Here I show you five brushing teeth books and resources for preschool to intentionally teach kids how (and why!) they should brush their teeth. We used these in a little “unit study” that I created for my kids about brushing their teeth!
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I have been working on different habits with my children over the past couple of years and while I definitely value working on things like obedience, compassion, attention, etc. (we have done those and continue to work on them), I was wanting to do something really specific. I started paying attention to what they weren’t doing that great, which in their case would be teeth brushing. When you’re a homeschool mom juggling a ton of things, it’s hard to remember to teach your kids the simple things (like how and why to brush your teeth.). I’m teaching them to read and do math but accidentally let the tooth brushing slide through! And tying their shoes…whoops! Maybe that’ll be a different post…
Side story: One of my sons is 5 and can read at a second grade level and do multiplication and division (he’s just got an insatiable hunger to learn). But the other day we were spending time together and I asked him what color something was. He answered wrong. I asked him about another one and he answered that wrong too. Apparently in the crazy of life I forgot to teach him his colors! Whoops. So, yeah, it’s easy for those things to slip through.
The Why of Tooth Brushing
Back to tooth brushing. It is important! I didn’t want them to not do it properly and wanted to spend a little bit of time each week focusing on it. I also wanted to instill in them the WHY of tooth brushing. Because I felt if they knew the “why” then they would be more self motivated, without me having to nag them. I also think that’s something we forget to do in the crazy of life…tell our kids the why behind things. So I went to the internet searching for “teeth brushing books for preschool” to read with them. Can tooth brushing be taught without books or anything else? Yes. But I’m slightly book obsessed and love reading books with my kiddos to bring something I’m teaching them to life.
While I was searching, I realized that it is actually a little difficult to find good books about tooth brushing. And specifically about tooth brushing. I wasn’t wanting ones about going to the dentist or about teeth in general, I wanted the focus to be on tooth brushing. So after many hours I finally ordered some. My kids and I have loved them! We would do one book once a week and have either a time to discuss why we brush our teeth or have them each practice what they learned. After 6 weeks, I put teeth brushing into their morning and evening chore time and they have done so great with it!
A Great Electric Tooth Brush to Go Along With Brushing Teeth Books for Preschool
Along with the books, I bought each of them an Brusheez electric toothbrush. They also came with little sand timers that are set for 2 minutes. I love these! And so do my kiddos. I wanted to get them sand timers so they would brush their teeth for the right amount of time but these are even better because they are stuck on the stand. Translation: they won’t get lost! A double win.
I wanted to get my kids excited about brushing their teeth and make sure they had what they needed to do a good job. These fit the bill. Each tooth brush comes with a stand to put everything in, the tooth brush, an extra head for the tooth brush, a cup and a sand timer. There are also a bunch of different animals you can get depending on what your kid likes. We have had them for about 6 months now and I would definitely buy them again.
Alright, so now on to the specific books.
Sugarbug Doug by Dr. Ben Magleby
My kids have loved this one! It calls the plaque that attack your teeth “sugar bugs” and my kids have used that phrase a ton. They have been telling me that they need to not eat so much sugar so the sugar bugs don’t ruin their teeth! Which is exactly what you want out of a book, for your kids to become self motivated. This book also has a coloring and activity book that goes with it that can supplement to their learning. We have both the book and coloring book and they’ve been perfect.
Why Should I Brush My Teeth? By Katie Daynes
This book is an Usborne lift-the-flap board book. It’s pretty adorable. It’s definitely more of a beginner book so may be a little too simplistic for, say, a 6 or 7 year old, but works great for ages 2-5. I liked the interaction of the flaps in the book and that it answers the “why” behind brushing teeth. This would be a great one to add to your list of brushing teeth books for preschool!
The Tooth Book: A Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums by Edward Miller
I like this one because it is very thorough and goes through many different tops. It does talk about going to the dentist and the anatomy of teeth, but it does a good job talking about how to take care of teeth and why we should take care of our teeth. It does have a picture of a vampire in it, so if that is something you don’t want in your home, just letting you know!
How to Brush Your Teeth by Cottage Door Press
Ok, this book is fun. It is a board book and doesn’t have a whole lot of words, but it does have step by step HOW to brush your teeth. So this is great for teaching kids the exact process. It comes with a model mouth that you put together and a play toothbrush so that way the kid can practice with the model mouth and see where in their mouth the need to be brushing. My kids loved doing this and it really is a great way to make it more interactive.
The Story of Happy Tooth and Sad Tooth by Ariel Cornwall
Need a book that really brings to life the difference between a tooth that is taken care of and one that isn’t? This book does such a good job of that. It tells the story of a tooth that is fed the right things, brushed and taken care of. Then it tells the story of what happens when it is not fed healthy things and not taken care of. It also puts dentist in a very positive light showing that they are there to help when you need your teeth repaired to get them back to being “happy teeth.”
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Brusheez Electric Tooth Brush-Sparkle the Unicorn
Brusheez Electric Tooth Brush- Pepper the Dino
Brusheez Electric Tooth Brush- Jolie the Giraffe
The Story of Happy Tooth and Sad Tooth
Tips for Turning This Into A 6 Week Mini Unit Study
- Get your kids each a toothbrush and these 5 books. Give them the toothbrushes the first day of your “lesson.”
- The first day just show them their new toothbrushes, discuss the different parts of it and tell them what you are going to be learning about. Get excited about brushing teeth!
- Each week read 1 book. You could start with the “How to Brush Your Teeth” and do the model to show them how using the toothbrush and teeth included.
- For the next 4 lessons read 1 book each week. Discuss with the kids afterwards what they learned and ask them why we brush our teeth. Then take a field trip to the bathroom and show them how and then they can show you how to do all the steps from start to finish!
- At the end of the 6 weeks you could have a show and tell where they can show you and any other family members all that they learned, including showing how to brush their teeth with their new toothbrushes.
Thank you for sharing! It is hard to find the time between everything else to teach these important skills. Love how you included ideas for turning this skill into a 6 week mini unit of study.
It really is. I so easily let these kinds of skills slip through the cracks. Now I need to teach them to tie their shoes! Thanks for your encouragement Julie!
What a collection! Thanks for this 🙂
You’re so welcome!