Three genius tricks to get your kids to drink more water

Once children discover alternatives to water for example soda or juice, they tend to avoid it altogether.

Most parents will agree that it is difficult to get their children to drink water voluntarily, unless they are really parched. Usually, this is after spending hours playing outside until the thirst becomes too much.

You can easily tell if your child is drinking enough water by simply checking the colour of their urine.  If it’s dark yellow, it is definitely time to get them chugging water.

Keeping your child well hydrated is important as it keeps them energised and healthy. Unfortunately, soft drinks, while tasty, actually contribute to kidney stones and are therefore not an ideal source of refreshment.

Here are a few tips that will make them grab a glass of water as often as you need them to.

Make drinking water fun

Drinking water does not have to be a boring or flavourless affair. Switch things up by making use of fancy colourful straws, cups or bottles and designate them for water only. This will give them an incentive to drink water so that they can always use their straws,cups or water bottles.

To avoid too much sugar, add healthy alternatives to your children’s drinking water by simply adding fresh fruit! Tasty examples include lemons, strawberries, oranges, mint leaves and pineapples.

Have water readily available

Make sure that the first thing within reach is water instead of other sweetened beverages. Have a water dispenser at their easiest convenience or give them water bottles which they can drink from at any time. By limiting their access to other choices of drinks, you will encourage them to drink more water.

Lead by example

It’s no secret that kids tend to take after the behaviours of those around them. If you show them that drinking water is important and fun, they will easily think of it as such. You can make it more fun by having a competition on who finishes their set amount of water the quickest.