The Best Starbucks Drinks for Kids: Avoid Caffeine and Sugar

If you're looking for the perfect Starbucks drinks for kids, then you've come to the right place!

In this blog post, we will list and describe a variety of hot and iced Starbucks drinks that do not contain caffeine and don't contain much sugar.

Because nobody wants to feed their kids caffeine and sugar. It's not good for them. And, it's not good for your mental health either. Unless you enjoying seeing your kids bounce around and scream at 11 PM).

Going back to Starbucks, despite being a coffee shop, it is a great place to take your kids for drinks.

You can customize the drinks by asking for no sugar or less sugar, and adding healthy toppings like fruits or not so healthy ones like whipped cream.

So without further ado, let's get started with the best Starbucks drinks for kids!

Tips for Ordering Starbucks Drinks for Kids

Starbucks offers a variety of drinks that are perfect for kids. However, many of these drinks can be high in sugar and calories. Here are some tips on how to order healthier Starbucks drinks for your kids:

• Ask for no whipped cream or sugary toppings.
  
  
• If you're worried about burns, you can ask your barista for 'kid's temperature'. They will heat your drink to a lower temperature.
  
  
• Unfortunately, all Starbucks Refreshers have caffeine and they cannot be made caffeine-free. These are those Instagram-worthy drinks such as the Purple Drink, Pink Drink, Violet Drink, Strawberry Acai Lemonade, and so on.
  
  
• Order simple drinks. Keep the ingredient list short.
  
  
• Get Iced Passion Tango Tea without lemonade. If you see our list below, this makes it a zero sugar drink.
  
  
• Choose non-diary milk options such as almond milk, oat milk or soy milk.
  
  
• The kid sizes vary depending on whether you're ordering a hot or cold drink. For hot drinks, it's 8 oz., and for cold drinks, it's 12 oz.
  
  
• Remember that any drinks that contain chocolate contain caffeine.
  
  
• Decaf does not mean caffeine free - a hot and iced decaf coffees can contain up to 12 mg of caffeine.
  
  
• Check the Starbucks menu online. It's well organized and has a lot of nutrional info.
  
  
• If you are a regular customer then keep it environmentally friendly. Bring your own cup or tumbler, no matter what Stabucks cup size it is, and a barista will be happy to help you with that!

Should Kids Have Decaffeinated Drinks?

We want to get this out of the way before we start with the best Starbucks drinks for kids.

The reason is that some drinks you may think don't have caffeine, actually do have caffeine! For example:

• Hot Chocolate: the Starbucks kids size serving of hot contains 15 mg of caffeine!
  
  
• Refreshers: they all contain caffeine. A tall size contains about 35 mg of caffeine.
  
  
• Decaf Coffee: Yes, the Decaf Pike Place (short size) contains about 20 mg of caffeine!
  
  
• Soft drinks: Yes, they contain quite a bit of caffeine. For example, a regular Coca-Cola contains 34 mg of caffeine, and a Pepsi Zero Sugar contains a whopping 69 mg of caffeine (serving sizes of 12 ounces).

Some people argue that giving your kids a few occasional sips of decaf coffee poses no harm. Other people disagree.

We are certainly no doctors or nutritionists so we can't comment on that. Nor we can comment on whether the benefits of coffee apply to children.

However, we can provide as much information as possible so that you can decide what is best for your kids. If unsure, please always ask your doctor or a professional nutritionist.

So for all the drinks here, we will indicate the amount of caffeine and sugar, while proposing relatively healthy options.

With this out of the way, let's get into the best Starbucks drinks for kids!

What Are the Best Starbucks Drinks for Kids?

We have created a list of 10 delicious Starbucks drinks with some customizations to make them healthier for your little monsters.

1. Vanilla Crème Steamer
   
   
2. White Hot Chocolate
   
   
3. Hot Chocolate
   
   
4. Steamed Apple Juice
   
   
5. Blended Strawberry Lemonade
   
   
6. Lemonade
   
   
7. Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade
   
   
8. Iced Passion Tango Tea
   
   
9. Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk
   
   
10. Vanilla Bean Crème Frappuccino Blended Beverage

1. Vanilla Crème Steamer

This hot drink is a great option for kids. It is made with steamed milk, vanilla syrup, and whipped cream. It should be a nice sweet treat for your kids while keeping sugar levels relatively low.

You can also add toppings such as cinnamon, chocolate sprinkles, etc.

For a kids size (8 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 19g
  
  
• Calories: About 180 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 9g
  
  
• To make it healthier: ask for no whipped cream or reduced Vanilla Syrup Pumps. You can also experiment with non-dairy milks such as coconut milk, almond milk or oat milk.

2. White Hot Chocolate

This hot drink is also made with steamed milk, white hot chocolate, and whipped cream. It's a great alternative to regular hot chocolate since it does not contain caffeine. However, it does contain quite a bit of sugar.

You can also add toppings such as cinnamon, chocolate sprinkles, etc.

For a kids size (8 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 28g
  
  
• Calories: About 240 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 11g
  
  
• To make it healthier: ask for no whipped cream or reduced White Chocolate Mocha Sauce Pumps.

3. Hot Chocolate

This hot chocolate drink is made with steamed milk, hot chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. It's a great classic for kids! However, it can be controversial as it does contain caffeine!

For a kids size (8 oz):

• Caffeine: 15 mg - more than a typical decaf coffee.
  
  
• Sugars: 18g
  
  
• Calories: About 190 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 9g
  
  
• To make it healthier: ask for no whipped cream or reduced Mocha Sauce pumps.

4. Steamed Apple Juice

This drink is a great option if you want to avoid caffeine. It's made with steamed apple juice and peach juice blend. It can be customized by adding different flavors, such as cinnamon dolce syrup.

For a kids size (8 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 27g
  
  
• Calories: About 120 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 0g
  
  
• To make it healthier: don't ask for any toppings such as whipped cream. You can also ask for no cinnamon syrup. This drink already packs 27g of sugar!

5. Blended Strawberry Lemonade

This cold drink is a great option if you are looking for something fruity and refreshing. It's made with lemonade, creme Frappuccino Syrup, Strawberry Puree sauce and ice.

For a kids size (12 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 31g
  
  
• Calories: About 130 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 0g
  
  
• To make it healthier: don't ask for any sugary/fatty toppings. This drink already contains 31g of sugar! Alternatively, get a simple lemonade which contains less sugar and fewer ingredients.

6. Lemonade

This classic summer drink is a great option if you want to avoid caffeine. It's made with lemonade and ice.

For a kids size (12 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 21g
  
  
• Calories: About 120 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 0g
  
  
• To make it healthier: Keep it simple! Lemonade by itself is delicious and thirst quenching!

7. Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade

Continuing with the lemonade theme, this tea lemonade is a great option if you want to avoid caffeine and sugar. It contains significantly less sugar than the above lemonades.

This drink is a mix of lemonade and an infusion containing water, hibiscus flowers, citric acid, natural flavors, cinnamon, apple, licorice root, lemongrass and fruit juice extract.

For a kids size (12 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 8g
  
  
• Calories: About 35 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 0g
  
  
• To make it healthier: If you want a healthier version of this drink skip the lemonade and get the Iced Passion Tango Tea.

8. Iced Passion Tango Tea

This iced tea is a great option if you are looking for something refreshing, caffeine-free and sugar free! It is not a proper tea in the sense that it's not made from the Camellia sinensis plant.

It's an infusion of water, hibiscus flowers, citric acid, natural flavors, cinnamon, apple, licorice root, lemongrass and fruit juice extract

For a kids size (12 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 0 g
  
  
• Calories: 0
  
  
• Total Fat: 0g
  
  
• To make it healthier: This is amongst the healthiest drinks from the Starbucks menu! In this case, don't feel too guilty if you add 1 pump of classic syrup. This drink will still be better than a can of coke!

9. Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk

This cold drink is a great option if you are looking for something sweet and refreshing.

It's not one of the standard Starbucks recipes, so you will need to customize the 'Milk' drink. Simply swap the whole milk with oat milk, add 2 pumps of Brown Sugar Syrup and some ice.

For a kids size (12 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: more than 19g - this does not account for the Brown Sugar Syrup Pumps
  
  
• Calories: About 200 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 8g - likely less though, this is based on whole milk.
  
  
• To make it healthier: Don't go too crazy with the brown sugar syrup. So perhaps keep the drink as small as possible so that you get the same amount of sweetness with less syrup pumps.

10. Vanilla Bean Crème Frappuccino Blended Beverage

This vanilla bean Frappuccino is a great option if you are looking for a special treat for your kids. It is creamy, sweet and caffeine-free.

The standard recipe has milk, crème Frappuccino Syrup, vanilla bean powder, whipped cream and ice.

For a kids size (12 oz):

• Caffeine: none
  
  
• Sugars: 35g
  
  
• Calories: About 260 calories
  
  
• Total Fat: 12g
  
  
• To make it healthier: This one is a bit heavy with the sugars and calories. To make it healthier, remove the whipped cream or opt for a non-diary milk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom Line

Starbucks offers a variety of great drinks for kids. However, many of these drinks can be high in sugar and calories and even contain caffeine.

If you're looking for a healthy snack or drink option, we suggest avoiding any of the sugary Frappuccinos on the menu and opting for an Iced Tea instead.

We hope that our list of best kid-friendly Starbucks drinks helps you decide the best drinks for your kids.

Thanks for reading!

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