Tooth decay can have a negative impact on your children's health, so ensuring they brush and floss on a daily basis is important for keeping the germs from damaging primary and secondary teeth. Getting kids to brush for the recommended minimum two minutes can sometimes be difficult, however. One way to overcome this is to gamify the process, which can cause kids to get excited about oral care. Here's more information about gamification and two ways to use it.
What is Gamification?
Gamification is the process of applying aspects of video game design to non-game situations. It's commonly used in marketing and advertising to encourage people to take some type of action (e.g. purchase a product). The purpose of gamification is not to create a game, but to create a game-like experience. For example, someone might dole out points to a person each time he or she takes a certain action and letting the individual redeem those points for items like toys or movie tickets.
Since many kids play video games these days, they may respond well to the gamification of their oral care routine. Here are two gamification ideas to help get your kids to brush regularly.
Bestow a Color-Coded Badge
In some time-management games, you are awarded a trophy or badge at the end of the level that corresponds to how long it takes you to clear it. For instance, if you complete a level in 3 minutes, you get a gold trophy. If you finish it in 4 minutes, however, you get a silver trophy. This gamification technique taps into a person's need to accomplish something.
You can employ this method to encourage your kids to brush for two minutes or more. Award them a color that corresponds to how long they brush. For example, give your kids a gold badge for brushing for two minutes but a silver badge for brushing for less than that. Place the badges on a board, so they can monitor their progress. The silver badges will stick out amongst the gold and motivate your kids to stick to the regimen.
Create a Points System
In many role-playing video games, players earn points (or virtual money) for defeating enemies. For example, the player may be given 10 points for defeating an ogre. A simple game mechanic you can employ to get your kids to brush and floss is to award points each time they "defeat" oral bacteria by cleaning their teeth and then let them cash in their points to obtain prizes.
This is essentially a bribery system, but it works. An effective way to implement this is to create a list of items the kids can earn with their points. Track the points by making a point meter and coloring in the number of points the kids earn each time they brush and floss. The list serves as a reminder of what the kids are working toward while the meter helps them track their progress.
For more ideas on motivating your kids to brush and floss or additional reading on oral hygiene, contact a pediatric dentist.
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