Are you sweating? I’m sweating! It has been particularly hot this summer. And the more we sweat, the more dehydrated we get. In addition to keeping cool at the pool (check out what’s in my pool bag) or inside in the air conditioning, we need to keep our hydration front of mind. Yes, we need to make sure we aren’t getting dehydrated, but we also need to keep our kids hydrated.
Sometimes keeping our kids hydrated in the intense heat of summertime is easier said than done. My kids are much better at drinking water than I was as a kid, but it can still be a struggle to get them to drink enough of it. They often just don’t want to take a break from their play to hydrate.
The solution
The key to keeping our kids hydrated is to make staying hydrated fun too! I’ve tried so many things to keep my kids hydrated over the years, some that have worked and some that have not worked. I’m sharing with you the best 8 tricks up my sleeve to keep kids hydrated. The good news is that, not only do they work, but they’re easy for moms too! Read on for fun ways to keep kids hydrated.
Fun Ways to Keep Kids Hydrated
Fun water bottles
Everyone likes a fun water bottle. I mean, look at the Stanley craze. People go nuts over new colors of these things, add themselves to waitlists, and line up at Target to be the first in the door to purchase one. Even grown women get excited about a fun water bottle, so you bet our kids do too.
To get my kids excited about drinking water, I have a few water bottle options that are big hits with each kid. My 2-year-old has a Minnie Mouse water bottle, a bright pink water bottle, and a rainbow water bottle. I let her pick which one she wants each day so she’s excited about carrying her water with her everywhere she goes. Similarly, my 4-year-old has a Paw Patrol water bottle, an excavator water bottle, and an orange water bottle that he gets to decide between each day. He takes his selection very seriously and always is so proud to tell me that he drank all his water and needs more.
Straws
I drink way more water when I have a straw. I know it’s giving me mouth wrinkles, but I guess I’ve decided I’d rather have a few lines around my mouth than look like a shriveled old prune.
If a straw works for me, it works even better for my kids. All of the aforementioned water bottles have straws. When they are drinking from a vessel without a built-in straw, I offer a separate straw, often a twisty one, to encourage liquid consumption. Never underestimate the power of a fun straw!
Ice
Another trick to get kids to drink more water is to play with the temperature. I know for me and my kids, we are way more likely to drink more water if it’s ice cold. So add a little ice to those fun water bottles before you fill them up!
We also have what we call ice cups in our house, which are small plastic kids cups. My kids like me to fill them with crushed ice that they can munch on when it’s super hot outside. It’s a fun little treat for them – even the dog gets to join in on this one (she gets the bigger chunks from the 2-year-old’s cup). Don’t come for me dentists, I’m just trying to keep my kids hydrated!
Flavored water
Let’s face it, water can get boring. Sometimes you just need to jazz up the water a little bit to drink more of it. This can look like cutting up a lemon and throwing it in your water, adding a few drops of water enhancer, or stocking the fridge with cans of flavored water.
Flavored water has been a real boon to keep my 4-year-old hydrated this summer. We were walking the aisles of Target one day and he spotted the colorful boxes filled with cans of flavored water and asked if we could try one. I agreed, and he picked the watermelon lime flavor. As soon as we got home he wanted to try it and sucked it down. Hydration success! Now, every time he is at the store with me, he picks out a new flavor of water to try. It keeps the kids hydrated and entertained – a win, win!
Electrolytes
When it’s this hot outside and you find yourself spending any real amount of time out in it, you need to think about adding electrolytes. Electrolytes are important to rehydrate the body when it loses water and minerals through sweat. When it’s hotter than the surface of the sun, I am definitely sweating, and so are my kids. So, it’s nice to have a stash of electrolytes on hand to perk everyone back up.
Being from Florida and growing up in the 1990s, my #1 association with electrolytes is Gatorade. And although Gatorade is still a viable option for keeping kids hydrated, there are lots of other options available nowadays.
Pedialyte is definitely a good option that’s designed specifically for kids. You can get the Pedialyte drink of course, but it also comes in those little sticks you add to water and in popsicle form too (more on that later). Perhaps my current favorite electrolyte beverage is Liquid I.V. I don’t know how they make so many of their flavors taste so good. I never liked the taste of Gatorade, so the Liquid I.V. is a huge step up in my opinion. The tropical punch flavor is a personal favorite, but I just saw that they have a grapefruit flavor now and I’m adding to cart as I type.
Water-rich foods
Of course, your first thought when trying to keep kids hydrated is to have them drink, but kids can eat their hydration too! So many fruits and vegetables are great sources of hydration, and many of them are kid favorites!
Fruits
Coming in at 92% water each, watermelon and strawberries top the list of water-rich fruits. I don’t know about you, but I never have a problem getting my kids to eat either watermelon or strawberries, so a little fruit salad snack can come in clutch when it’s hot and your kids just aren’t drinking enough water. Just make sure you have the Oxiclean or Shout wipes nearby because these two fruits are also the best at staining kids’ clothes!
Vegetables
Some of the most water-rich vegetables are also the easiest vegetables for me to get my kids to eat.
Cucumbers have the highest water content of any solid food, coming in at 96%. Both of my kids will eat an entire cucumber in one sitting, so this is an easy way to get some water in them.
Iceberg lettuce is also a good choice and one that some kids will happily munch on if you give them enough croutons to go with the lettuce.
Celery is another water-rich veggie that you can doctor up to get your kids to consume. Grab that celery, some peanut butter, and raisins and introduce your kids to ants on a log. Just be prepared to sing The Ants Go Marching during snack time.
Another really great veggie to keep kids hydrated is the tomato. My 4-year-old is obsessed with the tiny grape and cherry tomatoes we are growing in our garden – I can’t harvest any to actually use in my kitchen because he plucks them off the plants and pops them straight into his mouth. It’s hard to complain about my kid eating vegetables, so if I actually want tomatoes for a recipe I have to stop by the grocery store.
Popsicles
My childhood, and likely your childhood, contained a lot of popsicles. They are just such a quintessential part of summer as a kid. They are also a great way to keep kids hydrated because they’re just so fun and delicious.
Sure you can buy popsicles that are very artificial flavor-heavy, but these days popsicles made with 100% juice are just as easy to come by. We prefer these juice-based popsicles in our house not only because they are a bit better for you, they also taste better to us!
I also have a friend who has recently gotten into making her own popsicles at home for her kids to inhale on a daily basis. All you need is a popsicle mold, some fruit, a blender, and a freezer and you’re in business to make popsicles all summer long!
Smoothies
Similar to the popsicle angle, smoothies are also a great way to keep kids hydrated with a delicious treat. My kids have a smoothie every morning on the way to school. They are delicious, nutritious, and portable, so they’re a great way to start the day. In addition to providing hydration, smoothies can also be a wonderful way to sneak some bonus nutrients into your kids. I make sure to include some protein from either full fat Greek yogurt or a nut butter, a leafy green vegetable like spinach or kale, and some Omega 3s from the addition of chia seeds. Smoothies are great!
I hope these tips help you keep your kids hydrated this summer. Maybe you can even try some of these ideas for yourself too? Happy hydration!