Healthy, kid-friendly lunchbox drinks
Froose Juice
Imagine a lunchbox drink as healthy as eating a whole piece of fruit. Froose juice is an innovative new beverage for children that combines the best of organic whole grains and fruit to make a delicious and nutritious lunch drink. This refreshing juice is gluten-free, kosher certified, naturally low in sugar, made with organic ingredients and is a good source of fiber (three grams per serving). One serving is only 80 calories. Sweetened with organic rice syrup, Froose comes in three kid-friendly flavors: Cheerful Cherry, Perfect Pear and Playful Peach. 
Retail: $30 for 40 (4.23-ounce) drink case Available at Froose.com Froose also has a daycare/preschool program that provides quantity discounts.
Lightfull's Satiety Smoothies
Packing five grams each of protein and fiber, Lightfull's Satiety Smoothies are satisfying alternatives to sugar-laden juice drinks. With just 90 calories per serving, Satiety Smoothies offer 100 percent natural ingredients that are gluten-free and low-glycemic. Even better, each smoothie is an excellent source of calcium and inulin - a prebiotic fiber that feeds probiotics (the good intestinal bacteria) that bolster immunity and increase nutrient absorption. Available in kid-friendly flavors - Mango Oasis, Strawberry Bliss, Peachy Cream and Chocolate Satisfaction - drinking a Satiety Smoothie at lunch can help prevent your children from getting a convenience store snack attack later in the day. 
Retail: $2.79 per 8.25-ounce bottle Available at fine grocery stores and natural foods stores throughout the U.S. in the "grab and go" refrigerated beverages sections or on-shelf near aseptic dairy products and soy milk as well as online at LightfullFoods.com.
San Francisco Chocolate Company's got milk? Chocolate Straws
Turn a calcium-rich serving of milk into a chocolatey treat with these convenient mess-free straws filled with yummy chocolate beads. All your kids have to do is sip the milk through the straws for a fun and healthy treat. Each straw adds a mere 27 calories and may be the perfect lunch accessory to get your kids to opt for bone-building milk instead of carbonated beverages. Retail: $3.99 for 10 straws Available at SFChocolate.com
Other kid-friendly lunchbox drinks
- Plain water or water flavored with fresh-squeezed lemon, lime or orange juice
- Plain, vanilla and chocolate soy milk
- V-8 100% Vegetable Juice
- 100% juice combined with seltzer
- Fresh fruit and/or vegetable juice from a home juicer
Just keep in mind - if the healthy lunchbox drinks you choose don't come in single serving containers - a serving size for your children is four to eight ounces, depending on their age. Too much of any drink can add unnecessary calories to your child's diet.
