A Fun Timer To Brush Teeth For Kids

This article was originally published on colgate.com by Clarissa Harper

It can certainly be a challenge to get your children to brush their teeth properly. One of the more common issues is not brushing your teeth long enough. Dentists recommended that you spend roughly two minutes brushing your teeth. For a young child that may feel like an eternity, but there are ways to help this time go by quicker than he thinks. Creating a timer to brush teeth is a fun way to make brushing teeth no longer a battle between you and your child.

Brushing Against the Clock

Keeping a timer in the bathroom is one quick and easy way to ensure your child is brushing their teeth for the recommended two minutes. There are lots of fun and cute timers that may appeal to your child. There are even some designed specifically for the purpose of brushing teeth and are set to chime after two minutes. Whichever design you choose to go with, a simple timer will help your child understand how long brushing teeth actually takes and will keep him on track.

Brushing to a Favorite Song

Having your child brush his teeth to his favorite song is one creative way to create a timer to brush teeth to that will help him give his teeth the amount of attention that they need. Depending on the length of the song you can have him brush to the entire tune or have "spit breaks" where he can sing along to the chorus and resume brushing again. This is not only fun for your child, but it will keep his attention from the amount of time that has passed so you can feel confident that he is keeping his teeth nice and clean.

Brushing During a Commercial Break

Another easy way to time your child while he brushes his teeth is to have him brush his teeth during the commercial break of his favorite show. Commercial breaks average between two to three minutes so that will give your child plenty of time to brush, rinse and spit before his show returns. You can have his toothbrush all ready to go so once the commercial starts he can run to the bathroom and begin. This way he won't feel that brushing his teeth is getting in the way of his fun too.