Motivating kids to care for their teeth is can be challenging.   We frequently receive notes from customers who have realized that the motivation is just as important, if not more so, than teaching proper mechanical skills.  Here are five practical tips to help you engage your young audience and make oral health interesting.

1. Lead by example.  Intuitively we all know that children do as we do more often than simply as we say but we sometimes forget to apply this principal to daily fundamentals like good oral health habits.  Show your kids consistency in your own habits and they will follow suit.  Let them see that you are proud of your smile and take pride in staying healthy and they’ll do the same. 
2. Let them choose their own tools. There are many toothbrushes, floss designs, mouthwashes, etc made specifically for kids.  Get your child involved in the process by letting them choose the products that interest them the most.   
3. Make it fun. Make up a song, a game, use props, or make up an imaginary friend to go along with their brushing and flossing routine. It sounds trite but infusing energy and laughter into the process will help build healthy habits that are easier for children to sustain.  Consider shortening the required length of time that your children spend on oral health as they are learning because we know that their ability to focus for longer periods of time will increase over time and we can ask for a longer time commitment later in the process.
4. Teach them Why oral care is so important. Tell them what plaque, cavities, and gingivitis are and explain that we are working to prevent them.  Consider using plaque-revealing mouthwash a few times to show them the short term results of their brushing and flossing efforts.
5. Let them be the teacher. This might seem a little backwards, but education experts agree that teaching a subject can be the best way to learn it. You can role play and let them teach you or they can pretend to instruct their stuffed animal or fictional friend to take care of their teeth. 

Above all, be sensitive to their attention span and endeavor to keep them interested in the subject.  Children are not unlike adults and if you push too hard the dialogue can become polarizing.

We hope you enjoyed today's article! Remember that StarSmilez offers a wide array of adorable, stuffed animals that are perfect teaching aids for young brushers. Have a look today and join our Facebook Page!