Playing shopping as an educational strategy in oral health for children in early childhood education

Abstract

Introduction: School is a conducive environment for developing habits that can be extended throughout life. From this perspective, educational activities with schoolchildren can significantly contribute to promoting oral health and to disseminate good oral hygiene habits, constituting alternatives which are capable of efficiently educating these subjects. Objective: To report the experience of a playful and educational intervention carried out by the team of an extension project with an early childhood education class in an institutional school of basic education. Methodology: An educational game was developed based on the knowledge of the age range of the school children, and a playful action was elaborated. A healthy eating theme was chosen to be worked on in an interdisciplinary way to raise awareness about the role of food in developing dental caries and oral hygiene guidelines. By “playing shopping” in which students could choose which foods to buy in a game, it was possible to discuss which of these food choices were unhealthy and also guide participants with a macromodel on the correct way of brushing and flossing. Results: The interaction of children with the activity and with the entire extension team was quite satisfactory. It was possible to verify that they had assimilated the playfully addressed issues and it was demonstrated that students were able to acquire practical knowledge about oral health during the oral hygiene orientation in both the game and in the brushing simulation with the macromodel. Conclusions: Playful activities for schoolchildren may constitute instruments which are capable of satisfactorily transmitting knowledge on oral health, and can indicate aspects which must be developed and incorporated into the daily lives of individuals from a very early age.