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What do you see in that picture?
I see clutter.
As fun as a cymbal-clapping bunny may be for a whole three seconds, I don’t want to have to find a home for him/her/it.
I remember longing for these pre-made baskets as a child. Then I finally got one.
After that, I was glad they weren’t the norm in our home. In case you never received one, they are mostly filler. Like, the only things in them are the things you see.
The rest is cardboard.
And air.
Totally disappointing.
Even though I don’t do the pre-made baskets for my own kids, I struggle with avoiding the cutesy, plastic, nothings that populate the Easter aisle.
I asked for non-clutter Easter basket filler suggestions yesterday on Facebook, and you all delivered.
Here are some of my favorite suggestions:
Clothes. I never would have thought to do this, but it’s a great idea as the weather is warming up and my kids need some summer basics. And clothes take up SPACE. Yessss!
Toothbrushes and toothpaste. I’ve done this before, but needed to be reminded. (Love spending on things we would spend on anyway!)
Baseball glove and hat. Love this idea. Not sure we’ll use it, but if we needed these things this would be the perfect time since baseball starts next month.
Fun band-aids.
Socks! Yep. My kids are getting some. They’ll be thrilled.
Books and DVDs.
Art supplies.
Outside spring toys – Kites, jump ropes.
Re-usable water bottles.
Age-appropriate Bibles.
Bathing suit, swim goggles, pool toys, sunscreen. (I like the idea of getting stuff for summer!)
Flip-flops. (I LOVE this. Totally doing it.)
Gardening stuff.
Summer pajamas.
And more! You can see everyone’s suggestions here on the Facebook thread.
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--Nony
I’m all about putting things I would already spend money on (toiletries, new stuff for summer, pjs) in the Easter basket. Especially since my girl doesn’t like candy.
Isn’t it wonderful when they don’t like something like that? My daughter won’t drink soda. Yay!
Great ideas, thanks, Nony!
You can fold the socks into bunnies.
Oh my word, I LOVE this idea!!!!
My daughter is getting a trip to the movies and the ice cream shop this year from the Bunny. It’s coming in the form of gift cards. This is a new idea for us and I don’t know for sure how it will be received on Easter morning (since we won’t be going to the movies on Easter). But I am tired of all the plastic junk that comes with Easter baskets and Christmas stockings, etc. So I’ve decided that experiencing an event will be better than any plastic eggs or sugary, processed snacks.
I think that’s a great idea!
I love anything that keeps clutter and candy out of my house. I normally do pool toys and flip flops in a big “bunny nest.”
My kids favorite egg stuffer is quarters. Lots and lots of quarters.
We reuse the same basket each year for my daughter. My Mom did this for us and it’s just a tradition I carried over. I bought the basket we use for my daughters very first Easter. I have an adorable picture of her sitting in it that year because it’s so big. It was really easy to fill this big basket when she was smaller- baby and toddler toys are big. But, now she’s 9 and it gets harder and harder every year to not fill it with things that will not become clutter. I’ve used a lot of the things mentioned here, but I see some new ideas too that I’m excited about. Some good space fillers I’ve used that I didn’t see on the list are board games, those round balls in the giant bins that all the stores seem to have this time of year, water balloons, squirt guns, beach towels to go with the pool stuff, and fun things for their room. I’ve given my daughter an alarm clock and a bulletin board in her basket before. I told you it was big! What was I thinking all those years ago?!
I am catching up on my blog reading from the last week, and had to laugh while reading this post. Our kids got ‘camp kits’- towels, washcloths, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, sheets and pillowcase. They also got water bottles, an outfit, and bathing suit. Everything in their baskets was on the above list! I guess I am maturing along with you in this slob journey.
Great list of ideas! We are always looking for something to put in the baskets to remember what we are celebrating. This year my oldest son got a Bible cover, the middle children veggie tales movies and the the youngest a toddler Bible. They then get a small “fun” thing and some candy. Our problem is all the stuff the extended family buy. We came home from visiting family with 10 extra baskets (4 are shovel and pail sets we will keep).
My 4 year old is getting a giant stuffed Ninja turtle in his basket and a outside golf set. I did buy some of the bigger eggs to put a little candy in but hopefully there won’t be too much clutter. The problem will be what he gets from his grandparents. They spoil him rotten!
I used to get new hair ties and barrettes, a a special necklace when I was a little older. Nothing fancy and not expensive. Usually a cross. I would also get a book and a special bookmark. I even got a license plate for my bike one year. This year, I got a couple of boxes of Teddy Grahams, caramel filled chocolate and a couple packets of Legos for my daughter.
Oh, and a watch when they are able to tell time is good too.
I stole this idea from someone else but she is putting Chuck E Cheese coins in her kids eater basket. My kids are going to love the idea!
This year my son is getting a starter set of Pokemon cards (a new obsession sweeping our homeschool co-op) and Laws Guide to Drawing Birds along with a couple of favorite candies. I’m still stuck on what the daughter is getting. We deal with super-sensitive skin so she can’t have typical girly things. This is a tough one.
I wish I would have read this article today before I went shopping for my boys easter stuff. There are a lot of great ideas. I do have to give it up to my in laws they don’t buy a bunch of stuff they usually just buy an outfit and some summer shoes
We are doing some candy (their favorites), a game for my youngest, a minecraft poster for my oldest, and a toy for each child. Also will put in sidewalk chalk, a jellyfish filled popsicles maker and squirt gun first for each. I am so tired of the plastic garbage that I did some thinking while I shopped for Easter Basket fillers this year.
One year when I was little my mom rolled a beach towel into a circle and filled the inside with Easter stuff. You couldn’t pick it up but we got nice beach towels. I’ve done that a few times with my kids and put goggles , pool toys, bubbles and other misc pool and outside toys.
Easter Bunny always brings books to our home. He doesn’t go over the top. One or two books per kid, two or three small toys that aren’t junk. And I know it isn’t “trendy” right now but they DO get lots of candy. Mostly chocolate so Hubba and I can enjoy the extras. 😉
This year our kids are four and five. One boy (4) and one girl (5).
DD is getting The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes; porcelain bunny LED battery nightlight; Beanie Boo bee plush; and candy, right down to edible grass (because I don’t need that stuff sticking around for eight months).
DS is getting Runny Babbit; rabbit-in-top-hat puppet (SO cool, and he loves magic tricks); pull-action rocket ship; and candy again.
We are also having an Easter egg hunt courtesy of E. Bunny. Target has giant golden eggs. When I was a child we had a golden egg to find in our family backyard hunts. I was so excited to see them this year! The winner will be getting a $2 bill and a couple of Sacajawea dollars as well.
I used to add socks, new hair trend trinkets, makeup and nail polish in the new spring shades, and their favorites, travel size or samples sized facial masks, toiletries, perfume, lotions, scrubs, etc. It is obvious I am talking about tween/teen girls. A new CD or movie would be the big gift. The cost was about the same as buying candy, if not cheaper and the baskets looked so full. I taped a lot of the travel sized items to the handle and just filled in the rest. Of course there was some sweets but those were just to fill in gaps. They loved it.
I got an empty basket to put the stuff I found in… or maybe there was a stuffed rabbit. I think I had to use the same basket a couple times in a row.
The worst year was foil packets of banana chips because I had bad teeth. I probably would have cracked a molar if I hadn’t temper tantrum-ed over the lack of jellybeans.
The best year was plastic eggs with smurf shrink-wrap and each one had a few 50-cent pieces in it. Eggs are reusable, or not. It depends on the quality.
My girls have been fighting over my Turbie Twist hair towel at bath time, so they are each getting their own in their easter baskets. My oldest is getting her first real bible and an easter book for my youngest. Then some spring/summer outdoor toys/activities for them to do. I REFUSE to fill their baskets with junk this year. And since my family loads them up with candy, they aren’t getting any in their basket.
I love some of these other ideas you posted.
Love the hair towel idea!
We have always had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, but many years ago we decided to go non-clutter and non-sugar. So we hide little boxes of raisins, snack crackers, juice boxes, plastic eggs with dimes and quarters, *jars of olives* (lol! They LOVED that!), beef jerky, hard boiled eggs, and sardines! When I offered to do a “real” hunt with candy one year, they begged to stick with our own tradition.
I have two daughters ages 7 & 10. They are getting a new outfit, reusable water bottle with a fruit infuser (sold at Walmart), fake stick on nails (they’ve been BEGGING for these), neon markers, lip balm, Tic Tacs, Kit Kat (their fave candy) and a few other ideas I picked up from this post!
I tried not to make Easter about stuff in a basket (it’s not Christmas) when the boys were little but it was always a mix of chocolate, fun stuff and a few practical items. As they got older, still lots of chocolate but they liked getting hockey tape, lacrosse balls and dvds which was great. 🙂
Absolutely! I really try to remember that the excitement of GETTING it shouldn’t outrank the excitement of KEEPING it. With Easter baskets I try to keep it fairly religious, too, because we have a religious home. So scripture markers, home-sewn scripture covers. Each of my kids have gotten a photobook of themselves & our family that illustrates the words to a religious song that they sing at church. Aside from that, I do certificates to go see a movie with Mom or Dad, or this year some of my kids will be getting money to go towards summer camp. Last year they each got a certificate for a horseback riding lesson. New hair accessories, art supplies, sidewalk chalk. This year their baskets are even more minimal than usual, because I feel like we need to be eating less sugar…so one “good” piece of candy, a thing of gum eggs, and a hardboiled egg or two. At our house they know that Mom and Dad do the Easter baskets… so I don’t have to worry about comparisons to other people’s baskets.
This is interesting. Are you doing these Easter baskets because you don’t want to give the kids chocolate eggs? Here in Australia Easter bunny pretty much just brings Easter eggs. We don’t have all the other things mentioned here. Well I am sure there are exceptions but generally chocolate is the thing in most families.
I’m 65. I guess my age is showing. We got … drumroll … a couple of hard-boiled and decorated eggs, chocolate Easter candy and some jelly beans. When we were high school age, my mom added a small trinket covered dish that could hold jewelery and misc. on our dressers a few years. LOL.
Back in the 70’s my mother got me vitamins since I was already older (big sister) It was in my basket with a chocolate bunny. Odd but I didn’t mind. The year before was a hoolahoop. Smart lady.
I used these ideas for my own kids. Some chocolate and a small sensible gift.