Rugrats underfoot? Trying to avoid giving them lots of sugar? Beverages present something of a conundrum. Once kids get a taste of juice, plain old water ceases to appeal. But juice is full of sugar, empty calories—and it costs an arm and a leg.
One option is to heavily dilute their juice with water, and get them used to a milder sweetness. Another option? Iced tea. It’s cheap, and gives kiddos flavor without all that sugar. Make a big pitcher of diluted iced tea. Celestial Seasonings has good herbal options, or check in our book because we grow our own (herbs) for teas and have some wonderful tips. If need be, add a tiny bit of honey. Or opt for agave nectar, which has a low glycolic index (unlike sucrose) and so doesn’t cause spikes in blood sugar levels.
Just be aware that some herbal teas can be quite potent–and as always check with a doc if you’re adding a new ‘ingredient’ into their little systems!
Plus, tea is just so much more sophisticated than juice. Your little one will be a pinky-flagging biscuit-eater in no time. Just be sure to choose a caffeine-free option—otherwise the strategy backfires, and Johnny’s dancing on the ceiling all afternoon.
We only drink brewed tea here and we make it by the gallon….I buy some decaf filters now and use sweetner and my kids love it. We also use sweetner in koolaid. I hate water and tea gives me heart burn but maybe some of the flaovred tea would work for me…Green tea though is gross lol.
‘friend’?
I will never forget the friend who gave my 5 year old a coke and told her not to tell me…
The pitcher of mint tea reminds us of drinking freshly brewed tea made by our ancient Aunts out of old fashioned jelly jars. The treat was they pulled out of the cabinet their own homemade preserves. We would take heaping teaspoons of fresh jam and mix them into our drinks. Slightly sweetened and redolent of berries the tea was an afternoon delight. We need to try this again!
I am going to give this a try! We LOVE tea… hot, cold any which way… but I never thought to give my ADHD youngest caff-free chamomile iced. I’ll get right on it. We make a ceremony out of making the sun-tea…. though now I’ve heard bad things about that… any feedback?
I remember my best friend who lived across the street when I was a kid had a pitcher of mint tea in her fridge every summer that her mom made all the time. It seemed so exotic to me! And it was delicious too!