Circle Time

Choose Healthy Foods

Cavity Free Kids > Activities > Circle Time > Choose Healthy Foods
16

Supplies and Preparation

  • “Tooth Healthy and Unhealthy Foods” pictures.
  • Or use real foods, pretend foods, boxes or wrappers from foods, or pictures of foods.
  • Two bags or baskets—one labeled with a happy tooth and the other with a sad tooth.

Print PDFs:

Tooth Healthy and Unhealthy Foods PDF

Parent Handout - Tooth Healthy Foods PDF

Instructions

Let your class know that you will be talking about tooth healthy foods this week (or today) Give every child a piece of pretend food, real food, or a picture of food. Include more tooth healthy foods than tooth unhealthy foods.

There are some REALLY IMPORTANT things for you to know about tooth healthy foods. We are going to play a game with the foods you are holding to help us learn about what foods are healthy and what foods are not healthy for our teeth.

You will help me decide which foods to eat every day because they are healthy for our teeth and bodies (smile), and which foods we should eat just once in a while because they are not healthy for our teeth and our bodies (frown). Those foods are sweet and sticky foods.

Here is a tooth healthy food! Show real or picture of a carrot. It is full of nutrients and it doesn’t stick to your teeth. It goes in the happy tooth basket. We can eat carrots every day.

Uh, oh, here is a not tooth healthy food. Show example or picture of candy. This goes in the sad tooth basket. We eat candy once in a while like at a party.

OK! Let’s do this together! I see someone holding a ____. Do you think____ is tooth healthy or not tooth healthy? Why do you think so. Use prompts to help children categorize. Is it crunchy? Is it sticky? Is sweet?

When each food has been talked about summarize by saying: We sorted all the foods. Let’s eat some foods today that will make our bodies and teeth healthy. What should we do with these? (Point at sad tooth basket.) Yes! Save them for a special day so our teeth will not be sad!

Extension:

Use this knowledge in conversations at meal and snack times.

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Activity Index

Tooth Healthy Foods

Goal

Tooth Healthy Foods

Big Bites: Things You Should Know
  • The combination of germs and carbohydrates (sugar and starches) creates an acid that attacks teeth.
  • Cavity causing germs can be passed from a mother or caregiver to a baby through kissing, sharing utensils, or by putting baby’s pacifier in mom’s mouth.
  • Continual snacking on sugary or starchy foods or drinking juice or soda causes repeated acid attacks. Repeated acid attacks cause cavities.
  • Cavities are almost entirely preventable and can be avoided by limiting continual snacking, drinking water instead of juice/soda, by brushing after eat and by making sure mom doesn’t have active tooth decay.
  • White or brown spots on teeth can be early signs of a cavity and a black spot is probably a cavity.
  • Cavities must be treated by a dentist.
  • Untreated cavities can lead to a serious infection.

 

CFK Throughout the Day

Throughout the Classroom
  • Decorate a bulletin board with pictures of dental tools children may see at a dentist office. Label them.
  • Hang a chart in the classroom called “I had a dental check-up.” Create a thermometer visual that you color in as children get their dental check-up.
  • Set up a pretend dental office for dramatic play.   
At Meals and Snacks
  • Ask:  Who’s been to the dentist?  What do you remember about the visit?
While Brushing Teeth
  • Be a role model.  Brush your teeth with the children to show you take care of your teeth too.
  • Talk about making tiny, tickly circles with a toothbrush to clean the food and germs away.
  • Give each child an “I brushed my teeth today” sticker to wear home Tell children the dentist will be so proud of them when he sees how well they have been brushing.
  • Have children pretend their brushes are like the special spinning toothbrush the dentist uses and make a humming noise while they brush.
During Transitions
  • When children are getting ready to go home, put a sticker on each child that says, “Today I learned about visiting the dentist!”

 

Activities for Early Learning