Where does the tooth fairy live? Is it under the pillow? Is it in the woods? Why not in your house? This Oral Health Month, it’s time to bring the tooth fairy home. By the time your child is 12, they will have lost all 20 of their baby teeth, with their permanent 32 here to stay. As your child gets older, it’s important to talk to them about taking good care of their permanent teeth, and the perfect time to talk is while you’re both doing a fun, tooth-themed craft.
You’ll need:
A toothbrush
Some floss
Pipe Cleaners
Tape
Glue
White cardstock paper
Scissors
Pencil
Colored pencils
Step 1: Draw the tooth
Draw the shape pictured. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s almost a tooth shape. The shape should be about as big as your hand. If your child has recently lost a tooth, try drawing from reference!
Step 2: Snip snip!
Cut the tooth shape out along the line you drew. Erase any pencil marks left or flip the white paper over so you have a clean surface to work with.
Step 3: Making the window
To make the window of your house, grab a pipe cleaner and bend it into a circle shape about 1 inch in diameter. Twist the edge of the pipe cleaner and fold it to make an “X” shape in the circle.
Step 4: The door
Grab another pipe cleaner and fold it into an arch shape. Place the arch against the bottom edge of the tooth shape. Tuck the ends of the pipe cleaner under the edge until your door is the right height.
Step 5: Glue
Lightly apply glue to the side of the pipe cleaner that will be touching the paper for the door frame and the window piece. Gently press them to the paper and leave them until the glue is dry. (We always use glitter glue for a little extra magic!)
After the glue is dry, you can tape the ends of the door pipe cleaner to the back of the tooth or cut them off, depending on how robust your scissors are. (This step should be done by an adult.)
Step 6: Decorating
Decorate your tooth house by coloring the door and drawing flowerpots or hanging ornaments on the outside. Ask your child how they think the tooth fairy would decorate her house. We drew a flowerpot with different colors of toothbrushes inside!
Step 7: The hanger
To make the hanger, cut a length of floss about 1 foot long. It’s OK to estimate, but you can also use a ruler or remember that one piece of office paper is usually 11 inches long.
Fold the piece of floss in half and pinch it. Tie the floss at both ends of the toothbrush, each about 1 inch from the ends. Double knot the string in place while holding the toothbrush flush against the table to make sure the knot is tight and the brush won’t slide around. You can also use glue or tape to make it more secure if you can’t get the knot tight enough. Make sure some of the floss hangs down on both sides.
Step 8: Making connections
Tape the ends of the floss to the back of your tooth house. Then, hang it up so you and your child can enjoy your new decoration and eagerly await the tooth fairy’s next visit.
You can even incorporate the tooth fairy’s house into your tooth fairy tradition. When your child loses their next baby tooth, after they place it under the pillow, knock three times on the tooth fairy’s door to let her know it’s ready for pick-up!
