how to keep kids hydrated in the summer: 6 cool ways

The following Rockstar Sunday guest post is written by smart and savvy Orlenad of Snotty Noses. Orlena is a mother of four and a doctor and she blogs.

What? How?

I wonder the same thing. I’m continually amazed.

Check it out!

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How to Keep Kids Hydrated in the Summer, by Orlena Kerek

Last week it was definitely still spring. A slight breeze, a cloud here or there, a slightly British mother living in Spain, complaining about the lack of sun. Ahem.

Then on Monday, summer arrived. The two clouds disappeared, the wind stopped, the weather man said “32 degrees (Celsius, which equals about 90° F), but feels like 42° (Celsius which equals about 98° F)”.

I’m not sure how that works, but it did. Even the locals were complaining.

My kids began to melt.

Since then I’ve been on “keeping the kids cool and hydrated” super power mum mode!

Small children, especially babies aren’t great at regulating their body temperature. It’s not difficult for them to become dehydrated if you don’t keep on top of their fluid intake.

But there are lots of great, fun ways to keep them drinking.

1. Drink mostly water. It’s the best fluid for you when you’re well. But yes, I know, I have 4 children. They drink quite a lot of water (when they get thirsty it’s what they ask for.) If they don’t want water, diluted fruit juice or squash is fine but not good for teeth so best with meals.

2. Use straws as a great way to get your kids drinking. You can get super amazing ones now. Ones that go round and round, or do squiggly shapes, or really really long ones that my kids love. (The 2 boys drank the entire jug in the picture between them over an afternoon.)

3. Bring in the ice. Kids love ice, either in drinks or by itself, or to play with. Get some fun ice cube trays and you’ll be filling your freezer five times a day.

4. Eat fruit. Some fruits are very high in water content and are great source of liquid. Our favourite is watermelon. I put it in the fridge so it’s refreshing and cool. A great, hydrating snack.

5. Freeze everything. Make home made popsicles. I mostly use fruit, so mashed banana, cooked apple or peach, anything you fancy really. My recent favourite was a bit of chopped up mango that was looking a little sorry for itself and milk. If you don’t have a popsicle maker you can use the ice cube trays. If you run out of fruit, diluted cordial freezes well too. My toddler twins walk up to the freezer and ask for them whenever they like and as they’re just fruit, they make a great snack.

6. Make water readily available. Children will drink when they’re thirsty if there is a drink available. I leave the toddler’s sippy cups on the floor so that they can help themselves. The older boys have cups on tables that they can reach. And they have cups with lids on to take to bed.

Children can really suffer in the heat and keeping them hydrated is important. A great way to check is to look at their wee (sorry I’ve been a doctor and mother for too long to get squeamish about such things.). It should be a nice clear yellowy colour. If it looks dark yellow encourage them to drink more.

How about you? Do you have any great tips to share that get your kids drinking?

Thank you, thank you Orlena! GREAT ideas!

Orlena is a paediatric doctor (that’s a british pediatrician) or at least she was until she moved to Spain with her 4 small children and started blogging about children’s health, parenting and fun things to do. You can find her at snotty-noses.com/blog. She offers great pdf bribes if you sign up to her newsletter My Baby’s Sleep and 30 Tips to Get your Kids to Eat and LOVE Vegetables

Looking for more ways to create a literacy-focused environment? Stop by and follow these great educational Pinterest boards:

Snotty Noses blog | Orlena, Snotty Noses
Parenting for All | Orlena, Snotty Noses
Children’s Health | Orlena, Snotty Noses
foundations | teach mama
summer fun and cool for kids | teach mama
movin and groovin | teach mama

This post is part of our new Rockstar Sunday posts. Each week, I will highlight one ‘rockstar’ in the parenting and education field. These posts? Seriously awesome.

Have something you’d like to share that in some way relates to fun learning, school, technology, education, or parenting? For a short time we’ll be accepting Rockstar Sunday guest posts.

The response to our Rockstar Sunday feature has been overwhelming. I am in awe of the ideas, submissions, and shares!

Having been in the blogging space for 5+ years, we know for sure that our readers are always up for fresh and fun ideas on literacy, math, technology, parenting, and learning in the every day. They love crafts, hands-on teaching ideas, printables, cooking with kids, and anything that makes their job as parents easier, better, and more fun.

You don’t have to have a blog of your own–just cool ideas to share! We look forward to hearing from you!

other posts in the series: