Implementing Dr. Kathleen Liberty’s "Drink to Think" programme is one of the most cost-effective, high-impact ways to settle an anxious or hyperactive classroom. Because it relies on predictable routines, introducing it successfully is all about preparation and clear expectations.
Here is a step-by-step guide to rolling this out in your classroom.
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Phase 1: Preparation (Behind the Scenes)
Before you say a word to the students, you need to set up the environment for success.
1. Secure the "Gear" - probably their own bottles in our school?
The Bottles: Ideally, every student should have an identical or similar water bottle kept at school to remove any socioeconomic competition. If funding allows, buy a class set of cheap, clear bottles.
Label Everything: Permanently mark each child’s name on their bottle.
The "Home Base": Designate a specific spot on their desks (e.g., the top right corner) where the bottle must sit. This prevents them from rolling around or being used as toys.
2. Map Your "Transition Triggers"
The magic of this programme lies in using hydration to calm the nervous system *during shifts in focus*. Look at your timetable and pick 3 to 4 specific trigger points. Excellent choices include:
* Immediately when the morning bell rings.
* Right after coming inside from morning recess/interval.
* Right after lunch.
* During a heavy cognitive shift (e.g., moving from active group work to silent writing).
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Phase 2: The Rollout (Day 1)
When you introduce the programme, frame it as a special "brain hack" rather than a strict new rule.
3. Teach the Science (Kid-Style)
Hold a class meeting and explain why you are doing this.
The Analogy: "Your brain is like a high-performance sports car (or a seedling). When it doesn't have enough water, the engine gets hot, grumpy, and slow. When we give it water, it cools down, thinks fast, and feels happy."
4. Practice the "Three Gulp Ritual"
Don't just tell them to drink; create a structured ritual. Teach them that when you say the cue, they aren't chugging the whole bottle—they are taking targeted "medicine" for their brain.
The Cue: "It's time to Drink to Think!"
The Action: Everyone stops, unscrews their bottle, takes three slow, deliberate swallows, and puts the bottle back on its launchpad.
Tip: Practice this like a game on Day 1. See how quickly and quietly the class can execute the "Three Gulp Ritual."
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Phase 3: Embedding the Habit (Week 1–2)
Consistency during the first fortnight is what turns a novelty into a subconscious classroom culture.
5. Pair it with "Play, Eat, Learn"
If your school allows flexibility, align this with Dr. Liberty’s broader framework. When kids come in from play, they are physically revved up.
Step A: Come inside from play.
Step B: Sit down and eat a small snack/lunch (chewing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calming you down).
Step C: Hand out the water bottles for a "Drink to Think" moment.
Step D: Begin the lesson. You will find they are significantly more settled.
6. Expect (and Manage) the Bathroom Rush
For the first week, children's bodies will adjust to the increased water intake, and some will use it as an excuse to leave the room.
The Fix: Build a collective bathroom break into the schedule about 20 minutes after your first major "Drink to Think" slot. Normalise that their bodies are adjusting, but establish that "Drink to Think" time isn't an automatic pass to wander the hallways.
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Troubleshooting Tips for the Teacher
"They are playing with the bottles!" If a child is spinning or clicking the bottle, it calmly goes to "bottle jail" (your desk) for the rest of the block. They only get it back for the next official transition drink.
"What about spills?" It will happen. Keep a supply of paper towels right next to the bottle filling station. Frame spills as a minor accident, not a crime—but the student cleans it up.
Water Only: Be strict. No juice, no cordials, no flavour drops. The neurological benefits Dr. Liberty researched apply specifically to pure water.
What can we do in our practice to bring out others' best?
Strengths and competencies-based approach.
It helps develop the potential of ākonga.
The Four R's
✓Realising the prevalence
✓Recognising the signs
✓Responding effectively
✓Resisting re-traumatisation
Events are distressing for example the cyclone was a distressing event not a traumatic event. Trauma is what happens inside of you after an unfortunate event. People say the event is traumatic. However, trauma is the result of an event on a person.
Trauma impacts how we interact and connect with others, it is more severe if there is an attachment for example a primary caregiver. How do you break through and gain the trust and connection with that individual who has trauma created by a parent or sibling?
A trauma informed approach is:
A strengths-based model of service delivery which focuses on an
individual’s strengths and competencies.
Ask, don't tell. Two ears, one mouth
Our kids are losing hope - society has not kept up with the evolution of technology and the world. Ākonga disillusionment is the most significant risk for the future.
Changing the direction of young people is very simple. Keeping it simple, a safe caregiver, a teacher who likes them etc
A lot is going on for us and our ākonga. Let us not get overwhelmed. Instead, think about the starfishes washed onto the beach. We can not save them all. However, we can save what we can and make a difference to those we help.
An old man walks along a beach and sees a young boy throwing something into the water. As he approaches, he sees hundreds of starfish lining the beach washed in from the tide. The young boy is rushing around, throwing the starfish back into the water one by one. The old man asks why he bothers, it’s pointless. There are too many starfish to help them all. As he flings a starfish deep into the water, the young boy replies, “It mattered to that one.”
Resilience is important. However, we are past focusing on this as we have done well in the past teaching resilience. We now need to focus on teaching hope and develop trauma focussed practice.
Evolutionary speaking, the brain is there to keep the body alive, and the body is there to keep the brain alive. Everything else is a response to external cues.
Trauma Processing
Distressing event plus bandaids (BCE's) = able to move on
Distressing event minus bandaid (no BCEs) = trauma and possible frozen memory. This trauma can lead to a nervous system response with flight, flight avoidance, acting out etc.
The window of tolerance is an area between hyper and hypo arousal. This window of tolerance is where you work your best.
Shame
unmet need for love
exclusion
unwanted exposure
disappointed expectations
Neuroplasticity
You can rewire your brain right through your life. Making new neural connections can strengthen pathways and weaken other older routes. Several trauma therapies can rewire the brain. Trauma does not go away until addressing the trauma has occurred.
"Every interaction is a potential intervention" - Liz Kennedy
Assessment informs intervention - be curious; trauma and ADHD mirror the same symptoms.
Attachment and academic outcomes are linked.
Attachment and positive life outcomes are linked.
You only need to be good enough 30% of the time as a parent. If you are too good, e.g. a lawnmower or helicopter parent, ākonga are not exposed to risk and will not develop strategies to cope with distressing events.
Developing a secure base for a child
Available to the child
Accepting
Support them to make a positive contribution
Create a sense of belonging
Sensitive
Children cannot yet regulate, and they rely on adults for co-regulation. Co-regulation must come before self-regulation. Self-regulation comes before self-control. We, as adults, must be regulated before we can support children.
Compassion
Self-Compassion
Way of connecting kindly to ourselves
Supports mental health
Sustainable over time
Requires feeling good about yourself
Self Esteem
Positive evaluation of self-worth
Supports mental health
Situation dependent
Requires feeling better than others
My Self-compassion script
"Bugger - I need to think about this. Next time will be better."
A new awakening about my lack of self-compassion is triggering as I have good self-esteem. I am not compassionate about myself, making it hard to be compassionate to others. I need to be more self-compassionate—something to work on and develop.
How to ‘BE’ – P(L)ACE Yourself Alongside the Child
Playfulness – light and bringing positive experiences to the forefront
(Loving) – tender, kind and gentle
Acceptance – UPR – "if they could, they would"
Curiosity – wondering about the meaning behind the behaviour
Empathy/compassion - means actively showing the child that their inner life is important to you and that you want to be (and can tolerate) the child in their harder times.
Develop Boundaries – set expectations and limits.
Talking about trauma with whānau
When working with whānau, you could
ensure they know the purpose of the hui
utilise the Therapeutic Needs Hierarchy is possibly good to guide how to proceed.
Make sure you are well prepared and have a plan b
Utilise learning talk to support conversation
use the six levels of validation
Trauma is not damage
- a child is not a damaged child if they have had trauma.
It is an entirely appropriate, functional adaptation by the brain in response to a maladaptive environment.
There are issues when brain development based on experiences is not developed enough to function in society.
If we can't say it, we do it – those feelings have to come out somewhere - behaviour is just communicating an unmet need.
Needs-based questions to understand the behaviour
Observation - what do I see?
Curiosity - what could it be?
Compassion - What does this child need from me?
"Thinking of a child as 'behaving badly' disposes you to think of punishment.
Thinking about a child's behaviour through a curious lens encourages you to seek to understand and help them through their distress."
Get curious, NOT furious!
Building Emotional Literacy
What's the difference between an emotion and a feeling?
Emotions are unprocessed, raw data. A feeling is the sense we make of those sensations.
Interoception lets us notice those sensations to catch the emotional message to inform our response. Developing brains, children who have experienced developmental adversity, and those who are neurodivergent can struggle with interoception.
If you practice when it's easy, it's easier when it's hard.
Distress Tolerance and Coping Skills
Give bounded choices, either or choice, ākonga trying to stay safe every minute of the day may lack the energy and capacity for making decisions.
Develop values-led action - being values-led is a way we
can learn to trust ourselves.
With ākonga, what is the value? How will the action occur? Context, when will the action happen?
A Support Plan
Rupture and Repair
Restorative rather the punitive - in line with trauma-informed practice
Repair Scripts
De-escalation tip
Tip 1. Keep your focus on the end goal
When dysregulation and escalation occur- which they will - the end goal of these events and our actions is safety.
Goal: Making sure you are all SAFE.
This is NOT the time for consequences, threats, bribes, bargaining, reasoning, restoration or punishment.
Tip 2. Take your time
When a student is dysregulated, we can’t rush them through their feelings.
We CAN support them and provide a safe space for them.
What does this mean for me?
My role and influence is to
understand what ākonga are trying to tell us through their behaviour - what is the unmet need?
lead PB4L for teachers to consider the lense of trauma when interacting with ākonga
expose and support teacher's to uncover their unconscious bias
encourage using multiple lenses to look at ākonga behaviour
connect educators with the knowledge and the individuals to support them to support ākonga
Never use shame as a tool
Give bounded choices, either or choice when dealing with dysregulated ākonga
Offer ākonga a hot drink if dysregulated to help them calm down
have professional conversations with teachers and whānau about whether there is trauma in the ākonga background and what can be done to support this.
develop and understanding of Te Ao Maori perspective of trauma.
In conclusion, trauma-informed practice is a strengths-based model of service delivery that focuses on an individual’s strengths and competencies. It is essential to understand the impact of trauma and how it influences our interactions and connections with others. By using a trauma-informed approach, we can identify the unmet needs of individuals and respond effectively through the Four R's, resist re-traumatisation, and develop hope. It is crucial to develop a secure base for children, which includes being available, accepting, supporting, creating a sense of belonging, and being sensitive. Developing co-regulation before self-regulation and self-control is essential, as well as having self-compassion and compassion for others. By incorporating these practices into our work, we can make a positive difference to those we help and be the ones that matter, even if we can't save them all.
