Tooth Fairy Fun!
by Mia Cronan
http://MainStreetMom.com 

A while back, I asked around for fun ideas on making the loss of a tooth a fond memory for children.  Some great ideas started rolling in, so I've compiled them for your enjoyment and use.  Thank you, everyone, who contributed!  We've got some real "pearls" of wisdom here.  Get it?

My daughter just lost her first tooth. Under her pillow she will find a Sacagawea (sp?) dollar and a coin from another country. We can then look up where the coin came from and have a geography lesson. This also alleviates the need to keep up with the families that are giving $5 or $10 a tooth, since she doesn't know how much that coin is worth. When I was growing up I got a silver dollar per tooth...I still have the one that I got at my grandparents house that is dated 1922. If you need to find some foreign currency ask your teller at your bank. They generally find some in the rolls of quarters and have no use for them.
~ Jennifer

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My daughter has lost six teeth so far. The going rate here is west MI is $1.00 a tooth. That has gone up from a quarter from when I was a kid. My daughter was unable to write when she first started losing teeth, so I put her tooth in an envelope and told her that the tooth fairy was magical and would just poof her tooth out of a sealed envelope and replace it with a dollar. (I wrote out a new envelope.) Well, that worked the first time. After that she wanted to write the envelope herself so I had to come up with a new excuse for her not to seal it. She remembered what I said though. 
~ L. Paddock

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We have four children, ages 16,14,11 1/2, and 5. The going rate for our household has always been one dollar per tooth. What I always do, is find a different way each time to give the money. One time will be all pennies, one time dimes, etc. Or, I will fold the dollar like a fan, crumble it into a ball, or into a long rectangle, etc. They never know how it will come-- it keeps the excitement going. Each kid has a different container, pouch, etc that they chose to hold the tooth and then the "loot". I know people who give up to 5 or 10 dollars each for the tooth, but in our opinion that makes then too greedy-- also, some of our children have lost three teeth in a night-- it gets WAY too expensive.
I hope this helps!!
~ Pamela Mc.

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My kids always got silver dollars, my daughter got Susan B. Anthony dollars. They;re a little hard to find, but there's Sacajawea ones out now too. ( I know that's misspelled) They still have them all. 
~ June 

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I liked to put glitter under the pillow along with the quarter (which eventually became a dollar as my son got older). That way there was fairy dust, not just money. It would be a note saying thanks for the tooth written in glue and then sprinkled with glitter. 
Joanne W.

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I would just like to remind you to at least take a snapshot (face only shot) to remember her first "window to the world."  I did this and just got the film back last night....I wouldn't trade it for anything.
~ Pam

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The following books are really great on this subject:

Norman Fools the Tooth Fairy, by Carol Carrick
The Story of the Tooth Fairy, by Tom Paxton
Science Fair Bunnies, by Kathryn Lasky
Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth, by Lucy Bate
Tabitha's Terrifically Tough Tooth, by Charlotte Middleton

We have these books in our public library.  My children's dentist gave them each a little plastic treasure chest to put their teeth in when placed under
their pillows. Some female relative or friend gave one of my children a felt pouch in the shape of a tooth to put under the pillow. My youngest is 11 and my oldest is 17, so my memory is a little hazy.  My children received from 50 cents to a dollar for each tooth. The youngest got the dollar rate.
Hope this is helpful!
~ Cindy R.

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The tooth fairy leaves my kids "special coin" such as a silver dollar, Susan B Anothony, the new gold dollar coin, .50 piece, even a $2 bill - just something different. (My husband has a small collection.) But this has started my kids with their own coin collection - they call this their "special money" and don't spend it. They have fun keeping it in different banks, boxes, etc. and like to show it off now and then.
~ Susan J

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When my kids were little enough to still be losing lots of teeth, the tooth fairy gave them $5 for the first tooth only and then $1 for each tooth after that. Also, I had them tape the tooth in a plastic bag to the side of their beds or to the wall, or something, so that tooth fairy didn't have to try to find the tooth under the pillow in the middle of the night without waking the little darlings! 
~ Unknown

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I have a six year old as well, and we give 50 cents  per tooth from the Tooth Fairy. My daughter, Meghan, saves that money in a special jar because the Tooth Fairy brought it to her! We must be doing something right because she wants to save all the money she receives, from her birthday, Christmas and Halloween. She has saved, in addition to her savings account, a grand total of $60.00!  Good luck!
~ Pattie N.

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Instead of leaving money, we would leave a small toy under our kids pillow. Our boys always loved Matchbox cars, they were also easy to slip under the pillow. One year, we left a mini summer sausage under my sons pillow. He loved sausage and that is what he ate all the time. He is now 11 and still talks about the time the Tooth Fairy left him a sausage.
~ Doreen

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Thanks so much for your e-newsletter, I enjoy it very much. Congratulations to your little one on the loose tooth! Below is the url for a printable tooth fairy
certificate( I cannot take credit for finding this wonderful site, some moms on some shopping boards mentioned it.) We used it, and it was fun!  http://www.dltk-kids.com/books/images/ctoothcertificate.gif  
Enjoy! Sincerely, 
~ Anne

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First, decide how much to give (it shouldn't be a lot--a quarter is good) and make sure your husband knows the amount! When my kids were little, I gave them a quarter for each tooth. Well, one time my husband subbed for the "tooth fairy". He, not knowing the going rate, gave $1.00. Our son, enterprising little guy that he was, started forcibly wriggling out his teeth so he could get some more money! He wriggled out 3 teeth! The child was toothless for about 3 years! After the 3rd tooth in a few days came out, I called a family meeting and told the children that the "tooth fairy" was banned from the house.

After my mom passed away, I needed to go through her things. There in a box in the corner of her dresser drawer I found quite a few tiny baby teeth. I guess she didn't know what to do with them! I usually keep them for awhile (don't have a clue why!) and then I toss them out without the kids seeing, of course! Hope this helps!
~ Dodie 

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At our house we give a five dollars for the first tooth. Two dollars for every other tooth except molars get three. I dont know how this came to be.But we also found that you take a little velvet pouch with a draw string. And put gold dollars in it. My kids think it is cool to get them. and they say the pouch is the tooth fairys pack. Like santa claus's pouch. But small because the tooth fairy is small like tinkerbell.
~ lavenderose

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Just one thing - make sure the tooth will be easy for the "Tooth Fairy" to get without disturbing the child. (We have a little stuffed felt "tooth" with a heart pocket on the side that holds the real tooth, but a ziploc bag worked the time we couldn't find it.) I had no problem getting my daughter to leave the tooth displayed prominently on her bedside stand, instead of under her pillow, so the "Tooth Fairy" would be sure to find it. Good Luck!
~ Lisa C. 

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What I have done in the past is my boy's have gotten a little box out of a gumball machine and placed their teeth in it. Also we have gotten one from our dentist so you could check there. I usually give them a dollar coin or if it was a traumatic tooth loss (My youngest had surgery at children's hospital and had 4 pulled and a molar cut out) he received 5 dollars and a special toy. We had to leave a note to the tooth fairy that time because hospital kept his teeth. Just use your imagination. The possibilities are endless!
~ Colleen

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Hi,
My 6 year old lost her first tooth about a month ago. I put it in a cup with water (somewhere I had heard to do this). When she wasn't looking, I took the tooth out and put in two quarters. Then I waited till she went to take a peek at her missing tooth. It took her a little while to notice it, but got really excited when she saw the two quarters. She's getting ready to lose her second tooth so I'll either do the same thing or come up with something else fun!
~ Kirstin T.

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