New Toothbrush Holder & Brushing Routine!

At the kids dentist appointment over Spring Break it became abundantly clear that the kids needed some help in regards to brushing and flossing. Part of the problem was the way our bathroom cabinet is. The drawers are super shallow and there is no medicine cabinet so the kids had to lay their toothbrushes down in the drawer. Also their toothpaste always looked like the toothpaste had exploded out of it. We made a couple adjustments in order to help them out. 

I designed this and asked Michael to build it. There are two of these...one hanging on either side of the sinks. This one is on the left....Owen's jar is the left and Ella's is the right. The one in the middle is for them to share...it holds those floss picks you can buy at The Dollar Tree. 

The next part was brushing school. 

I really explained how you are supposed to brush each section of your teeth and how you aren't supposed to squeeze a ton of toothpaste out!!!

Now don't think I haven't actually done this with the kids before...I have, but maybe they are old enough that it sticks this time around! 

The next thing I did was I downloaded the Disney Tooth Timer App. The hygienist recommended it. The kids each have their own profile and they get to pick their character. Owen has Darth Vader, Jack has Captain America, Ella has Elsa and Zeke has Iron Man. When they brush it has a timer that goes for 2 minutes. As it counts down the screen of the phone is being brushed while they are brushing their teeth. When the two minutes is up it exposes a picture that was covered up by all the toothpaste. Every time they brush they get a half a star so if they brush morning and night they get a full star every day. I'm not sure how it's calculated, but after a while they get achievements that are added to their profile. It's super simple really and they LOVE it! 

Here's the toothbrush holder on the right side of the sinks. Jack's is on the left and Zeke's is on the right. So far these small changes have made a world of difference. Their toothbrushes are no longer on the sink or in the drawer. They've been rinsing their toothbrushes out and their toothpaste doesn't look like it's exploded everywhere. Plus now that they have easy access to the floss picks they have been using those more frequently as well. I wish there was something on the app to remind them to floss as well. Overall the changes have been a success though!