To celebrate World Oral Health Day, members of Warwickshire Libraries’ Youth Advisory Board hosted their second ‘Tooth-tastic’ Fun Palace at Nuneaton Library recently.
The event built upon the Youth Advisory Board’s commitment to promoting good dental hygiene for children.
Designed and delivered by Youth Advisory Board members, the event featured a variety of engaging and educational stalls. Activities included Nela’s ‘eggshell experiment’ showing the effects of different drinks on tooth enamel; Phoebe and Evie’s giant tooth model and toothbrushing practice station; and Rafi’s special storytelling sessions. Families enjoyed interacting with their activities throughout the day, with one attendee commenting: “Lovely vibrant displays! Welcoming staff gave me lots of information.”
Illustrator Chris White joined Youth Advisory Board members on the day, and delivered exciting and interactive drawing workshops all themed around teeth.
The Fun Palace event also worked in partnership with the County Council’s Oral Health Improvement Team, who shared resources from their toothbrushing scheme ‘Brilliant Brushers’, providing information to parents about how to help children aged three to five develop healthy brushing habits.
Youth Board member Nela Stefancinova highlighted the importance of accessible events for local communities:
“As a member of the Youth Advisory Board, it has been rewarding to lead meaningful workshops. Seeing audiences benefit from such experiences has led me to recognise the importance of community-based education.”
The “Tooth-tastic” Fun Palace is part of Warwickshire Libraries’ wider programme of events designed to empower young people, promote wellbeing, and bring communities together through learning and creativity.
Warwickshire County Council’s Executive Director for Resources, Rob Powell, said:
“This fun day delivered real benefits for the local community, creating opportunities for young people to lead and shape an event while promoting positive oral health messages that will help instil good habits early on. It also encouraged more people to use the library. In this National Year of Reading, finding creative ways like this to bring residents into libraries and support learning is vital.”
For more information about World Oral Health Day, visit www.worldoralhealthday.org/