brushing their own teeth?
Kids are curious by nature and when they see you brush your teeth every day, they’ll soon want to have a go themselves. This is good news because it all helps towards their development. But while they may be keen brushers, it’s worth finishing off the job yourself because their hand co-ordination may not be developed enough to brush properly just yet. You should also keep an eye on them while they brush to minimise swallowing of the toothpaste.
Stick with it until they’re seven, by which time, they’ll be well equipped to do the job properly themselves.
How to get your child to brush properly
Your child probably won’t have the co-ordination to properly brush their own teeth until they’re about seven. But before then, a big part of making sure they’ll have healthy teeth when they’re older is to get them into a regular brushing routine: in the morning and evening, every day.
Getting them to regularly brush twice a day can be easier said than done sometimes though, but the good news is there are plenty of fun and simple activities you can do that’ll make brushing easier and more fun too.
To get your child opening wide, why not get them to pretend to be their favourite zoo animal? Or encourage them to impress the tooth fairy with their sparkling smile each night? And if you want to make them giggle, you could play a quick game like ‘Does it go in here?’ before brush time.
How to explain the importance of brushing in a fun way
Getting children to understand why it’s so important to look after their teeth can be a tricky business. So if you’re getting a little stuck, a great way to teach them about all the different parts of their teeth, and what they need to keep clean is to go on a Cave Search. All you’ll need is a torch and a mirror and you’ll be all set!
Otherwise, our Brushing Demo is there to give you helping hand explaining the best way to brush.