Spa Facts for Kids

For the municipality in Belgium, see Spa, Belgium.

An Ayurvedic spa in Goa, India.

A spa is a special place where people go to relax and get healthy treatments. These places often use natural spring water, which is full of minerals. Sometimes, they even use seawater! This mineral-rich water is used for special baths that are believed to help your health.

Places like Spa towns or spa resorts are famous for these treatments. They might also have hot springs. The health treatments offered at spas are sometimes called balneotherapy. People have believed in the healing power of mineral waters for a very long time, even before history was written down! Spas are popular all over the world, especially in Europe and Japan. There are also "day spas" which offer different kinds of personal care treatments for a single visit.

Where Did the Word "Spa" Come From?

The word "spa" comes from the name of a town in Spa, Belgium. This town was known even in ancient Roman times. Back then, it was called "Aquae Spadanae." The name might be connected to the Latin word "spargere." This word means to scatter, sprinkle, or moisten.

Images for kids

The medicinal spa of Harkány gets its water from hot wells. This water has a lot of sulfur, sodium, calcium, and hydrogen carbonate.
Ancient Roman Baths in Bath, England.
Byzantine Bath in Thessaloniki.
The Slatina Spa in the Republic of Srpska, BiH.
The spa town of Hisarya in Bulgaria. An ancient Roman city was built here in the 1st century AD because of the nearby mineral springs.
Coriovallum Roman baths in Heerlen, The Netherlands (reconstructed).
Roman Baths of Alange, Extremadura, Spain.
Bagno del Papa in Viterbo.
A thermal spa (Széchenyi thermal bath) in Budapest, Hungary.
Turkish spa Sina (Hammam) in Trenčianske Teplice, Slovakia.
A part of the old Balneario da Toxa spa on A Toxa Island, in Galicia, Spain.
Waterfall, Carolus Spa, Aachen, Germany.
Gentlemen's Pool House, Jefferson Pools, Warm Springs, Virginia. Built in 1761, it is the oldest spa building in the United States. The spa waters flow through the center of the building. President Thomas Jefferson bathed here.
Ladies' Sulphur Vapor Baths in the Hotel Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, 1919.
Mineral water used to help patients in the lazy river section in Vučkovec, Croatia.
Flamingo Spa, part of the Flamingo Entertainment Centre in Vantaa, Finland.
Spa center in Varshets, Bulgaria.
Spa in Hungary, 1939.
Mineral water swimming pools in Blagoevgrad district, Bulgaria.
Balneo area in Alange.
The casino garden in Spa, Belgium.
Medicinal water bath in Makó, (Hungary).
Bathing in Bogor, West Java.
Japanese Onsen, in Hokkaido.
Spa in Hungary, 1939.
Gellért baths in Budapest, Hungary.

Spa facts for kids

Where Did the Word "Spa" Come From?

Images for kids

See also