Heaven of Tea

We are continually hearing about the health benefits of tea, so why not encourage our children to have a healthy tea as well? The only deterrance for most parents is caffeine. Caffeinated kids typically aren’t much fun for mom and dad. But lots of teas are naturally caffeine-free and make delicious and nutrious drinks for children. Specifically Herbal teas, especially Rooibos and other fruity teas, are great for kids. Here’s our recommended teas for children:

Rooibos Tropica tea. Fruity and delicious, this tea is also chock full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Rooibos teas have no caffeine and taste great iced, in case your kids don’t like warm drinks. The fruit content gives it lots of Vitamin C in particular. And it is good for your hair, skin, teeth, and bones as well.

Sweet Fruit Garden Herbal tea. Another fruity delight, this herbal tea is filled with vitamins and minerals as well as some antioxidants. This one also works as an iced tea.

Pina Colada Herbal tea has a more exotic taste to change things up. But it’s still loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The coconut makes for a great twist for the tastebuds.

All of the teas above can also be frozen into popsicles for a cold treat during the Summer. Here are some suggestions that are much better warm:

If your children prefer chocolate, there’s also Haute Chocolate Rooibos tea. It’s a cinnamon, chocolate, Rooibos mix that tastes great in a cup. It is very high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, so it makes a nutritious alternative to regular Hot Chocolate.

And for just before bed: Tranquil Dream Herbal tea. This herbal tea helps calm adults and children just before bedtime. It doesn’t work as well over ice; and the warm feeling also helps to relax you before bed. Chamomile is also an antispasmodic and helps relax small tummies before bed.

Finally, consider allowing some White teas. They do have a touch of caffeine (about 1% of the caffeine in a cup of coffee), but they are actual tea (from the Camellia sinensis plant). This means that they have some of the specific health benefits of drinking tea like hydrating and detoxifying the body along with the antioxidants. One option is to add just 1/2 a teaspoon of Silver Needle White tea when making tea for a child. This won’t change the taste, but will add the health benefits.

For a little more white tea, try Scarlet Cloud White tea. It has a nice strawberry flavor and is good iced or hot.

Hope these ideas help. In the end you’ll have to try various teas to find which one your child likes the best. In my experience, children take to iced teas more easily, since they are used to drinking cold beverages because of the juices, milk, and water they already consume. And fruity flavors are typically more appreciated. But if you can find teas your children enjoy, the health benefits make it more than worthwhile to encourage consumption!