Drinks for School Lunch

Water. It's great. Doesn't stain. Doesn't go bad if it gets warm. Is extremely good for you. I have packed my son's lunch for 3 years now. I pack my daughters now too. They always, and ONLY, get water. Other drinks, except milk at home, are for special occasions.

My kids have always and only taken water.
I never used a thermos, just a regular packaged water bottle. When they were little I bought the little ones (8 oz bottles). Now that my youngest is in middle school, she freezes a regular bottle of water overnight and throws it in her lunchbox in the morning. It mostly all melts by lunch and she has ice cold water, plus it keeps any other stuff cold without adding bulk.

When my son was in golf camp this summer, I would freeze Crystal Light drinks in ice cube trays. He likes the Raspberry Lemonade and the regular Lemonade. Then I would put a bunch of the flavored ice cubes in a water bottle and fill it with water. As the ice cubes melt, it makes flavored water. He loved it, and it doesn't matter how much or how little the ice cubes melt; it still tastes good. We do it sometimes for lunches, but mostly for golf camp. It's nice, too, because it's sugar free.

ETA: As others have mentioned, my oldest just takes water, and my youngest takes water to refill all day in the classroom. I LOVE Mio, too! That's what I drink all day! :)

If you have a thermos, and they like juice...try using Mio in water. You won't get the stickiness with juice...or the sugar! :)

That's the "juice" that my kids get. Little do they know they're drinking water instead!

Can she buy milk at school? That was an option at our school, for kids who brought their lunch but still wanted cold milk.
Other than that there are lots of leak proof bottles on the market. They're not hard to clean, just soak them in very hot soapy water for a few minutes, to dissolve the crusty stuff around the rim :)

Maybe she should pack her lunch but buy the drink at school?

Water. I bought my son an insulated aluminum kind bottle @ old navy $4 and it stays cold until i pick him at 2pm.

I just send water. We bought a few water bottles, and I put ice cubes in them, then fill with water. My younger daughter has PE in the afternoon, and says that the water is still cold by then. And on the off-chance that she finishes the whole bottle of water during the day, she can just re-fill it at the sink in her classroom. Easy enough!

I second the metal thermos. Target had them for around $14 but they are well worth it. In the morning I put 2 or 3 ice cubes in it, fill it with water and stick it in the freezer for about 20 min. I pout the water out and full it with milk. They don't leak as long as the lid is screwed on tight. When she gets home at 4 it is still cold inside. We've been using the same thermos(es) for over 2 years now. I send her with one filled with water too to drink in classroom. They are perfect.

speaking as a kindergarten aide... send water. Kids just have a hard time with everything else, (juice is very sugary and milk does't always get drank) and things often get spilled (as hard as we try to keep it from happening) Water is easy, healthy, and if it spills, no problem. you can by bottled or send in a refillable bottle, easy and cost effective. JMHO

You could do milk in a thermos and add in some reusable ice cubes so it doesn't get watered down. There appear to be TONS of them out there.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-al...

You need to send the individual packages of stuff so it will be sanitary when it sits for extended amounts of time. Try thinking about lunches this way, the time you spend soaking these items and scrubbing them, that time is worth something. You are spending way too much time on something that is not saving you too much since it's taking so much time you could be doing other stuff.

How about buying a big jug of any kind of juice she likes (apple, raspberry, grape etc.) then fill a plastic water bottle w/that juice.

Then put ice packs in her lunch box.

Also, buy a different lunch box that has the foil insulated interior.

In addition to that, you could make a few ice cubes of the juice of her choice. Then when you pack her lunch that morning put a few of the juice flavored ice cubes into a small thermos, fill the rest of it with that same flavored juice.

Don't stress about the straws and such, although I know what you mean. Is this a Funtainer that you're talking about? If not, look those up. They are the absolute BEST solution these days in my opinion. My daughter takes one to school, and my son who is almost 2 takes one to his preschool for lunch also. I just give them both ice water. I love the fact that at the end of the day, I can still jiggle it and hear the ice cubes. And no leaking! So glad thats over. At the end of the day, I open the container, remove the 2 piece straw and run warm water through it. Then into the dishwasher it goes! Totally worth it.

My daughter only gets water at school- even at snacks. Their school nurse did away with juice her first year and sited studies that children do not drink enough water - especially in hot Texas!
But I really do it because it's easy and healthy.

I teach at the elementary level and a LOT of children bring their lunch and go buy a carton of milk in the cafeteria line. They do not have to stand in line as the other children are being served lunch, they just get a milk and go to the cashier. Easy peasy

I see a lot of water bottles, Capri Sun, juices, etc.

My daughter takes a water bottle every day. She doesn't like the taste of the water in the metal water bottles, so I take a plastic water bottle (like an empty Dasani bottle), fill it 1/2 - 3/4 way with water, and put it in the freezer overnight. Then, in the morning, I fill the bottle up the rest of the way with water to start the thawing process.

By the time lunch comes around, the frozen water is melting and it is really cold. It will start "sweating" throughout the day while the ice melts, so I fold a paper towel around it and secure it with a rubber band to keep the condensation controlled.

We reuse the bottle each day (rinse it out and clean the top) for about a week or so.

We just do water in a thermos. It stays cold.

The metal thermos containers with a flip top lid and straw inside- it's actually the thermos brand name, and many have characters printed on the outside (superheros for boys, Hello Kitty for girls). They are expensive, like $12, but they work really well. If I put about quarter full of ice in it with water, there is still ice in it 5-6 hours later. It would definitely keep milk cold for 4 hours, and they do NOT leak. Worth the money if you're not purchasing drinks on an ongoing basis.

Water is the best.

Or buy a reusable bottle (one without all those crevasses). Fill it with ice and her favorite beverage.

I know all school districts are different, but I don't know any that don't allow kids to just buy a milk.

I send milk all the time. I have an insulated lunch box and get some ice packs and just put the milk in a screw cap container. Stays cold until lunch and in colder months if they don't finish the milk it is still cold when they get home. I only send caprisun (100% juice ones) when I'm sending something that does not need to be cold, like a thermos with noodles or if they have a field trip. I got a 5 pack of plastic bottles to put milk in from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Reduce-01175-WaterWeek-10-Ounce-Gir...

My DD takes both a thermos and the prepackaged drinks to preschool. The thermos we have is a "funtainer" which cleans pretty easily. To get the milk or juice out of the straw, you just run water through the straw when the box is unpacked at the end of the day. You can try another type of container for her, but pretty much anything I'd send a small child to school with has a spout or valve or straw that will need to be cleaned. If you are afraid the milk won't be cold enough, put it in the freezer and unpack it in the AM and use that as the ice pack for her lunch. The problem I have with things like Crystal Light is the artificial sweeteners. My DD and I cannot tolerate them very well.

I just have my son spend the 50 cents and buy milk at school each day. It is really easy, saves time, no worry about him not getting a thermos or packed drink closed properly only for me to find it exploded over his lunch box and he loves that he can choose from different kinds of milk than what we have at home. (strawberry, white or chocolate- what a smorgageboard of flavors at school - LOL). Juice isn't an option for the kids. They have to choose milk or water.
good luck.

I bought a six pack of Juicy Juice plastic 10 oz bottles (Minute Maid makes them too). We reuse the bottles. I wash them out everyday. Tight fitting screw on lids. I've tried a variety of juice bottle things meant for lunch boxes and always had some sort of problem with each one. Don't like the ones with straws, they get gross. One of these juice bottles will last for months. When it starts looking bad, or gets lost, just get another one from the 6pack!!!!
Oh, and if you're worried about keeping the juice cold, just put a little bit of juice in there and freeze it - then finish filling it up in the morning before you put it in her lunchbox - works well with water bottles too!

Water. From the tap. Don't spend on bottled water - biggest waste of money and energy, not to mention plastic. Huge impact on the environment. And it's less regulated than your tap water. Put ice cubes in half of it if you want and use a stainless steel bottle or a non-BPA plastic bottle. Make sure it's leakproof and that your child can open it and close it.

Kids get too much junk and sugary juice, and there's virtually no nutritional value even if they say they put a vitamin or two in there. Waste of money.

You can give her milk at home for breakfast, snack and dinner if you feel strongly about it. She should be able to pay for a carton of milk only, but if you are against waste, or if you don't think she will finish it, it's a waste of money and the milk.

We do water, juice boxes or buying milk at school. You can freeze juice in ice cube trays to add to juice in a reusable bottle.

My daughter just wants water. She said they don't let them get water in the cafeteria...they can buy milk, but that's it. I don't send juice because it's just empty calories and tons of sugar.

for my boys(6 and 9), they get a small bottle of water, it's maybe 8oz? i get a pack of 70 for about $6 at costco, so i don't mind buying those... for my little girl(3), she goes to preschool 2 days a week, and i got her a metal beverage container from pottery barn kids that's leak proof and matches her lunch box/backpack(that's what REALLY matters lol!), and i fill it with ice water :)

My son takes a reusable water bottle (klean kanteen) and we fill that. He gets juice once a week at the most. You could also fill something like that with juice or lemonade sometimes.