We did this scrubbing dinosaurs activity after our dinosaurs got a little dirty in our sand play dough and dinosaur bath bombs. This was great, because there were little bits of play dough or baking soda in the crevices of the dinosaur miniatures, so the children would see the importance of scrubbing thoroughly and getting all of the parts of the dinosaur clean.
I like to provide a heavy-duty plastic kitchen tray for messy activities, as it encourages the children to work within a defined area (a central Montessori principle) and also makes clean-up much easier.
I had the children scrub the dinosaurs in the same order that we scrubbed our pumpkins, which also echoes the way that you would scrub your teeth – albeit not with soap!
The children added soap either to their first water bowl or the toothbrush, placed the dinosaur into the water, and then started scrubbing.
We discussed and observed any stubborn bits of play dough, and worked hard to ensure that our dinosaurs were scrubbed clean. This was fun for the kids, and also worked the same fine motor muscles and practiced the same movements that the children would need for learning how to brush their teeth.
Next we dipped our dinosaurs into the water to clean off the soap bubbles (some of the children dipped their toothbrushes in the water), and then checked again for any remaining play dough, before drying our dinosaurs with the provided cloths.
Of course, once our dinosaurs were scrubbed clean and dried, we had to engage in some dinosaur pretend play! I tried to convince the children that modern scientists believe that dinosaurs screeched or made loud moaning sounds, but they all thought I was crazy and proceeded to ROAR for their dinosaur noises.
You could easily take this opportunity to engage the children in a conversation about what else their dinosaur-cleaning toothbrush might be used for, but for me, I was happy that the children had a positive “toothbrush scrubbing” experience – even if it was with dinosaurs and not teeth. I think this will lay the foundation for later making our conversations around teeth brushing a little easier and we’ll have a positive experience to draw from. I might even refer to their teeth as “dinosaurs” and ask if they scrubbed all of the play dough (plaque) off of their dinosaurs.
I really do struggle with brushing Little Bee’s teeth. This is a great idea for making it fun and non-threatening! Thank you!
I love how excited they are about brushing teeth! My kids had a huge issue with brushing their teeth until we made it into a fun game. Thanks for another great idea I know they will love.
We don’t have a problem with teeth-brushing, but this is a great way to get them to help me clean their toys! So much fun!
The brushing of dinosaurs is totally fun! We’re supposed to have it but Vito is still obsessed with water so I won’t get him to brush it. I like the fact that you integrate activities for the body with other things, like this.. brushing dinosaurs in the same way like brushing the teeth. Kids will immediately see the result what happens when you clean something LOL. Thanks for sharing!
Such a fun idea! My little guy will love this.
Such a super cute activity for little ones. I know I can get my dinosaur lover to do anything, if I somehow make it dinosaur related.
I kind of find it funny how there are all good comments, is that legit or..?
Yes! All of these comments are perfectly real. This is an awesome site btw!
Yup, it’s legit 😉 This isn’t really a space that negative people like to hang out.
I don’t delete comments that disagree with me – I only delete if comments are attacking or using swear words.