We all know that water is hands-down the best thing for our kids to drink, but if you have a little one who is stuck on the flavor of milk or juice, it can be hard to make sure their water intake is up to par. If the H2O battle is one you’re familiar with, try out a few of these tricks that are sure to get your kids to drink more water.
5 Tricks to Get your Kids Drinking More Water
1. Buy fun cups.
Getting a special cup with your kid’s favorite movie character on it is the perfect way to get them excited about drinking more water. Be sure to only allow them to drink water out of that cup – no juice or milk! This way, they’re more likely to ask for the water because they want to show off their special cup.
TIP: Always leave their special cup full of water somewhere they can easily reach it when you’re busy.
2. Freeze ice cubes into cool shapes.
Take your kid on a little shopping trip to pick out some ice cube trays that will mold their ice into fun shapes. There’s everything from mustaches, to dogs, to rubber ducks – you just have to look around. Let them fill the ice cube trays with you so they have something to look forward to putting in their water.
3. Make it a game.
You can make your kids do just about anything if you make it into a game. Challenge your little one to drink to a certain level of their cup. If they’re using a cup with their favorite princess on it, tell them to drink until they reach the bottom of their shoe. If you don’t have a cup with a character on it, you can always use a sharpie to mark certain levels out for yourself – be sure to get creative, though. Draw little symbols or write out encouraging words that will make them want to drink more.
4. Use a straw.
Crazy straws are fun for kids no matter what age they are. If you’re really struggling to get your little one to drink more water, these connectible drinking straws are the way to go. They’ll have so much fun connecting different paths and shapes, that they’ll forget all about what’s actually in their cup. Score!
5. Add some fruit.
Anywhere that you can get some double dipping action in is an automatic win for a parent. Increasing water intake and adding some fruit to the mix? Count us in. You can add almost any fruit to water to get a hint of flavor in there without adding crazy amounts of sugar. Start off by trying lemon, if they like that, you can decide together what other types of fruits (or even veggies) you want to try next.
If all else fails, the easiest way to get them drinking more water is to get them moving! Head on over to Monkey Joe’s for hours of bouncing fun. Not only will your kid be begging for more water, but they’ll also be ready for a nap afterward – a double win! Find your nearest location here.
