🥤 Homemade Soda for a class
The child’s recipe, step by step
🥤 Homemade Soda for a class of 25
No heat, no knife, no plug. Make it 13 times, as the recipe is written: each batch serves 2, so 13 batches serve 26 (1 spare). About 5 minutes a batch, grades K–3rd.
Shopping list for 25
- 13 cups orange juice13 cups (3120 ml) orange juice
- 13 cups sparkling water13 cups (3120 ml) sparkling water
- 13 cups ice13 cups (3120 ml) ice
- 3¼ cups blueberries (optional)3¼ cups (780 ml) blueberries (optional)
One batch, step by step
- Wash your hands with soap for twenty seconds, then let's make Fizzy Fruit Pop!
- Share 1 cup of ice between two glasses.Share 1 cup (240 ml) of ice between two glasses.
- Pour 1 cup of orange juice over the ice, half in each glass.Pour 1 cup (240 ml) of orange juice over the ice, half in each glass.
- Now pour in 1 cup of sparkling water very, very slowly.Now pour in 1 cup (240 ml) of sparkling water very, very slowly.
- Give it one slow stir with a spoon.
- Drop in a few ¼ cup of blueberries for sparkle.Drop in a few ¼ cup (60 ml) of blueberries for sparkle.
- Sip your fizzy pop and feel the bubbles tickle your nose!
Children work in pairs or small groups, one batch each, from their own portion. Check your school’s food and allergy policy first.
Food safety and allergies, for the teacher
- Start with your school's own food and allergy policy. Many schools limit or forbid food in classrooms, and some ask for a form or a nurse's sign-off first. Where the policy and this page differ, the policy wins.
- Ask families about allergies and dietary needs before anything is made, and read every package label again on the day: recipes change. This page flags the nine major US allergens in each recipe (peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, sesame, fish, shellfish). Other countries list more, such as celery and mustard.
- Nobody tastes until the teacher says, hands are washed with soap and water for at least 20 seconds first, and the tables are wiped clean.
- Keep cold food cold. Milk, cheese and yogurt should not sit out for more than 2 hours (1 hour on a hot day), the USDA's rule.
- Round, firm foods such as whole grapes, raw carrot and nuts can choke children under 4: cut them small or leave them out for the youngest.
- Use a fresh spoon for each bowl so one child's germs, or one child's allergen, never reaches another's food. Have each child work from their own portion.
- Peabody does not know any child's allergies and gives no medical advice. A child with an allergy follows the plan their doctor and family have given the school.
Sources: the US FDA’s list of major food allergens, the CDC’s hand-washing guidance, the USDA’s two-hour rule and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ choking advice. Your school and your country’s rules come first.