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This Happy Tooth Sad Tooth Activity is a great way to educate kids about the importance of oral health, including brushing, flossing & diet!

One spot where most parents stumble on their parenting journey is getting kids to brush! Whether trying to do it for your toddler or teaching your 6 year old to do it himself – they’re both equally challenging and can result in quite a few tantrums and tears!

But it must be done, so it helps to try a few techniques to make it more fun. Like using a teddy bear and explaining why he needs to brush his teeth. You can also watch videos on Youtube that are meant for kids, that explain the right way to brush teeth – along with the consequences of not doing so! Another way we like is fun, colorful books!

Fun Books about Oral Health for Kids

• Tooth by Leslie Patricelli
• How to Brush Your Teeth with Snappy Croc by Jane Clarke
• Brush, Brush, Brush! by Alicia Padron
• Sugarbug Doug: All About Cavities, Plaque, and Teeth by Dr. Ben Magleby
• Melvin the Magnificent Molar by Julia Cook
• The Tooth Book: A Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums by Edward Miller

Along with the books, it’s good to get their hands busy – they say that the best way to learn is by doing! So here is an adorable happy tooth sad tooth activity that kids will love to make, and which will also send across the message beautifully!

Happy Tooth Sad Tooth Activity for Kids

Supplies required:

• Craft papers in different colors
• Markers in different colors
• Craft stick
• Scissors
• Glue

How to make the Happy Tooth Sad Tooth Activity:

1. Download and print the happy tooth sad tooth activity template. The template includes teeth, and parts of various foods – broccoli, apple, milk, candy, cupcake and lollipop. 

2. Trace the parts of the template on craft paper and cut them out. Use white for the teeth, and try to keep the colors of the foods as realistic as possible. Since we’re using this happy tooth sad tooth activity as a learning tool, it helps to stay true to the original.

3. As always we start our meals with healthy foods! Let’s assemble the broccoli by sticking the florets on the stem. Start with the central floret and then add the ones on the side. 

4. Stick the stem to the top of the apple. Then attach the leaf behind it.

5. Now that we’ve eaten our veggies and fruit, we can move on to dessert! Layer the cream on the doughnut and stick the swirl on the lollipop.

6. Finish up the sweets by sticking some sprinkles on the donut and attaching the lollipop to a craft stick. The sweets of our happy tooth sad tooth activity sure look good!

7. Now let’s see how our teeth fare after eating healthy and unhealthy foods! As the name suggests, the happy tooth sad tooth activity has two teeth – a happy one and sad one. Use your marker to draw eyes and a smile on the happy tooth. On the sad tooth, draw eyes and an upside-down smile. Stick on a tear and a band-aid – that’s what happens when you eat too much candy!

Well, that’s it – your happy tooth sad tooth activity is ready to play with! Now have a conversation with kids, explaining how fruits, veggies and milk make teeth happy, while sugary foods make them sad. Sad teeth will in turn make you sad, by giving you tooth-ache! You can also sneak in a little tip that the tooth fairy only rewards happy teeth left for her – she has no use for the sad ones!