This month, it’s all about hygiene for my little toddlers. For days I’ve been trying to come up with an activity related to brushing our teeth! I found several coloring pages or arts and crafts wherein the child would make a paper toothbrush, but I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted the kids to really do something that practices their brushing and makes them more aware of why they need to brush.
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Just when I was about to give up, I came across something. I forgot the site I saw it from, but it says that if you soak a white egg in soft drinks, specifically coke, it would turn brownish. And since eggs also have the same calcium ingredient as our teeth, this brownish stain cannot simply be removed with water, but with toothpaste. So that’s my sales pitch for the next Colgate commercial. (haha, kidding)]
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Eager and excited, I immediately bought a dozen eggs at a nearby grocery. I was so thrilled with the results. Here’s how you can make some too.
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What you will need
- Hard Boiled Egg
- Coke Soft drinks
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Large container
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Step 1: The eggshell is very fragile and easily breaks, so don’t forget to cook the egg. This way, there is more support when the kids do the brushing later on.
*I actually had to discard several eggs because the shells cracked when I boiled them. You need a WHOLE egg shell.
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Step 2: Pour some coke into the container and gently put the egg inside. Make sure the egg is completely soaked. Leave it soaked for 5 hours or more.
*The longer you leave it, the browner it gets. I left mine soaked for 10 hours. Don’t leave it too long though ‘coz the stain also gets harder to remove
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Step 3: Take out the egg and brush!
*Use the minty toothpaste rather than those sweetened kiddie toothpastes.
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When I did this activity with the kids, I asked them first what we should do to keep our teeth clean and healthy. They answered that we should brush our teeth. I then asked them their favorite food. Obviously, several answered candies, ice cream, chocolates and other unhealthy food. I then showed them the container filled with coke and told them to pretend that was all the food we’ve eaten now melted in our mouths or tummies. I then showed them the white egg.
“Let’s pretend this is our tooth, now, let’s eat all these yummy food.” I soaked the tooth in the coke and took out another egg (which was already placed inside prior to the class activity) that was much browner. I showed it to the kids and asked them what happened. They told me it was cavities! One of my kids even covered her mouth shouting “I don’t like! I don’t like!” I then showed them how I tried to remove the stain using water, but it just wouldn’t come off. So they suggested I use toothpaste. Voila! The stain was removed and the egg was good as new!
I even cracked some eggs and showed the kids how their teeth get black and broken if they don’t brush!
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Now, it’s their turn to brush their “teeth”…i mean eggs.
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