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128 Birch Street
Boston, MA, 02131
United States

(617) 390-4076

Invent Boston designs and develops original products to add science + whimsy to  every day tasks at home.   Our first product is a Two Minute timer, Two Minute Turtle, a visual timer. The Two Minute Turtle helps children and adults focus on two minute tasks such as brushing teeth, physical therapy, taking a shower and speaking (practicing a presentation or learning a language).

Invent Boston™, Home of the Two Minute Turtle Timer™

Invent Boston™ blog offers tips and stories by parents, for parents of children ages 4-12 to make toothbrushing and other healthy habits at home, more fun. We write about simple tactics to help kids do what they like to do-touch, seeing, play games and strive for independence. We recommend products to help stay healthy while being kids. We share stories to transform daily healthy habits from something kids resist (for example, toothbrushing, handwashing, toilet training, organizing, taking time-out or pausing, yoga, and taking turns) into something children are motivated to do independently, without parents’ reminders. The original physical product Invent Boston has designed for families is the new light-up Two Minute Turtle Timer, an analog, interval toothbrush timer to make brushing teeth fun for kids. Kids like to press the button, follow the flippers and brush until all the lights blink—the Victory Lap signals to brush the tongue.

Teach Preschoolers to Brush Their Teeth for 2 Minutes

Virginia Berman

How To Get Preschoolers to Brush Their Teeth?

Why & How the Two Minute Turtle Timer helps kids to learn how to brush teeth from age 4!

  • Focus—Silence helps the child to see. The lights guide them through their mouth.

  • Fun—Tooth brushing can be a game, attracting kids but not too distracting. The Turtle Timer flippers blink, each one faster than the one before it. The Victory Lap at the end, signals to brush the tongue. There is an app that tells 2 minute child stories, like Chompers .

  • Brush Every Tooth—Brush each tooth. Brushing by quadrant divides the mouth evenly. Brush the inner parts, outer parts and top of each tooth.

  • Water-resistant—It’s going to be wet in the bathroom with kids, as you already know so we prefer not to use screens.

  • Brush Teeth Gently—Timer shows where and how long to brush so there’s no urgency. Use tooth brushes with soft bristles. Hold the brush at a 45 degree angle to the teeth, rather than 90 degrees.

  • Independence—Their brushing habits and the Two Minute Turtle Timer become their own, a friendly companion as they develop their skill. Let them give it a try and then you brush with them (for quality control!)

I wrote this short piece about the challenge of training kids to brush their teeth because I hope you avoid the cavities we had. We designed the Two Minute Turtle Timer for our kids’ toothbrushing because nothing else was worked!

Here’s to your success getting young children to brush their teeth!

Let us know how the toothbrushing goes! Comment in the section below. And remember what you already know—teaching is slow.

Yours, slow and steady, Virginia

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tags kids 2 minute timer, how to teach kids to brush teeth, preschoolers learn to brush teeth