The Brush Song

Colourful animated video of children brushing their teeth to a fun and catchy song.

The Brush Song

animation illustration

An animated sing-along video that turns the daily struggle of getting kids to brush their teeth into something they actually look forward to.

Problem

Getting young children to brush their teeth properly is a daily battle for a lot of parents. It's repetitive, it's easy to rush, and kids lose interest fast. Queensland Health needed a resource that could hold a child's attention for the full two minutes of brushing, while quietly reinforcing good habits, rather than another instructional video that gets tuned out.

Solution

I designed a diverse line-up of characters styled like the kind of kids' TV shows children already love, then animated them to an original song written by the Queensland Health team. To keep young viewers genuinely engaged through repetition, the animation cuts away to short gag scenes and hides simple in-scene jokes for kids to spot, all while modelling correct brushing technique in the main scenes.

Why it works

Framing the habit as entertainment rather than instruction is what makes it stick. Kids ask to watch it again, which means the modelled behaviour (and the brushing) happens again too. That approach paid off well beyond the brief: the video was picked up by the news and is approaching 1.5 million views, showing it worked as a shareable public health resource, not just a one-off classroom aid.

Role

Direction, Character Design, Illustration & Animation

Credits

Client: Queensland Health Direction, Animation & Illustration: Cameron Pyke & Tom Ward Music: Dan Smith

Illustration of two 2D child characters and a dog in a bathroom setting. Left girl and dog watch middle girl applying toothpaste to her brush in a fun and flamboyant way.

Illustrated 2D vector character lineup. Colourful children, adults and a dog in a minimal bathroom setting.

Collection of colour illustrated characters and props used throughout the health educational animation for children.

Colour palette used throughout the illustration and animation and a break down of the vector shapes used to create one of the 2D characters using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects.