I have a huge sweet tooth. If candy is in the house then I’ll eat it. Unfortunately, my son inherited his love of sweets from me, so if I have candy in the house then we will fight over it. Not literally, but more in the sense that he knows it’s there and will either climb on kitchen counters to find it (because he knows I put it up high) or he will beg incessantly for it. It’s a real problem to have candy in our house! This year I tried very hard to find Easter basket fillers that weren’t candy. I did cheat and put a few mini-candy bars in them and I’m seriously regretting that because now I have half a bag of candy in my house. So dumb.
Small Playmobil toys are a great candy-free, Easter basket alternative
The main problem with going candy-less in Easter baskets is the upfront cost. I say upfront because ultimately eating sweets is damaging to your health and those costs will far outweigh spending a few more dollars on something a little different than treats. I tried to keep my finds to $5 or less, and I was lucky to score some “sweet” things that I found on clearance earlier in the year. If the Easter basket is for a baby then you could do a more special item that’s a little more expensive or simply fill the basket with empty plastic eggs. A baby and younger toddler would love opening and closing the empty eggs as well as throwing them. In addition to the items listed below, you could include a magazine subscription or art supplies.
Here is my age-by-age breakdown of of non-candy items you can add to your child’s basket this Easter:
Infant and Toddler Easter Baskets
NA Bear – Little Princess Rattle from Froggy’s Toy Stop
Rhino Toys Oball from Froggy’s Toy Stop
The Lop Eared Bunny Finger Puppet from Froggy’s Toy Stop. This little fur ball is too cute!
Froggy’s Toy Stop and James & Olive both carry a wide variety of books that would
Creature Books from James & Olive
delight any baby or toddler. Remember to stick to board books for toddlers like the Mini Creature Books at James & Olive.
I also added a fun bunny-shaped teething ring and a bubble gun to add to my baby nephew’s Easter basket.
Preschooler Easter Baskets
Lytle Pharmacy carries a lot of great children’s gifts too, and I egg-specially love their Easter egg chalk.
Jumbo Robot Erasers and Hape Bamboo Cars both from Froggy’s Toy Stop
Preschoolers also love Schleich Animals, which start at $2.99 and I know this little wooden boat would get tons of use in the tub or pool.
My son is a preschooler, so I added a t-shirt that I found (on clearance!) earlier in the year as well as markers, stickers, and chapstick.
Elementary Age Easter Baskets
Froggy’s really is the way to go for Easter this year. They had so many items that fit a variety of ages and budgets! You could throw in Jax or Playmobil Figures. They also had Silly Putty and a selection of HABA games.
I would also grab a few soap samplers from Moon River Soap Company as well as a chapstick.
ID Tags from Lytle Pharmacy
I also really liked the backpack ID tags at Lytle Pharmacy. They also had some gel gems that would be fun, too.
Don’t forget that kids love gift cards. They feel so grown up making their own decisions. We have so many great restaurants in town where a $5 gift card could go far. Plus, it’s always a good financial lesson to hand over money to a younger child.
You could add trail mix, dried fruit, applesauce pouches and granola bars to the baskets too.
Easter is such a special time of year. It’s a time to celebrate new life. Instead of celebrating with candy and junk, try something new this year!
Happy Easter!
