The Dancing Toothbrush Song
With a made-up chant, children become dancing toothbrushes: up and down with jumps, in circles with spins, side to side with side steps. It warms up the whole body to a beat and reviews how to brush.
How to play
- The teacher teaches the chant: “Brush, brush, little brush, up and down, round and round, front and back, sweep and swish, the brightest smile you’ve ever seen!” (1 min).
- Up and down: arms straight like a toothbrush handle, crouch low and jump high to the beat (1 min).
- Round and round: make circles with the arms, then with the hips, and finish with a full spin (1 min).
- Front and back: steps forward and back, then side steps like brushing the back teeth (1 min).
- The whole chant straight through, each child traveling in the space and doing the move for each line (1 min).
- Final rinse: pretend to gargle, “spit” the water into the air with a big blow and flash a big toothy smile (1 min).
Rules
- Your toothbrush dances in its own space and doesn’t hit anyone.
- We chant together, not too soft and not shouting.
- When the song ends, smile and freeze.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, use only “up and down” and “round and round,” chanting very slowly with the teacher in front.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, do the full chant with all four moves and the final spin.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, chant faster on the second round and let a child invent a new move for “the brightest smile.”
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: swap jumps for raising and lowering the arms, and steps for leaning the trunk.
- Autism: announce each change of pace ahead of time and let the child chant quietly or just do the moves.
- Hearing loss: each line of the chant has a fixed hand gesture that the teacher exaggerates.
Learning goals
- Warm up the body following a beat.
- Remember the motions of brushing teeth.
- Coordinate words and movement.
Teacher tip
The chant is original: use it again at toothbrushing time after lunch and they will know it within a week. If they speed up too much, slow things down with slow claps.
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