Tag: hydration

Children, Families, Family Life, Healthy Eating, Reviews

Brita Marella Water Filter:Review

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Brita Marella Water Filter:Review

As a family we are all guilty of not drinking enough water.

I always make sure I have a large glass with a squeeze of lemon each morning and carry a bottle around with all day, but in reality this just scratches the surface of what I should really be consuming.

All baring Oscar the children are even worse and unless the water is of the flavoured variety I find it really hard to get them to drink it.

Drinking water has so many benefits from increasing energy to improving your skin, boosting your immune system and flushing out toxins and all the best thing of all its FREE!

Tap water however doesn’t always give you the best tasting water and here is where Brita and their water filters can come into play.

I was asked to try out their Marella Water Filter to see how we liked it.

A water filter is something I’ve never considered using before as I wasn’t sure that it could really make that much difference to the quality of the water, but after just one glass from the Brita water filter my mind was changed, even my teen was highly impressed and said he much preferred the taste.

This is due to the filter in the jug reducing any limescale or chlorine giving it a fresher, more natural taste and smell.

The jug itself is extremely easy to fill due to its flip top lid which also holds an ingenious panel that lets you know when the cartridge needs changing.

The modern and sleek design would look good in any kitchen and easily fits inside any fridge door making it easily accessible for all the family.

It has certainly been a welcome addition to our kitchen and has encouraged me to drink more due to it being right in front of my eyes as soon as I open the fridge and the novelty factor of being able to fill the jug has certainly worked wonders with the children they now love a glass of their ‘special’ water!

Do you drink enough water?

Do you have any top tips on staying well hydrated?
*collaborated post

Children, East London, Education, Exercise, Families, Family Life, Food, Healthy Eating, Learning

Keeping Kids Hydrated With Fruit Shoot Hydro

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Keeping Kids Hydrated With Fruit Shoot Hydro

Children are like sponges, they soak up everything around them and retain every bit of information they pick up.

So for me this is why it is super important to try and let them experience as many different things as possible at a young age so that they can find things they are passionate about and hopefully take that with them into their adult life.

Robinsons Fruit Shoot are currently running a campaign called #itsmything that is encouraging real kids to celebrate what they are passionate about and through this allow them to channel their creativity and individuality.

To support this fantastic campaign I took my super individual child Izzy along to Castle Climbing in Hackney where Fruit Shoot had put on a fantastic event allowing the children to take part in a 90 minute session of climbing to get them active and try something new.


Izzy is by far my most individual child who will always buck the trend if it is something she feels passionate about is truly a free spirit.

As she approaching those akward teen years it is important for me to keep that zest for life going and hope that peer pressure doesn’t steer her away from trying new experiences.

Izzy confidently set to the challenge of the climbing wall and was happy to have meet up with a friend that she has made through the wonderful world of blogging whilst I went outside to listen to a talk from the highly knowledgable dietitian Jo Travers.


Of course all this fun and exercise is fantastic for young bodies and minds but we need to be aware that it can take a toll on their growing bodies and one of the most important things we can do to keep their bodies and mind fit and active is to keep them hydrated.

For me this a no mean feat and aside from my youngest who guzzles litres of water a day, hydrating the others…especially Izzy is a constant challenge and something as bad as it is I often forget to do!

I took away so much from Jo’s session and it is now my mission to keep us all as a family more hydrated.

Here are a few of Jo’s top tips on keeping your kids hydrated:

The choice of drinks is always a constant battle in our house, especially with the older children who are easily lured towards the unhealthy fizzy drinks as let’s be honest water doesn’t have a great appeal when there are so many other drinks with more flavour readily available.

This is where the clever people from Fruit Shoot have come up with Fruit Shoot Hydro that has all the goodness of water with a hint of flavouring making it much more appealable to youngsters.

It is a naturally flavours spring water with no sugar of artificial colours and comes in a handy sized bottle with a resealable cap, making it perfect for kids on the go.

With my mind buzzing with all this new information I was going to take home and hopefully implement with my family and Izzy warn out and super hyped after her climbing adventure there was a chance to have a delicious lunch and of course sample some of the Fruit Shoot Hydro.

My water dodging daugher was extremely impressed with the flavour and even went back for a second bottle which is pretty much unheard of.

Full up and hydrated our afternoon was bought to an end and we set off home with a fantastic goodie bag full of great stuff to keep Izzy active and a voucher to try out Go Ape which be fantastic in her bid to keep the #itsmything challenge going for that bit longer!

*collaborated post

Children, Families, Family Life, Outdoor Play

Keeping Your Cool In This Heat

by thejoyoffive5 Comments on Keeping Your Cool In This Heat

  
All winter long we are dreaming of sunshine filled days and long balmy evenings; then bam the sun comes out in full force and we complain about how hot it is!!

All jokes aside with this mini heatwave hitting us this week we all need to keep our little ones safe in the sun.

  • Before leaving the house make sure that you keep the curtains closed to keep the sun out and the house a little cooler.
  • Ensure that everyone has adequate suncream on and it is applied regularly.
  • If possible invest in some UV protective clothing for your little ones so they can run around to their hearts content.
  • Try to keep in the shade as much as possible; especially during 12-3 as this is the hottest time of day.
  • If you have little ones in buggies then I would really strongly advice investing in a Snoozeshade.  They give complete coverage from the sun, unlike those useless parasols you can buy.
  • Hydration is key!  It is so easy to become dehydrated so make sure you drink at regular intervals.  It’s a good idea to pop some bottles of water into the freezer so they can defrost during the day.  And who dosent love an ice lolly?  These are a guaranteed way to get some fluid into your littlies.
  • My little one came home with some sweat bands today and I decided to make them wet before putting them on to keep him cool.
  • A paddling pool or a washing up bowl full of water to play in is one of the best ways to keep cool.  Or fill up some water balloons and guns and all have a great big water fight!
  • If you are breastfeeding make sure you offer your baby to the breast more as this will quench their thirst and no other water will need to be given.
  • A nappy and vest is sufficient for them to wear in bed as we all now how horrible it is to be to hot at night.
  • Keep an eye out for the warning signs of dehydration.  Less at nappies, sunken fontinelle in babies, lethargy and yellow urine.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun!!  We get such a short amount of beautiful sunshine in the UK that we need to make the most of it whilst it is here.