Parents, teachers, youth group leaders, and other community groups are always on the lookout for fun craft ideas, especially over the holidays. Adults may be interested for their own reasons as celebrations for grownups need decorations and party favors, too. Businesses also run lots of marketing campaigns in the 4th quarter to end the year on a profitable note. While there are ways to use trading cards in just about every industry, I ran across an interesting press release from the American Dental Association that got my mind going. Last year, the ADA printed 5 million free trading cards as part of a large scale campaign called “Stop Zombie Mouth,” promoting healthy eating habits and oral health. The National Oral Health Campaign included coupons for a free game download, and encouraged adults to offer “tooth friendly alternatives” to candy for trick-or-treaters.
Halloween Trading Card Ideas for Dentists
There’s no reason why your local dental practice can’t run a campaign with the same theme for our national sugarfest. Here are some fun ways you can use branded cards as teaching tools for your pediatric patients.
- Create a Trivia Game – Help kids learn about the 4 food groups, the different types of teeth, daily mouth care, and other important stuff with colorful cards.
- Show Off Your Staff – Introduce new patients to your staff members in the Halloween spirit! Have your receptionists, hygienists, and everyone else dress up in costumes and then make cards with the photos. Just be sure to avoid masks or heavy face makeup.
- Nutrition Suggestions Front and Back Design – A variation of the trivia game concept would be to have familiar Halloween characters on the front in a spooky setting holding an unhealthy item labeled “trick” which an alternative nutritious “treat” on the back. The same character would appear on the back enjoying the substitute treat, such as a shiny red apple instead of a caramel dipped apple.
- Tooth Care Tips – Kids are more likely to pay attention to flossing if a witch or a zombie asks them to. Another way to present the information would be to develop illustrations of dental monsters i.e. tooth decay, cavities, and plaque.
Dental Community Feedback
Did your practice participate in last year’s Stop Zombie Mouth campaign? Are you planning to pass out cards to kids at Halloween or Christmas? Tell us in the comments below!