Candy Free Easter Basket Guide
Spring is in the air, bringing with it dew-damp grass, a chorus of birdsong and daffodils nodding on long slender stems. The beginning of April always brings with it thoughts of Easter and all the excitement of getting together with family, overflowing Easter Baskets and of course, the Easter egg hunt. As a kid the highlight for me was always the giant chocolate Easter bunny waiting in my basket on Easter morning. Now as a parent of small children myself, I’m rethinking whether all of that chocolate is truly necessary. We know so much more about health these days and the effects of sugar on the body. Between that and the inevitable sugar-induced melt-downs, a candy-free basket seems like a no-brainer. So I have rounded up a whole list of fun and educational Easter Basket fillers that will keep the kids engaged much longer than a basket full of chocolate ever could have and will be so exciting they won’t even miss the candy. We have organized the list by type so you can easily pick one from every category and have a perfectly filled basket in no time. Life is often too busy these days to spend hours tracking down every little item so all of the options below are available online for easy shopping in your pjs with a glass of wine (because clearly you deserve a little Easter treat too!).
Books:
Little Blue Truck’s Springtime
The Little Blue Truck books are always a hit at our house with cute rhymes and great messages about friendship and the importance of helping one another. Available from Amazon.
Count on the Easter Pups, learn to count with the Paw Patrol! Available from Amazon
Baby Loves Spring, a lift the flap book perfect for little hands, available from Amazon
Construction Site Spring Delight: An Easter Lift-the-Flap Book. Another gem from the Construction Site Series, available from Amazon
Lego:
Lego is great for keeping small hands busy while also improving fine motor skills and creativity, add in an Easter theme and you’ve got the perfect basket stuffer!
Build your own Easter Bunny and egg with a fun Lego set that comes in a soft bag perfect for packing for restaurant visits or other outings.
Lego Easter Bunny building set, available from Amazon
Lego Creator Easter Chick, available from Amazon
Outdoor Activities:
With spring comes better weather meaning more outside time exploring nature. We might be a little biased but what better way to foster an interest in the outdoors than with seeds, gardening gloves and perfectly-sized hand tools for kids?
Get them working in the garden right along side you with a durable set of gardening tools they can play with for years.
Similar set available from Amazon
Kids Gardening Gloves, available from Amazon, similar items available at most garden centers.
Sunflower seeds, available from West Coast Seeds. Sunflower seeds are the perfect size for small hands to plant and as a bonus they grow quickly and make great cut flowers! Sunflower seeds are also widely available at most garden centers.
Small toys:
Perfect for the smallest of hands and right on theme, these Egg Shakers were favorites of our babies all the way into toddlerhood and beyond and are small enough to toss in a purse or diaper bag for on-the-go fun. Available for $4.99 from Mastermind Toys.
Endlessly entertaining, Silly Putty comes in its own egg-shaped holder or get the glow in the dark version for night time fun, available here from Amazon.
Bring more smiles to the breakfast table with cute footed egg cups, available from Amazon
Hatching eggs are a huge hit in our house! Drop the egg into a bowl of water and watch the animal inside slowly emerge from its shell. Dinosaur and unicorn hatching eggs are available from many dollar stores.
I hope this list has sparked some fun Easter ideas for the little people in your life and hopefully made your Easter shopping a little bit easier too! If you are looking for gift ideas for your favorite adults, our Bouquet Subscriptions make wonderful gifts that keep giving for weeks! Click the button below to check out all the options and sign up for the one that suits you best from our online shop.
Happy Spring everyone! Chat soon,
