I’m Visiting the Dentist! Lesson Plan
What We Are Learning
Health and Hygiene Focus:
dental health
Social Studies Focus:
self-care, community helpers
Theme Vocabulary Words:
dentist, X-ray, polisher, water pick, suction tool
Skills We’re Practicing:
group discussion, critical thinking, vocabulary, visual discrimination
- In Doctor De Soto by William Steig, even animals visit the dentist! Dr. De Soto is a mouse that helps the animals maintain good dental health—that is, until a sly fox visits. Read to discover not only how important it is to take care of your teeth, but how Dr. De Soto and his wife manage to outfox the fox!
Smile Contest
Materials: none
- Everyone wins with this fun, silly game!
- Gather children on the rug. Say that when they take care of their teeth, they keep them looking clean and bright. That’s something to smile about! Now they’ll get a chance to share their beautiful smiles with their friends.
- Set children up in pairs. Have them take turns making each other smile or laugh. Encourage them to make funny sounds and faces, being careful not to touch their partner.
- For an added challenge, set a timer for 10-15 seconds to see if kids can quickly bring a smile to their partner’s face. relationship skills
Materials: tempera paint, paper plates, toothbrushes, large sheets of durable white construction paper
- Let children practice using a toothbrush while making art!
- Create a paint palette for each child by putting different colors of paint on a paper plate. Give each child a palette, a piece of paper, and a toothbrush. If you’d like, you can also set children up at easels.
- Then let children explore painting with the toothbrush! Encourage them to use different types of strokes: straight, circular, zigzag. What happens when they push down hard on the brush? What happens when they brush lightly? What happens when they mix different colors together? What kinds of colors can they make? fine-motor skills/color exploration