As the weather heats up, your child may be looking for a refreshing beverage to cool down. Rather than handing them a juice box, keep a bottle of water nearby to give them a healthy, revitalizing drink. Every living thing needs water to survive—especially your children. Water makes up more than half of your body weight and without water, the body would stop working properly. The body has several important jobs and it needs water to do many of them. When the body doesn’t have enough water, your child will become dehydrated and may feel sick. Read below for some tips on how to keep your child hydrated throughout the summer.
If your child is into sports and has a game or practice, they should drink water before, during, and after playing. They can’t play, or feel, their best if they are constantly thinking about how thirsty they are.
Add some herbs and fresh fruit to your child’s water if they want a little sweetness without the sugar crash. Popular choices to add to your water includes strawberries, watermelons, mint, cucumbers and lemons.
Your body doesn’t get water only from drinking water, many fruit contain water too. When you bite into a fresh fruit like an apple or an orange, the “juices” that are released are actually water naturally sweetened by the fruits. Pack a fresh fruit for your little one for a hydrating snack during the day. Another fun alternative is fresh fruit popsicles.