10 Terrific Ideas for What to Put in Your Child’s Easter Basket

Welcome to Girls to Grow on this almost-spring Friday in March!  I hope your week’s been a good one.

Today is a bit of a throwback post to when our daughters were younger.  Putting together Easter baskets for them each year is a long-standing family tradition.  At 21 and 19, our girls still get Easter baskets, but they look a little different now – except that they each still get a chocolate Easter bunny!

When they were younger, I definitely tried to limit the amount of candy we gave them.  That meant coming up with other fun items to fill up the Easter baskets.  Below I’m sharing ten categories of items that I pulled from over the years.  I’ve included links to some items, but you will likely find most of them in your dollar store or other superstores.

I hope these ideas give you some inspiration as you choose things to fill your child’s Easter basket!

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1. Books.  Everyone in our family is a reader, so you know I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to add to our bookshelves!  If I remember to shop ahead, I can find inexpensive used books at a used book store or from our library’s sale shelves.  I especially enjoy adding to some of our favorite series, like The Happy Hollisters or The Puppy Place or The Cul-de-Sac Kids.
2. Summer toys.  I have used sand buckets as Easter baskets and added shovels, rakes and sand toys – or you can buy a set of beach toys. Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, jump ropes or water guns along with sunglasses, pool floats, or other pool toys are fun additions.
3. Pajamas, nightgowns or a bathing suit.  These are clothing items that I would purchase anyway, so sometimes I make them part of our girls’ Easter baskets.  I love Carter’s nightgowns and pajamas – they have cute designs and are good quality.
4. Accessories.  Hair bows, barrettes, jewelry, fancy socks or small purses can be used as part of their Easter outfit for church.
5. An Easter dress for their doll.  So I kind of miss the days when our girls and their 18-inch dolls wore matching dressses! That didn’t happen every season, but it was so cute when it did. But even if they didn’t match, it was fun for their doll to have a new Easter dress, too.
6. Art supplies.  Coloring books, crayons, markers, pens, paints, sticker pads or modeling clay all provide entertainment for our girls.  One year I gave them journals, which is something they’d still enjoy receiving today.
7. Seed packets.  Spring is a perfect time to gift them packets of flower seeds along with with a cute planter for growing their own flowers.
8. Chocolate bunny rabbit.  This was my one candy concession, although I may add a pack of gum or mints, too.
9. Bath items.  Shower gels, bath poufs and bath bombs are “girly” items that will be used often.
10. Kitchen utensils.  It was fun for our daughters, especially as they got older, to have their own tools if they helped me in the kitchen. Measuring spoons, whisks, cookie scoops, and cookie cutters (these Easter ones are really cute!) can all be used when they cook with me while also beginning a collection for their own home one day.

As I mentioned, our daughters’ Easter baskets look somewhat different these days. They’ll still include that chocolate bunny and a book, maybe a Starbucks gift card, some bath and body products, perhaps earrings. And our daughter who’s getting married next year may still get a couple of kitchen utensils to round out her collection!

I hope you have lots of fun building your child’s Easter basket in 2022!