Fun Summer Drinks for Kids and Kids-at-Heart

"For some, those sweet summer drinks are a wonderful memory of childhood, and you can provide your kids with tasty, thirst-quenching summer drinks that are memorable, low-cost, and best of all, healthy," says K. Ray in her article, Healthy Summer Drinks for Kids.

During the warm months, your kids are outdoors a lot. They get hot and sweaty, run inside and open the refrigerator for something to cool them off. Instead of giving them soft drinks, try one of these other delicious, fun drinks.

Root Beer Floats - I was first introduced to Root Beer floats from McDonald's when I was a kid. After finishing my Happy Meal, my grandma would get my brother and I this yummy looking drink. It came in a tall, clear Coke glass with ice cream and froth coming over the top. The straw disappeared in the cream, but when you took a sip, the sweet taste of vanilla and root beer filled your mouth. My taste buds loved it! Everyone was able to keep the Coke glasses, so back at home, my Mom occasionally brought them back out and filled them ¾ full of root beer. Then she scooped a big chunk of vanilla ice cream on top of it. The two mixed slightly and as the ice cream melted, it created a frothy top. She put a straw it in and it was delicious! I still like making root beer floats even as an adult. It makes a tasty, fun, cold beverage for sultry days. For a healty twist, choose diet root beer or Smart Scoop Breyer's ice cream which is 98% fat free. Even on rainy days, this drink will surely bring light to a dreary day.

Butterfinger Milkshake - Butterfinger candy bars, Ice Cream, Milk (remember there are healthy milks out there), and a blender. That's all you need to make a mouth-watering Butterfinger Milkshake. Don't even worry about exact measurements because it would be very hard to mess these up! In your blender, blend several scoops of vanilla ice cream, a cup or so of milk, and pieces of butterfinger candy bars. When it is in a milkshake consistency, meaning not too watery, go ahead and pour it into glasses. It's that simple. If you do let it blend too long and it gets too liquefied, just add more ice cream and blend a tad more until it is that milkshake texture. When this concoction hits your lips and tongue, you and your kids are going to just melt. It is Heavenly! These milkshakes go really well with burgers and hot dogs, and would make a wonderful treat for summer parties. As Anne Ominous said in Milkshakes! The Cold, Delicious Facts, "beyond the world of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry milkshakes there are some of the strangest milkshake flavors you couldn't even imagine!"

Horchata - Horchata is a Spanish drink you typically see Latinos drinking at the Mexican restaurant, such as Mrs. Simonsen noted at La Mexicana in Texas. It is a white colored cold drink made of rice, cinnamon, lime, sugar, and almonds. Even though it looks like milk, there are absolutely no dairy products in it! For 6 servings of Horchata, you will need 1 cup of uncooked white rice, 2 ¼ cups of boiling water, ¼ to a cup of sugar, 1tsp of vanilla, 1 stick of cinnamon, ½ cup blanched almonds, 3 1-inch pieces of lime peel, and 4 cups cold water.

You will use your blender to ground the rice to a fine dust. Then, put the rice in a medium bowl along with the almonds, cinnamon, and lime peels. Next, pour boiling water over the mixture. Let it sit for about 7 hours. Afterwards, pour the mixture into the blender again for 6 minutes, until the mix is smooth. Now, add 2 cups cold water to the blender in ½ cup increments. Strain all this in a mesh colander until there are no "solids" in the mix. After you do this, add the rest of the cold water and sweeten with sugar to taste. Finally, put the Horchata in the refrigerator or you can serve it right then with ice.

Horchata can also be made with strawberries, lemons, and chocolate! For a Chocolate Horchata, add 2 ounces of chocolate to the blender when you are pouring in your increments of cold water. For Strawberry Horchata, add fresh or frozen strawberries to the blender, again, at the same time you are adding cold water in increments. Adding lemon juice to the Horchata mix when you are adding sugar to taste can make a Lemon Horchata.

All three of these drinks are quick and easy to make. Try them for you and your kids!