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5 Ways to Flavor Water

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Water is boring to some kids, but essential to drink often!  This summer, it’s important to keep your kids hydrated.  Try one of these 5 ways to flavor water for your kids today! How much water should your kids be drinking?  New recommendations do not have a specific amount.  With different climates, activity level, and genetics, everyone needs a different amount.  A tried and true rule of thumb is the pee test!

So, for letter-W, we are talking about flavoring up water!  We love plain old water here, but sometimes to mix it up (or for fancy dinners and celebrations), we also like to add flavor to our water.  Of the many delicious add-ins to water, our favorite is lemon slices and mint leaves!  My sister in law made this for our last family party, and it was delicious!! Thanks Beth!

5 ways to flavor water

 

But, we also like:

  1. Frozen cherries added to our water!
  2. Use essential oils like lemon, lime, or even  mint to kick up the flavor a notch.
  3. One slice lemon plus sliced cucumbers.  Very light and refreshing!
  4. Ginger and lemon.  Use sparkling water, and this tastes like Ginger ale!
  5. Fresh Fruit!  We love strawberry, pineapple, kiwi or even orange!

Kids Favorite Flavored Waters

For best flavor, let your add-ins sit in the water for a few hours to infuse the whole pitcher or glass!

Any other water flavor ideas?

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

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11 Comments

Great ideas! The only thing I could think of to get my kids to drink more water was by using crystal light, but I don’t like the idea of adding artificial ingredients to their diet. These are great ideas that I will definitely be implementing! Thanks!

I had a FB reader question me about the use of essential oils. She said, “Natural extracts make sense but I’ve never heard of drinking EO’s. Anybody know if this is really okay?” Have you used them before in this manner? Is it because they are diluted (1-2 drops in a glass) that they would be OK? Thanks for your time 🙂

My sister in law DID use a small amount of mint oil in her mint lemon water. It was delicious! Yes, I do believe this is very safe, and lots of people love it!

Essential Oils are sold in our local baking department, if it’s not edible, it shouldn’t be there. So I’m going to assume the EO are ok to consume.

Can use other frozen fruits, yes??

I’ve got frozen blueberries, pineapple, strawberries… And maybe even a bag of mixed fruits too. It’s fall/winter now, so I don’t buy fresh fruits thanks to fruit flies.

The AIA (Alliance of International Aromatherapists) has this to say about using Essential Oils internally: Internal Use Statement
AIA does not endorse internal therapeutic use (oral, vaginal or rectal) of essential oils unless recommended by a health care practitioner trained at an appropriate clinical level. An appropriate level of training must include chemistry, anatomy, diagnostics, physiology, formulation guidelines and safety issues regarding each specific internal route (oral, vaginal or rectal). Please refer to the AIA Safety Guidelines for essential oil use.

NAHA has this to say: . Internal Use

Do not take essential oils internally without appropriate advanced aromatherapy education and understanding of the safety issues involved in doing so. To learn more, we recommend you receive education from a NAHA approved school. Please visit here to explore schools. Many individuals throughout the United States and the world are utilizing essential oils internally. Most are doing so without appropriate knowledge or understanding of how, when, how much, what essential oils, for what purpose, safety concerns, etc. Whilst NAHA does not support the uneducated use of essential oils internally, we are dedicated to providing education in this area so that internal use is better understood and if done, is performed safely and effectively.

These are 2 highly recognized organizations that are saying not to do it. Young Living is a business trying to sell you a product and make a profit and they say it’s safe. Who would you rather believe???

I would like to make the ginger + Lemon + sparkling water…. how much ginger (ground?) and lemon to how much water?

Hi Amy, we actually use fresh ginger sliced into coins and fresh lemon slices. You can totally flavor it to taste… no hard and fast rules here. 🙂