Monday, February 13, 2012Celebrate National Children's Dental Health Month with Melvin the Magnificent Molar! It's National Children's Dental Health Month! It's time to stress the importance of brushing and flossing to ensure healthy, happy smiles for a lifetime with our kids. We just love Julia Cook and Laura Jana, MD's, Melvin the Magnificent Molar. Melvin is a lovable little tooth with a wealth of knowledge about teeth! He guides us through pages and pages of information geared for little ears. Kylie and Brynn have already adopted some key phrases for tooth brushing time! Now I hear, "did you brush your scummies off your teeth?" or "don't forget to brush your Melvin." Brushing teeth twice a day is no longer a chore now that they know what will happen if those scummies stay too long! In addition, Melvin talks about the events of a typical trip to the dentist in a fun loving, inviting way. Nobody will be afraid of the dentist with Melvin on their side. Complete with a top ten list of tips for happy, healthy teeth, I can't think of another book that I would recommend when it comes to tooth information AND entertainment. Who's it for? This book is geared for children ages 4 and up. It serves as a great read-aloud for all ages! 1. Write a letter to the tooth fairy! By donating $10 to the America's Toothfairy Foundation, you child will receive a personalized letter from the tooth fairy in return! Donations help needy children receive critical dental care. For more information, go to http://www.ncohf.org/.2. Create a tooth lab. Help children understand how sugar affects their teeth with this lesson! Place a tooth into a cup of regular soda. Watch what happens to the tooth in just a short period of time! It's a sure way to remind your kids to brush up after eating and drinking sugary substances! 3. Make a big Tooth Brush of Tips! Cut large pieces of construction paper into strips and give one to each child. Give each student two to three white sentence strips. Have them write a tip to happy, healthy teeth on each strip. Glue them to the top of the construction paper to look like a giant toothbrush full of tips! Disclosure: I received this book for free. All opinions are my own.