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Drinking water
Easy Level
This tip seems easy enough, right?
It’s important that water is your main choice of drink.
You should keep your body hydrated to help you work to the best of your ability.
- Swap juices and fizzy for water as your drink option.
- Get into a habit of making sure your water bottle is with you most of the time and take small sips throughout the day to stay hydrated.
- Add some natural flavouring to your water bottle (sliced oranges, lemons, mint or strawberries, cucumbers or berries). Get creative!
- Add some ice cubes to keep your drink cooler for longer.
Being hydrated can boost your brain function (how you think), help body function, help digestion, and increase energy.
A human can only survive a couple of days without water.
Drinking water improves memory and attention.
It helps you maintain a healthy weight, reduces the risk for some long-term diseases, keeps your heart happy and helps prevent tooth decay. 1
If you are aged 4-18 years old, you should drink between 5-8 cups of water a day.2
You can check how hydrated you are by simply looking at your wee! The darker the urine the more water you need. The paler yellow your urine means you’ve had a good intake of water.
Small changes CAN make a big difference – that’s what The 1% Kids’ Club is all about!
- Encourage water-only drinking in your class.
- Allow children access to their water bottles during the day.
- Encourage water drinking as a nice transition between tasks.
- Have spare cups for children who forget their bottles otherwise they could opt to go without for the day.
- Set up a water station with some natural flavouring (such as orange slices, lemon, mint, and strawberries)-this could be given to a child in the class as a classroom job.
- Ensure everyone has a reusable water bottle.
- Make a jug of water- add some flavouring to make it more appealing (such as orange slices, lemon, mint, and strawberries).
- Make ice cubes with some natural flavouring (orange slices, lemon, mint, strawberries) and pop them into water bottles to make water even more appealing to drink.
- Start your day with a large glass of water.
- CDC: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/features/water_access.htm#:~:text=Drinking%20water%20improves%20memory%20and,prevent%20dental%20cavities%2C%20if%20fluoridated - Hydration Tips for Children. Health Direct (Australia). June 2024.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/hydration-tips-for-children - Hydration in Children: What Do We Know and Why Does it Matter? 2019:74 Suppl 3:11-18. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31203294/