Think of creative ways to make brushing your teeth fun. For example, listening to fun sounds or songs that are two minutes long to help keep yourself and your kids brushing for the entire time is recommended.

Also, having a cool toothbrush designed for kids that features their favourite characters helps bring the fun in brushing and allows children to bring their favourite cartoon and television friends into the bathroom with them.

• Create a rewards chart – Children should brush their teeth twice a day, so try keeping track of your child’s brushing on a calendar by the sink with gold stars. If there are two stars at the end of the week, they could get a little treat.
• Make brushing teeth time family time – At night, get together in the bathroom to brush your teeth for the recommended two minutes. It will encourage your children when they see their parents/carers doing it too.
• Don’t make the dentist a scary place – Dentists recommend dental check-ups every six months, which can be scary for many children. So prepare them beforehand. Give them an idea of what to expect; try using picture books or do some role-playing exercises to explain to kids what to expect during a dental visit. After the visit, reward them for good behaviour.
• Keep a routine – Make it part of your child’s daily routine so they can become used to regular brushing.
• Use tooth brushing games and apps – Brushing apps for smartphones and tablets, like the free Oral-B Disney Magic Timer App, can help children brush by featuring exciting animation and virtual stickers.

Lastly, remember that a healthy diet is essential in tooth care for kids. Try to avoid or limit sugary foods and drinks. It’s recommended that they only drink milk and water. If you give them sugary foods, only do so at their regular mealtimes.

Adults see scribbling, but for children it is their masterpiece!

Mark making is a very important phrase of a child’s development. It is a visual way to communicate and interact in a meaningful way with adults in their lives, as well as developing their coordination, creativity and literacy skills.

The phases of scribbling in young children can be categorised:

1. Random scribbling – this first phrase is the very beginning of children showing interest in holding a pencil and making random marks, typically, this can be seen as lines in different directions.
2. Controlled scribbling – this next stage shows the child has much more control over the pencil and will leave marks where they want to on the paper.
3. Naming of scribbling –  at this stage, the child is thinking more into the mark-making action. They are beginning to make links with their marks on the paper and the world around them, this could be something that is meaningful to them in their life, a personal experience or an object.
4. Early representational attempts – at this stage, the child’s drawing may start to resemble real-life images because they have greater muscle control and a greater understanding of the world around them.
5. Representational stage of scribbling –  in the last and final stage, children will draw basic objects, this usually starts with circular shapes. It might be their own personal version, e.g. they may draw five circles together and call it a car.

As adults, we should provide opportunities for children to mark make it their own way. This doesn’t always have to be using a pencil and paper. Try sticks in the mud, flour and a paintbrush or their finger dipped in paint. The possibilities are endless.