Gulp!

Objective:

Children will track how much water they drink throughout the day.

Preparation and Materials:

  • Small poster boards for each child (Optional: Large poster board for the entire group)
  • Stickers (to represent cups of water)
  • Variety of grocery bulletins, circulars, food magazines, nature magazines, etc
  • Assorted colored markers

Instructions:

  1. Have children draw a calendar of the week (squares for Monday through Friday) on their poster board and decorate it with images of water to remind them to drink water throughout the day.
  2. Have children think about their school day. How many servings of water (demonstrate 8 ounces or one cup serving with water bottles) did they drink today? (Encourage kids to use the coolers or cups they decorated to refill on water throughout the school day!)
  3. Have them record the number of water servings by posting 1 sticker per cup under today's date. Repeat this activity each day during the week.
  4. Ask the children: When did you drink water? (At lunch? After gym class?) What did the water taste like? Where is your favorite place to drink water at school? At home?
  5. At the end of one week calculate how much water the group drank.

Extension Activities

  • Have a "Silly Water" party (see recipe below) during pick up and engage parents in taste testing.
  • Make a list of different ways children drink water and have them rate their favorites (For example, school water fountain, Brita filter, with ice, with lemon, etc). Post the list for parents to see and discuss at pick up.