I love drinking water. I prefer water to any other drink, even to fruit juice, unless it is fresh and homemade fruit juice without sugar. I would love to inculcate this habit in my kids too, however, they don't like water too much. I add a squeeze of lemon into the water, or crush and add a cardamom for flavor, or add vanilla pods in the water to make it more palatable and healthy. Do you have any tips to make water more palatable for kids?
First, I have to say that you are setting a great example by drinking water in front of your kids. Eventually, monkey see money do (hopefully). How old are your kids? My kids always wanted a drink at bedtime and I never allowed anything but water. At first they didn't like it and whined a bit like usual. My older son decided he would try it because it was better than nothing and now he loves water. Kids are also infatuated with water bottles so I occasionally allowed them to have their own water bottles (only 1/4 full) when I had mine. Now that they are getting a little older, away from the sippy cup stage, they love drinking water in their very own batman cups! LOL If your kids are younger, give them water bottles (no cap) only filled 1/4 full. My kids liked to dump out the water. If your kids are older, give them their own special cups. Sometimes having that very cool cup makes the drink taste a little better. Do you have crushed ice? Most kids love to eat crushed ice. They may not realize they are drinking/eating water. You can also make your own ice pops since summer is coming. That would also be fun.
Why not try sparkling water, with a little fresh fruit juice for flavour? The kids will think they're drinking soda, but you will know it's much more healthy than that. Kids like stuff with bubbles in, and sparkling water is water but with bubbles. It's certainly worth a try. If it's more convenient, flavour the water with sugar free cordial.
I love water and to me its still the healthiest drink we can have even with flouride added. What makes me scratch my head is the bottled water industry in countries where the tap water is safe! Why??
I don't see how it's hard trying to get kids to try healthy things. I put half water in my kids drinks usually I put more water than juice or anything I just put a little bit of the juice to give it taste and that seems to work for my kids
Water is essential to the body. Sparkling and other flavored water like orange juice are appealing to kids so you could encourage them with that so they have a daily in take of the right dosage of water in their body. It's always good to be quenched not just when you're thirsty. This helps your body be refreshed and actually rejuvenate.
I drink water pretty regularly throughout the day, but it's mainly because I don't like drinking things that leave a strong aftertaste, such as soda, when I am thirsty. I very much against buying bottled water though for a variety of reasons. Check out the movie "Tapped" to see why. You could also try to get them to drink iced teas instead. It's cheap to make and relatively healthy for you as well.
Water is pretty much the only thing I drink. I find it more refreshing than most drinks (even a lot of fruit juices). In addition, it has the advantage of being free! I have a few plastic bottles I keep in my fridge so whenever I want a cool glass of water, I do not even have to run the tap. For the children, you mentioned you add a squeeze of lemon. You could try other citrus fruits such as limes and oranges. Having a variety might help and they might eventually pick a "favourite" one they prefer over the others.
