As I walked through the aisles at the store the other day I enjoyed all the fun, colorful Easter baskets, fake grass and eggs. Then I cringed at all the candy. Loads, and loads of sweets.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE sweets. I send treats to family and clients, and I eat chocolate on a daily basis myself. Usually multiple times a day, in fact. (Don’t judge.) But the thought of giving the kids a basket full of candy made my own teeth hurt. Probably because we are currently trying to wean Kayden off a bucket full of candy we used to bribe her while potty training. She seems to think she needs a sucker every single time she uses the restroom. EVERY single time. It was sooooo worth it in the beginning, but we might rethink this method when it’s Miss Elliott’s turn.
I got to thinking…I don’t want to take the fun out of the whole Easter Bunny and Easter Basket thing, but what else can we put in there so the whole basket isn’t full of just candy?
Here’s my list of 25 things for our kids, which are 2.5 years, and 10 months old.
- Bubbles
- Play Dough
- Fun socks
- Toothbrush and toothpaste featuring their favorite character
- Underwear with their favorite character
- Juice boxes
- Puzzle
- Baby poof treats
- Variety of baby food (hey, babies don’t know any different or care, they like anything!)
- Stuffed animal
- Bath crayons
- Finger paints
- Coloring book & crayons
- A new Signing Time DVD
- Construction paper & child-safe scissors
- Wooden train tracks and battery operated train
- Chenille stems (pipe cleaners)
- New set of felt pieces
- Set of foam letters and numbers
- Books
- Hair accessories
- Plastic pail & shovel
- Puzzle
- Flashcards
- Bag of balloons
You can find a lot of these things at the dollar store. The kids will enjoy most any of these items just as much as candy, but the fun will last a lot longer.
What other ideas do you have?
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