Use employee engagement to further your mission in local communities.
We held a contest at Delta Dental of Colorado amongst our team members to build toothbrush houses. Employees teamed up for a fun and creative project to promote oral health at local title 1 schools.
Upcycling cardboard boxes, teams assembled structures ranging from quaint birdhouses to sprawling castles. The challenge was to build a house where we could take the toothbrushes off of the house and reuse them, but also provide enough toothbrushes, paste, and floss for 10 DPS schools. This was a great way to get involved with the community while inspiring some friendly completion and team-building at work.
Interested in hosting a similar contest in your office? We’ve supplied instructions for the competition below!
Supplies:
- Paint and brushes
- Glue
- Hot glue gun
- Any size cardboard boxes
- Toothbrushes
- Double-sided tape
- Scissors
- Imagination
Instructions:
- To make a fun surprise to boost employee engagement, request they bring in their extra cardboard boxes in advance.
- When you’re ready to announce, let them know that the cardboard boxes are for a toothbrush house-building contest. You can also replace the toothbrush concept with something that reflects your company’s brand.
- Add a purpose to each of your toothbrush houses. For us, each house went to a Title 1 Denver public elementary school along with enough toothbrushes, paste, and floss for every student.
- Divide departments evenly into teams to compete to build the best structure, from a quaint cottage to a sprawling skyscraper, or anything else in-between.
- Encourage creativity, fun, and participation during breaks or over lunch.
- Teams will assemble the cardboard boxes as a framework, then decorate with paint before adding the toothbrushes. We let teams know what school their house was going to before they started in case they wanted to incorporate school colors or mascots into the design.
- Teams are encouraged to be resourceful and incorporate their own creativity.
- Pick a date to judge the houses and a few prizes for the winners!
The day we delivered our first toothbrush house was Halloween. This was perfect to help children understand that oral health is important year-round, and especially as they enjoy all of their candy and treats. We know that children who have cavities and dental issues are three times more likely to miss school. That’s why we gave over 4,000 oral health products to 10 Title 1 Elementary and Middle schools in DPS.
We had 10 Delta Dental of Colorado teams, pairing departments together to add some cross-team collaboration. Team members took the challenge and used it as a team-building experience.
They took breaks, enjoyed each other’s company, and used it as a great way to take a brain break from their daily work.
Delta Dental of Colorado has a very robust corporate social responsibility program – from our employee volunteering to giving back to non-profit organizations that support oral and overall health, in addition to supporting our school systems. Delta Dental is a nonprofit insurance company and our goal is to give back to the communities we serve, and that’s across the state. Things like the toothbrush house contest and our sponsorships, our employee volunteering in the community, are meant to give back to support all Coloradoans and their oral health.
Share your toothbrush houses with us on social media! Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages.