With Easter season right around the corner, what to put in kids’ Easter baskets is one question we always ask.
For parents, Easter starts way in advance with working with your spouse to figure out what to get each kid. You have to game plan the filling of the eggs and any additional stuff you may be planning like Easter dinner with family members, church service, or Easter egg hunt.
We have always found Easter bunny baskets kinda hard the younger they are.
TIP #1
Game planning and getting the plastic eggs stuffed way in advance is crucial. Stuffing eggs, laying them out around the house, putting the baskets together, laying them out, and whatever else you do that’s extra can take you hours.
For instance, we like to decorate with streamers flowing down, from the ceiling and paper bunny footprints on the floor. If you don’t prepare and do it in advance I can tell you from experience it can take until 4am and trust me they won’t be sleeping in on Easter morning. So if you can stuff the eggs early it’s a big time saver.
Easter Basket Fillings
When we make our kids their Easter baskets we like to learn towards none sweet or tons of candy items. Of course we have to add some sweet treats as you’ll see below but it’s usually activity stuff, smaller toys, and we usually do one special gift that it directed to their personality.
So without wasting any more time, here are our favorite Easter basket ideas we’ve had for our toddlers over the last 9 years with 3 kids.
Easter eggs
We put a few of the Easter eggs we lay out in their baskets as will
Of course we have some candy packed in them but we also get packs of fun ink stamps from Party City, Amazon, and sometimes Target.
Clothes
This is a great time to add new clothes to their basket. We usually get them some just because at this age they’ve grown out of last years clothes. Some in particular are:
Spring or summer clothes.
Like i said with it being early in the year they have usually outgrown last year clothes and are in need.
Rain Gear
With it being spring this is the time you can look at getting them a new rain coat or rain boots.
Bathing Suits
Another item kids tend to grow out of every year and will be needing soon is a bathing suit.
Hair Accessories
Bunny ears
You can’t go wrong with bunny ears. They are a fun addition and just completes the basket look.
Bows
For the toddler girl’s Easter basket we find this to be the perfect time to get some of the big bows that our princess‘s so dearly love.
Small Toys
Small toys that don’t cost too much are fun items to add. I like the below items
Toy cars
For the older toddlers we got Hot Wheels and for they little kids we got some larger construction trucks.
Little figurines
Like gabby‘s doll house, Cocomelon, Disney Princess, or Spidey are good little toys. If they are into certain shows these can be great options and if you are looking through retailers ads throughout the year you can get some great deals.
Tip #2
Buy when the deals are hot. We are always shopping year round for the kids. For us we are a one income family so every dollar matter.
Stores we love
Target
We look for when the deals are on. For instance we buy things for birthdays, Easter, Valentines Day, and Christmas during Black Friday sales.
Dollar Store
I group these together becasue they are very similar to each other. Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, and 99 Cent store don’t have the best quality but the right items don’t have to be.
You can get cute little toys, coloring books, and fun snacks for cheaper at these places. We use to get dried strawberries for way cheaper probably around $0.99 – $1.25 at the dollar stores compared to $4.99 at Target.
Five Below
They have nice cheap toys for under $5. You can find coloring books and candy (some from your childhood too) for a good deal.
TJ Maxx
Another place to check out is TJ Maxx/ HomeGoods. you can find toys, candy like cotton candy, and decorations for a better price then at regular stores.
Bath Toys
A new set of bath toys are usually on the list. Most have the hole in the bottom and they tend to need replacing because they get mold on the inside. If you can find ones that are sealed they are better. You can usually find some Easter themed rubber duckies in the dollar section at Target.
Art Supplies
Craft supplies are always needed in our house the below are some we usually get as they tend to get used up or destroyed
- Egg-shaped crayons
- Coloring books
- Paint for finger painting
- Colored pencils
- Sidewalk chalk
- Stamps
- Play dough
- Activity books for the car.
- Stickers- What kid doesn’t love sticker books.
- Kinetic Sand
One year we got a slime kit for the kids and wow was that a mistake. Don’t do it if you have carpet, it’s not fun trying to get it out. Instead we go with kinetic sand. Still gets everywhere but easier to clean up.
Temporary Tattoos
We usually get temporary tattoos when they are in the later part of the toddler stage just in case they have sensitive skin.
Books
Both age appropriate Easter books and regular books to help with their reading if they are at the level yet of for you to read to them. Board books are better for the toddler stage as they are still quite destructive and paper pages tend to disappear and make for a much shorter story.
Sweet Treats
Don’t worry we still give traditional candy like
- Jelly beans
- Chocolate bunnies
- Marshmallow peeps
Outdoor stuff
Outdoor toys can consist of
- Small size glove
- Soft baseball
- T-ball stand
- Soccer ball
- Football
- Small Basketball
Stuffed Animal
In our house we love stuffed animals. Small ones work best with kids‘ baskets. Blind packs are always fun for kids our kids love Aphmau and Cutetitos.
Water Bottle
Kids can always use a new water bottle.
Plastic ones should be replaced about every year according to Hyrocell.
Usually by that time they have been chewed up or damaged.
Stainless steel water bottles are good for about 2-3 years.
Tip #3
Keep the fake grass or Easter basket fillers in large gallon bags and save it year after year eventually you will have to buy more as your family grows or the pile slowly . Yes you will find it everywhere in your house all through the year. I usually find the little pieces as it’s putting an anaconda role on my big toe. We store that, the plastic eggs, and their Easter baskets in a tote for the following year.
So that is the top 30 Easter Basket Items for Toddlers. I hope you find this list helpful and if you think of anything I may have missed let me know in the comments below.
