Every year, Easter baskets bring up the same quandary as stocking stuffers for me. I want it to be a fun little experience for the kids (without taking away from the reason for the season!) but I also hate spending money on all of that insert specific holiday crap here that gets tossed out before the next trash day has arrived.
Since we’ve filled the Easter Bunny’s shoes a time or two (see basket ideas here and here) I thought it might be helpful to share what works for us and a few cute things that are definitely hopping (sorry, had to) into the kids’ baskets this year.
First of all. DO NOT buy the giant PBK basket. It is huge, like can fit a baby huge. See below.
It is darling for pictures but is sized in a way that unless you backfill that sucker with 3 tons of easter grass (which I do) it’s going to look pretty empty, no matter what you throw in it. We’re already committed with three deep but friends, if you haven’t bought yet, get the small one (I saw Target had a complete dupe at $6, so maybe jog on over there first).
SO, now that we’ve squared that away. What to fill with? I tend to go with consumables, as I’m trying my hardest to limit the intake of knick knacky, tiny kid toys that somehow find their way into my children’s pockets year round.
I typically go with your usual Easter delights (peeps, M&Ms, Reese’s eggs for mom) but I’ve also wised up to three tiny tow heads hopped up on sugar before an hour and a half church service is no bueno for anyone involved. So I also fill eggs with Annie’s Bunnies (holiday animal appropriate!) and their fruit snacks. I realize fruit snacks are about .5 of a step from candy but we never have them in the house so the kids are generally thrilled with them.
Aside from candy, other big hits in our basket are always bubbles, chalk (again with the consumables!) as once they’re used up they’re not taking up real estate in our tiny house. I almost always throw in a new swimsuit and sand pail (If you’re living in the great white north, think new PJs) and some other fun little treats.
This year I found a cute egg gardening set and a dino egg kit at Target (I can’t seem to find them online) that fit our budget($1) and went with the egg theme. So in no particular order, here’s a quick list of 25 items that any kiddo (5 and under- my specialty!) would love. Mostly via amazon prime links as that’s how our bunny get his shop on these days.
chapstick, my kids are obsessed for reasons unknown
wooden play eggs (for their play kitchen)
bubbles (bonus points for bunny shaped)
big girl/boy undies for the newly potty trained
bubble bath or tub crayons if you’re glutton for punishment ๐
sun hat or a bonnet if you’re feeling extra festive
sunglasses (my favorite baby ray-ban look a-likes)
butterfly house + real caterpillars
Brio train (I hide these in the eggs). Ikea and Target also have trains if you don’t have a train purist in the home. ๐
The cutest (and softest!) bunny
Bonus, mean mom ideas (I typically throw this in for the under 1 crowd as they don’t know what they’re missing!):
package of wipes
sunblock
bottles or binkies
These annoying squeaky eggs have been all of my kids’ favorite right around a year.
Affiliate links used above. You buy? We get a slice of the pie with no additional cost to you. More information here. Thanks for keeping our baskets full, you’re the best.
Beautiful.
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