Dentist Play Dough Pretend Play

Tinker has a dentist appointment coming up. Although she’s been generally comfortable with the dentist in the past, she has developed a little bit of anxiety lately. To help her get ready I set up this dentist play dough invitation, and we’ve been reading some picture books about the dentist. By doing so, she’s been able to share a little about her concerns, and she’s also learned more about the importance of good dental hygiene. Since February is Dental Health month, I thought some of your kids might enjoy this fun activity and learning lesson, too.

GET A FULL WEEK OF DENTAL HEALTH  THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR  PRESCHOOL DENTAL HEALTH LESSON PLANS.

Materials

To set up the play dough invitation I made a basic batch of play dough and colored it with rose icing colors.  I did my best to form the dough into the shape of a lower jaw. Then I added white pony bead teeth (yes, there are more teeth than humans have, but nobody said we were pretending to be human dentists).

I set the play dough out with Gator Grabber Tweezers, lanyard string, and a clean toothbrush.

Dr. Tinker was super excited to get to work on those teeth. She insisted that her patient had sore teeth, and she need to fix them all. She even added soothing words to assure her patient that she was going to make everything all better.

It takes a lot of fine motor control to pull those teeth, but she did it. Then she brushed them all individually before placing them back into their spots. (We did stop to talk about the fact that dentists don’t pull teeth often, and that this was just a fun way to play pretend. She understood this.)

I’m not sure how her next dentist appointment will go, but I do think this was a fun learning experience for Tinker.

Below you’ll find some of the books we read about the dentist.

You can also print our free tooth brushing chart to use as a reminder to brush and floss regularly.

How do you calm your kids’ fears about the dentist? I’d love to hear your tips in the comments.

PRINTABLE DENTAL HEALTH THEME LESSON PLANS

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. We have a variety of lesson plan sets that work well as winter themes. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

This set currently includes active hands-on learning ideas and the following printables:

1) Smile Counting Mats (in color and b/w)

2) “I Can Take Care of My Teeth” Emergent Reader (3 versions)

3) Floss Cutting and Pre-Writing Strips (in color and b/w)

4) Dental Health Pattern Mats and Pieces (in color and b/w)

5) Dental Health Word Cards (in color and b/w)

6) Floss Measurement Activity Recording Sheet (in color and b/w)

7) Making Shapes Prompt Cards (in color and b/w)

8) Toothbrush Sight Word Building and Matching  (in color and b/w)

9) Toothbrushing Sequence Cards (in color and b/w)

10) Minty Toothbrush Painting Template

GET YOUR LESSON PLANS

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.