8 Kid-Friendly Cooling Iced Teas To DIY At Home On A Hot Day

Simple recipes – because who has time?

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Credit: 123RF
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The September school holidays are fast approaching. If you haven't, please mark it down on your calendar – Primary and Secondary school September holidays starts from 2 September 2022, Friday, and ends on 12 September 2022, Monday.

This comes after a series of PSLE exam and marking holidays from August through October. Parents, you would have received letters from your child's school or via their student email portal.

Holidays don't bode well. The kids are going to be home quite a fair bit!

How are you planning to keep them occupied (safely!) while you're working from home and watching over the kids?

Here's an idea: get some fruits, flowers, and honey, and allow your child to DIY some frozen iced teas!

Ready? Let's go!

Pro Tip #1: Brush your child's teeth before bedtime to prevent tooth decay

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Before we start on DIY Iced Tea Coolers for children, we need to talk about sugars and sweeteners.

Iced teas can taste bland, astringent, and downright bitter or yucky without a little sweetener help. So, in the recipes below, you will find natural sweeteners. Don't balk at the sight of "honey" and "coconut sugar".

Let's remind ourselves that sugar is not bad or unhealthy by nature. Sugar fuels our bodies, and is necessary for healthy development – as with most things really.

Sugar becomes a problem when your child is having too much of it, at inappropriate times, and not cleansed away properly (eg. before bedtime).

Bad bacteria often attach themselves to the surfaces of our teeth, and feed on the sugars that are being left behind by all that milk, candies, residue food, iced drinks etc.

When repeatedly left overnight, it causes cavities and blackened tooth decay.

Before embarking on this DIY iced tea project with your child(ren), make it a point to set up calendar or post-it note reminders for your children to rinse and gargle after they're done with their iced teas, and brush their teeth before bedtime (if they aren't already).

Pro Tip #2: Substitute Sugar with Natural Honey

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Let's be realistic here. Children do like the sweets. And you really can get them to devour their medicine, supplements, and fruits with a little sugary help.

It's impractical to totally eliminate sugar from any adult's diet – much less a child's. Cut some slack, and just switch your conventional white sugars for a lesser evil.

Some of the most common natural sweeteners you can opt for include:

Natural Honey e.g. Manuka. Please read the ingredients list and avoid buying the commonplace honeys made from cornstarch and syrup!)
Coconut Sugar: They look like coarse brown sugar. Do not mistake Gula Melaka for coconut sugar. Gula Melaka can be made from a variety of palm trees.
Date Sugar: Similar to that of coconut sugar, date sugar is often sold as coarse, brown sugar. Do check the back of your packaging for the ingredients list to ensure you're buying pure date sugar.
Fruits: Use up those leftover apples, grapes, bananas, watermelons, and blueberries in your fridge!

We will not touch on natural sugar alcohols such as xylitols. Even though these sweeteners are widely accepted, they can be extremely dangerous and toxic to pets such as dogs, cats, and rabbits (potentially).

Pro Tip #3: No Caffeine, Please!

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Pregnant mothers and children should not have caffeine. We've heard it all before.

Mothers who were heavily reliant on 3 or 4 coffees a day had to go cold turkey on caffeine and sit through pounding headaches.

Children who stole sips of coffee from their parents' cups couldn't sleep till 3am.

Are these old wives' tales? How much truth is there? Turns out, it's totally legit.

For pregnant mothers: A study found that mothers who consumed caffeine (half a cup to 2 cups) gave birth to smaller babies who also had higher chances of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. It is recommended that pregnant mothers avoid caffeine consumption.

For children: If your child is on TikTok, chances are he or she would have been badgering you for a coffee. It's trendy, maybe it's playing adult, but this generation of children seem to be obsessed with Starbucks and coffee. (My own 11 year old girl attempted to steal my fancy filter coffee at a cafe).

Yet, no, children should not drink coffee. Why? The actual effects are unknown. Children's organisations such as Hopkins Children Hospital deem caffeine's stress on a child's nervous and cardiovascular system as potentially toxic.

Pro Tip #4: Teas With Caffeine To Avoid

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You'd be surprised how many commonplace teas that we see around local Singaporean supermarkets are often ladened with caffeine... naturally.

Here's a handy list of teas with caffeine to avoid:

Black Teas: English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Afternoon Tea, any regular Black Teas, and the generic Iced Teas from MOS Burger etc.
Oolong Teas: Oolong teas are not classified as black teas. In fact, they are a category of their own. Generally, Oolong teas are clearly named, such as "Da Hong Pao Oolong Tea". However, Dan Cong, Tie Guan Yin etc. are all considered Oolong teas too.
White Teas: Silver Needle, White Peonies, and others are often typically clearly labelled as "White Teas"
Green Teas: Sencha, Matcha, Genmaicha, Hojicha, and all other teas that are clearly labelled as "Green Teas" do, in fact, contain caffeine. You might want to stop allowing your child on the Iced Matcha Lattes!

Pro Tip #5: Decaffeinated or Non-Caffeinated?

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Alright, let's clear these confusing terms up.

Decaffeinated teas still contain caffeine.

Non-Caffeinated teas should be your first choice, since they've never contained any caffeine at all in the first place. If you're looking for caffeinated teas, you'll be looking for fruit teas, flower teas, and herbal infusions.

Below are 5 simple and non-caffeinated iced tea recipes that only involves few preparation steps that are great for a refreshing afternoon slurpie:

Child-Friendly Iced Tea #1: Iced Mint Pineapple Tea

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Have leftover mint leaves sitting around in your fridge? These things go bad so quickly. You'd want to use them up before they start turning black and slimey.

This child-friendly DIY iced tea comprises of 2 main steps – making the mint tea, then mixing the pineapple sweetener in. Then, you'll add ice, and decorate your iced tea with pineapple and mint slices. Simple as it is, but lots of hands-on and sensory fun for your child!

We're starting with fresh mint leaves which you can easily get from your own garden or commonplace supermarkets such as NTUC, Cold Storage etc. Here are all the ingredients you'll need:

Fresh mint leaves (2 handfuls)
Fresh pineapple slices (half to 1 slice per child)
Ice

Here are the steps to prepare the mint tea:

Pick out the nice, green leaves, we don't want the stems or blackened leaves
Set aside a dozen nice leaves for decoration later
Gently cut, and dice the leaves so the mint juices can be released
If you have a tea steeper or strainer, put the diced mint leaves in the strainer.
Add hot water to your teapot or jar, place the strainer in
Leave for 5 minute minimally, longer for stronger taste
Taste tea. Stop steeping, remove steeper when you're satisfied with taste
Leave to cool. Decant into child-friendly jars (if you have)

Here are the steps to prepare the pineapple sweetener:

Dice up pineapple slices
Leave a couple of small, cute slices aside for decoration
Mash up pineapple, leave in child-friendly bowl and sharing spoon

From here on, your child can dispense their own mint tea, and add their desired amount of pineapple to taste.

Once they're done, add ice to cool the drink and fill up the cup. Then, encourage your child to decorate their drink with mint and pineapple slices. Take a picture, and voila! Enjoy your Iced Mint and Pineapple Tea!

 

Child-Friendly Iced Tea #2: Iced Chamomile Manuka Honey Tea

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Best known for its calming properties, chamomile is believed to be antibacterial and can help to boost your immune system. If you're acne-prone, get a wet teabag of chamomile and place it over your acne wounds to promote healing.

Otherwise, Chamomile tea is a widely accepted natural remedy for lots of children's problems such as:

Teething
Nausea
Tummy gas and pain
Constipation
Mild anxiety
Sleep

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Organic Chamomile (handful, you can easily find loose chamomile and other flower teas from Sccop)
Manuka Honey (or any other natural honeys)

Here are the steps to prepare the chamomile tea:

If you have a tea steeper or strainer, put the dried chamomile in the strainer
Add hot water to your teapot or jar, place the strainer in
Leave for 5 minute minimally, longer for stronger taste
Taste tea. Stop steeping, remove steeper when you're satisfied with taste
Avoid over steeping else the chamomile tea may turn bitter
Leave to cool. Decant into child-friendly jars (if you have)

Decant some of the Manuka Honey or natural honey into a saucer for your child.

From here on, your child can dispense their own chamomile tea, and blend in their desired amount of honey to taste.

Once they're done, add ice to cool the drink and fill up the cup. Then, encourage your child to decorate their drink with extra chamomile flowers. Remember the mandatory picture for memories!

For teething toddlers, consider pouring this chamomile tea mix into a large ice tray. Pop the large ice cubes out when they start getting fussy and itchy around their gums. Arm yourself with a towel, and allow your toddler to play with the large chamomile ice cubes.

Child-Friendly Iced Tea #3: Iced Rose Hibiscus & Apple Tea

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Is rose tea good for children? Surprisingly, rose tea presents several benefits for children such as:

Better Qi
Alleviates digestive problems
Sleep
Mood swings

In adult females, rose tea can help with regulating menstrual cramps and symptoms from menopause as well.

Rose teas are pretty mild in taste on their own, so you'd want to consider throwing in some hibiscus tea to taste. Benefits of hibiscus tea include:

Cooling energy to balance any "heatiness"
Rich in antioxidants
Battles inflammations
Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol

Be wary if your child has a weak Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution (or generally weaker health). You'd want to avoid giving him or her hibiscus tea lest it's too cooling.

Finally, we are using mashed apples to sweeten and taste this mild tasting tea. Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Organic Rose
Dried Hibiscus
Red Apple

Here are the steps to prepare the rose and hibiscus tea:

If you have a tea steeper or strainer, put the dried rose and hibiscus in the strainer
Add hot water to your teapot or jar, place the strainer in
Leave for 5 minute minimally, longer for stronger taste
Taste tea. Stop steeping, remove steeper when you're satisfied with taste
Avoid over steeping else the hibiscus tea may turn astringent
Leave to cool. Decant into child-friendly jars (if you have)

Prepare the mashed apple sweetener:

Chop up apple, remove core and seeds
Dip apple slices in salt water to prevent oxidisation
Dice up finely, mash if possible
Place mash in a child friendly bowl with serving spoon

From here on, your child can dispense their own rose and hibiscus tea, and blend in their desired amount of mashed apple to taste.

Once they're done, add ice to cool the drink and fill up the cup. Then, encourage your child to decorate their drink with extra apple slices, and flowers.

Child-Friendly Iced Tea #4: Iced Lavender Blueberry Tea

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Benefits of lavender tea? We're all familiar with these well-known properties of lavender tea: promotes relaxation, calmness, sleep, and settles the mind. Within your body, lavender tea helps to promote immunity, supports digestion and detox, respiratory health, and alleviates inflammation.

With children, lavender can help with:

Pain relief
Fussiness or colic
Rash, eczema
Relief cough, cold
Calm moods

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Dried lavender buds (ensure it's from the food and teas section and is edible)
Box of fresh blueberries

Here are the steps to prepare the lavender tea:

If you have a tea steeper or strainer, put the dried lavender buds in the strainer
Add hot water to your teapot or jar, place the strainer in
Leave for 5 minute minimally, longer for stronger taste
Taste tea. Stop steeping, remove steeper when you're satisfied with taste
Avoid over steeping as the lavender tea may turn bitter
Leave to cool. Decant into child-friendly jars (if you have)

Prepare the mashed blueberry sweetener:

Chop up blueberries
Mash blueberries
Place mash in a child friendly bowl with serving spoon

From here on, your child can dispense their own lavender tea, and mix in their desired amount of mashed blueberries to sweeten and taste.

Once they're done, add ice to cool the drink and fill up the cup. Then, encourage your child to decorate their drink with extra blueberries, and lavender buds.

Child-Friendly Iced Tea #5: Iced Chrysanthemum Goji Berry Tea

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Finally, we get to the ancient Chinese remedy for pretty much everything – Chrysanthemum.

Aside from its decorated history and symbolism in history, Chrysanthemum is widely accepted as a natural remedy for several ailments such as:

Heatiness
Eyesight and vision clarity
Colds, fevers, sore throats
Low immunity
Low blood pressure, low iron, and general heart health

Chrysanthemum is child-friendly, although it is recommended that the tea shouldn't be consumed on a daily basis.

A traditional neat steep of the chrysanthemum flower can prove to be pretty bland and bitter. To make it appetising for your child (and yourself), you can choose to sweeten with Manuka honey or mashed red dates.

Here, we're throwing in some Goji Berries that are known to boost eyesight, focus and concentration, and are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients you'll need:

Dried chrysanthemum
Handful of Goji berries (often dried)
Natural honey or red dates

Here are the steps to prepare the chrysanthemum and goji berry tea:

If you have a tea steeper or strainer, put the dried chrysanthemum buds and goji berries in the strainer
Add hot water to your teapot or jar, place the strainer in
Leave for 5 minute minimally, longer for stronger taste
Taste tea. Stop steeping, remove steeper when you're satisfied with taste
Avoid over steeping as the chrysanthemum tea may turn bitter very quickly
Leave to cool. Decant into child-friendly jars (if you have)

Prepare the mashed red dates or Manuka honey as sweetener:

Chop up red dates, remove core
Mash red dates
Place mash in a child friendly bowl with serving spoon

From here on, your child can dispense their own base tea, and mix in their desired amount of mashed dates or honey to sweeten and taste.

Once they're done, add ice to cool the drink and fill up the cup. Then, encourage your child to decorate their drink with extra goji berries and chrysanthemum blooms!

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