Community Helpers Day 1: Dentists!

This week in preschool is Community Helpers Week. I love this week because there is SO much great vocabulary to be learned between all the community helpers and their tools of the trade!

One of the community helpers/occupations we’ve talked about is dentists, which ties in perfectly with February being Dental Health Month, too!  We read a cute Dora story called “Show Me Your Smile! A Visit To the Dentist” that was perfect for targeting basic dentist-related vocabulary and simple WH questions.

After reading the book, I did a cute tooth craft with my articulation kids.  I drew an outline of a tooth on white paper (cardstock is great, but just heavier construction paper works well, too!), grabbed some liquid glue, and asked the school nurses for a couple of toothbrushes!

The kids got to “brush” the teeth by squeezing glue (the “toothpaste”) all over the paper, and used a toothbrush to spread out the glue, “brushing” and “scrubbing” the toothpaste onto the whole tooth.  After the glue was on, the kids stuck pictures of their speech words onto the tooth as they practiced.

I initially started out with shaving cream instead of glue, but the shaving cream didn’t spread very easily with the toothbrushes… I saw one of the prek teachers doing something similar at art with glue and glitter, and had the idea to glue their target words onto the teeth instead! (I decided to give the glitter a little break after If You Give A Mouse A Cookie week!)

For some cute dental-themed vocabulary cards, check these out from 2TeachingMommies.  I also have a free tooth/tooth fairy-themed associations card set in my TpT store!

Check back for more posts this week on other community helper-themed activities we’re doing in the speech room!