How to keep children in a routine over the summer holidays
Well, good luck with that!
The summer holidays are the antithesis of routine: they are about early nights and lazy mornings; freedom from rigid school schedules; and more relaxed mealtimes and menus.
And we’re all for that!
However (you knew that was coming, didn’t you?) some of the usual habits cannot take a break until September.
Yes, we’re thinking about good oral hygiene, in the shape of regular and careful teeth cleaning. It might be tricky in term time to ensure this practice is maintained, but it’s even more important in the holidays, when sweet treats and sugary snacks are part of both fun days out and chilled times at home.
Check our top tips for ensuring that your child does not end this summer with the start of tooth decay.
1. Make it a fun. Freed from the usual tight pre-school timetable, there’s time to be silly. Let your child choose some music and play it for two minutes. If the music is on: keep brushing!
2. Not rushing off to work? Brush your teeth with them. Who is the better brusher? Check with disclosing tablets (blog post from July 8).
3. Who doesn’t love a sticker? Create a chart, with a sticker for every unprompted morning and evening teeth cleaning session. At the end of the week, it’s reward time.
4. Holidays are a great chance to catch up with the things that it is tricky to do during the school day, such as a check up at the dentist. Before the appointment, tip the dentist off that your child is trying really hard with their cleaning routine. Praise from the dentist is going to carry a lot of weight!
5. Check out this BBC Bitesize video to remind your child why careful daily cleaning is super important.
At least this is one routine that won’t need to be re-established come September…