At Little Moments Child Care we provide home-based services in Whakatāne. We’d only been open a year when we joined Building Blocks in February 2019.

We chose to focus on the Smile Block first, and we realised that we didn’t have an Oral Health Policy in place. We used the example from Building Blocks and it was a great starting point. Creating a new policy provided us with an opportunity to share with our Educarers and whānau about why oral health is important, and how we can support our tamariki to have good oral health.

Focusing on oral health involved everyone, our Educarers, whānau and tamariki. Some of our Educarers attended professional development provided by the BOPDHB Oral Health Team. It raised awareness about the importance of good oral health practices and increased their knowledge around preventative strategies. Discussions were held at our Educarer meetings, at whanau play groups and with our tamariki. One of our grandmothers, who is a retired dental nurse came in for an extended mat time with the children, teaching them all about caring for their teeth. It was great having her with us.

Encouraging healthy kai and drinking water and milk only, was also a key strategy. Our Educarers gained a greater understanding of healthy kai. They noticed tamariki brought in a lot of packaged food which was high in sugar. We found great resources from the Heart Foundation and Health Promotion Agency to promote healthy lunch boxes, and also initiated a package-free Friday. We have been encouraging our Educarers and whānau to role model healthy eating, and also planted more fruit trees. We distributed water bottles to all Educarers and tamariki and enjoyed good engagement from our parents via social media.  

We had previously won the model of a big plastic mouth, so we also used that to help educate the children about brushing their teeth. We visited a retirement home with the children, and the elderly people there had a blast talking teeth with them.

To continue promoting oral heath, we are planning to have regular events such as ‘package free Fridays’ and ‘dress up the colour of your toothbrush’. We are also encouraging our Educarers to plant vegetables with the tamariki.

By completing the Smile Block, we recognised areas where we could improve our policies and raise awareness with our Educarers, whānau and tamariki. It also helped us to take notice of what kai was being brought in, and then to find resources and events to help promote healthier options.