I am always reminding my boys to drink plenty at meal times and regularly during the day. However, when they are at school I have no control over the amount of water they consume, and I can only hope that my gentle nagging, nay encouraging reminders (!), will be on their minds while there are away from me.
We need water to keep our bodies functioning at its best, and to prevent dehydration. Water is more important than food for your body’s survival. You can survive without water for about one week, and yet you can live without food for more than a month. Lack of water, otherwise known as dehydration, reduces the amount of blood in your body, which forces your heart to pump harder in order to deliver oxygen-bearing cells to your muscles.
For children, drinking plenty of water to remain hydrated is even more important, especially when they are at school. The amount a child needs to drink varies greatly, owing to factors such as age, gender, the weather and how much physical activity they do. Sweating after exercise and running around can cause dehydration, which is why it is essential to have bottles of water available to children, Aikido always makes Burton and Jenson drink a whole bottle of water by the end of the hour long session, infact I usually have to refill Burton’s.
Hot weather can cause dehydration very quickly so it is crucial that children can rehydrate themselves often in the heat.
It is advised that children aged 4-13 years should aim to drink approximately 6-8 glasses of fluid a day in addition to the water included in the food in their diet.
Here are some other facts about how much water children should drink:
• Water is the best way to hydrate as it’s free of sugar, sweeteners, colourings and calories
• Kids don’t always recognize when they’re thirsty, so it’s best to encourage good drinking habits early
• Sipping throughout the day is the best way to encourage hydration
• Popping a bottle of Highland Spring into Burton and Jenson’s school lunch boxes reminds them to remember to sip at school
• It’s harder for kids to concentrate when they’re dehydrated
• Studies have shown that kids who drink a litre of water over the course of a school day have better short-term memory and generally perform better than those who don’t
• Water at mealtimes can help children tolerate vegetables
• Sometimes if kids don’t drink enough during the day, they get thirsty and drink before bed. This can increase the risk of little accidents during the night
My boys, like most children, have bags of energy so I always make sure I take a drink for them when we go out for bike rides, walks and when they do their sports because those things make them very thirsty. Burton will drink water no problem, Jenson is a little fussier as he prefers squash, but he will drink water if I buy bottled water, bizarrely! I want them to drink frequently while they are at school, because keeping hydrated at school ensures they they remain alert and their brains active which will aid them in their learning. Not drinking enough can not only make them feel dizzy, sick or sleepy but can cause headaches. I know when I have not drunk enough in a day, because I will get a headache.
However, how do you encourage children to drink plenty of water at school when you are not there to remind them and check up on them? Here are some top tips for making drinking water more appealing to school aged children:
- Decorate the bottles with stickers or buy branded water bottles from Mugstore – they do not cost much to buy and the children could even decorate them themselves while you are making their packed lunch, and add some google eyes or draw faces on them with felt tip pens.
- Let them upcycle the empty water bottles , my boys love making things out of junk.
- Do a sticker reward chart at home for congratulating them on drinking so well while at school. You could give your child handful of stickers (different to the ones they might decorate their bottles with of course, maybe stars) in their school bag and for every time their bottle is refilled, they can stick a sticker on their bottle and then when they are home you can add a tick to their chart. At the end of each week they win a little prize.
- If your child likes ice, add some to their drinks – my two will drink more of their drink when it has ice in it, and after all ice is more water. You could even make shaped ice cubes, we have a Lego mould
- You could add frozen fruit as ice cubes
- Flavour water with lemon, lime or orange slices or maybe mint leaves for those who are not keen on water alone
- Use funky straws – again my two will drink anything through a straw, whether they be standard ones or those twisty novelty ones
- Use fun drinking tumblers /cups/glasses
- Keep water in a drinks dispenser in the fridge so they can help themselves , my two love being able to pour their own water out of the tap
- Keep a supply of bottled Highland Spring water in your fridge so they are easy to grab and go when you are on your way out the door.
How do you encourage your children to drink more water?
I’m working with Highland Spring and BritMums in a paid relationship promoting the #TermTimeEssentials campaign about the importance of hydration to kids. Visit http://highlandspringmagazine.com for more advice and tips.
JuggleMum, Nadine Hill
Wow, I didn’t realise that water at mealtimes can help children tolerate vegetables!!! Will have to try this on my son! Great tips.
jphowze
I love your tip of decorating your bottles of water with stickers. How fun!
Jenny Paulin
Thank you, my two love decorating anything with stickers! x
Sam | North East Family Fun
Oh I bet my three children would love lego-themed ice – thanks for the tip x
Jenny Paulin
You are welcome, thank you for popping over x
Jaime Oliver
We are funky straw users too .. the funkier the better for Joshua
HELEN
I bet Jenson is loving your large delivery of bottled water – no excuses to drink squash now! 😉
Jenny Paulin
ha ha indeed! 😉 x
TheMadHouse
LOVE that picture of Burton! It is such an important thing to get the kids drinking lots of water and fancy straws are ace for little ones
myfussyeaterblog
I love the idea of using stickers on bottles. I need to try this!
Caroline Job
Swimming is an easy sport to forget about drinking water. The kids having swimming lessons are in the water, surrounded by water…. but not drinking it! So important though isn’t it? We always drink water at mealtimes (even though I didn’t know it helps kids tolerate veggies! Great tips x
Donna Wishart
LP and Little Man never remember to drink anything – I am constantly having to remind them. It’s just so important to stay hydrated! x