Christine Holloway

ECE 232
4/24/2021
Health/Nutrition Experience

Class average age (in months):

24 - 36 months

Primary Objective:

Physical Development – Coordinate Large and Small Muscles to Move and Play – Fine

Motor Development – Develop skills that lead to good Health practices – Try to brush their own

teeth.

Secondary Objective(s):

Scientific Exploration and Learning – Begin to develop skills that lead to science concepts

such as daily routines

Experience description:

In this activity we are going to start by reading the book Brush Your Teeth Please by

Leslie McGuire. In the book different animals like a bear, chimp, and hippo all show how to

brush their teeth. The book is a pop-up book and the tooth brush moves, so the reader can

demonstrate how the animals brush their teeth.

The caregiver will have made “teeth” from the materials listed below and provide each

child with a tooth, a toothbrush, tooth paste, and playdoh. The caregiver will begin by
explaining to the toddlers that brushing their teeth at least twice a day is important. Every day

teeth get dirty by the food, drinks, bacteria and acid that is in our mouth. In order to ensure

that our teeth are strong and healthy and that we don’t get cavities we need to brush our teeth

twice a day, every day. The caregiver will give each child a tooth.

The toddlers will get the teeth dirty by placing the playdoh on the teeth. Explain to them

that the playdoh is like the food, bacteria, and tarter that get on their teeth throughout the day.

They need to learn how to keep their teeth clean by brushing them well. Now provide each

toddler with a toothbrush and toothpaste and ask them to brush the teeth until they are

clean. Remind them that they need to brush the top and the base of the tooth all around

(inside and outside).

Materials:

 Book: Brush Your Teeth Please

 Empty 2-liter bottle (more if possible)

 Plaster mix and the materials needed to make the plaster mix.

 Tooth brush – or if you can’t get a tooth brush cut a magic eraser and glue it on a

popsicle stick.

 Items to make the “tooth” dirty. Playdoh, is a good example of what can be used to

make the teeth dirty.

 Tooth paste – or baking soda and water to resemble toothpaste.

 While reading the book, demonstrate how the animals brush their teeth, explaining how

the toothbrush cleans each tooth.

 While reading the book ask the children to show how they brush their teeth.

 Daily routine to allow children to brush their teeth in the morning and before bed.

Plan for carrying out experience (what caregiver will do):

The caregiver will begin by preparing the “teeth” using plaster and the 2-liter bottles.

They will cut the bottles since they only need the inside bottom of the bottle. The caregiver will

pour the plaster into the bottle and once set remove it. Repeat the process until there are enough

teeth. Prepare trays with a tooth, toothbrush, and toothpaste.

Read the book Brush Your Teeth Please to the toddlers. During the story explain to the

toddlers how the animals brush their teeth by moving the toothbrush back and forth and

getting all around the tooth to ensure that it is clean. Also during the story, you can ask the

toddlers how they brush their teeth and ask them to show you. They can show you by using

their imagination that they are brushing their teeth.

Once the story is over you can ask them to join you at the table where each toddler can

be provided with a tray and some playdoh. The first step is to make the tooth dirty from food,

drinks, bacteria, and acid. Then, using the toothbrush and toothpaste they can clean their

tooth, making sure that the tooth is clean in the end.

A. How would you be able to determine the success of this activity?

I would be able to determine the success of this activity, first by how long I have their

attention for. For instance, if they leave during the reading of the book then they may not like

the book, however, if they come back for the activity then then may find that cleaning the tooth

is fun. Secondly, I would know this is successful by following up with the activity. I can ask them

the next day if they brushed their teeth last night or this morning. I can ask them if they made

sure that their teeth were clean.

B. Did you feel children's knowledge base will change after this experience? (Do I see this

new knowledge being learned in other areas?

It might depend on how much the toddler knows before beginning this activity, but I

would hope that the toddler understands that they can’t just brush part of their teeth and be

done with it, that they understand that they have to brush the whole tooth – meaning top,

inside, and outside of the tooth.