Easter products are hard to miss when you stop by the store these days. From plastic grass to cream filled chocolate eggs, the stuff is everywhere. But if you eschew all that plastic crap and you don’t particularly want your kids to have all that processed sugar what do you? Well, to start you need to pass by those prepackaged Easter baskets and make your own. It’s easy!
Here are some ideas on what you can add to make your child’s Easter basket natural, eco friendly, and most important… fun and memorable.
The Stuffing:
Shredded paper – A few weeks before Easter have your kids do some watercolor painting each day. What kids wouldn’t want to paint everyday? Use some of their creations to shred and line their easter baskets with. They will be colorful and planet friendly.
Real Grass – Growing your own grass is not hard. Find a container that will just fit inside your Easter baskets and line it with a few inches of soil and a generous sprinkling of grass seeds. Just keep the conatiners under a sunny window and water daily. Once you have a few inches of grass you can tuck them inside the baskets and fill with treasures.
The Sweet Stuff :
Dried Fruit – Raisins, dates, apples slices, peaches, apricots, cherries, blueberries, and strawberries are some kid favorites.
Lara Bars – We love Key Lime Pie.
Raw Vegan Chocolate Brownie Bites – They are quite yummy!
Organic Fruit Strips – You can make your own in a dehydrator or buy some from Archer Farms.
Chocolate covered nuts.
Trader Joe’s Yogurt Star Cookies – My kids like these and they remind me of Circus Cookies but without many of the unsavory ingredients. These are actually colored with blueberry powder.
Non Food Treats and Treasures:
Art Supplies – Beeswax crayons or Eco Stars, natural paints, a crayon roll, or other groovy supplies for budding artists and crafters.
Homemade play dough
Seed packets
Small games or puzzles (like the ones from Haba)
Paper Dolls – I like these dolls from Eeboo and these paper bunnies as well.
Clothing – For little girls now may be time to sew up a cute pillowcase dress for spring/summer. Boys (and girls too) might enjoy a cape.
Tegu Blocks – In the the groovy new pastels colors. My kids LOVE these.
Books – Some good books for spring include The Daring Book for Girls and The Dangreous book for Boys. Also Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes.
Gift passes to local play museums, amusement parks, movie theaters, or other fun places your kids like to go. This year we got indoor waterpark day passes for each of our kidlets. ;)
The possibilities are endless. What will go in your child’s Easter basket this year?
Lovely! We reuse plastic eggs and the same basket every year, making washing the eggs and decorating the basket part of our pre-Easter ritual. This year, I’ve heard that the bunny will be bringing some lovely Sjaak’s vegan chocolates, cotton candy from Vegan Essentials, an elephant-themed stitching kit, and a small card game for the basket, and will be filling the eggs with jelly beans and coins.
love the ideas in this article. I do not like to give my kids a bunch of candy. we typically give a few fun gifts and then a small bit of candy. I will definitely use some of these ideas
I love these ideas. We’re having a plastic free Green Easter and I was wondering about what to stuff the basket with :) thanks!!
Good ideas! Thanks for sharing.
Great ideas – thanks!
Great ideas! I filled my sweet baby’s basket with some goodies for great price…wanna see?
http://www.alamodemaven.com/2011/04/fill-your-basket-without-emptying-your.html
xoxo, Shelli
Cute!!
Useful ideas!! Its easy to just buy all of the plastic toys they put out. I definitely will put more thought into it this year!
I’m definitely going to borrow some of those ideas for Easter this year! I go to the dollar store and the discount section of Target to do my Easter basket shopping. Every Easter I reuse household baskets (with different decorations to mix it up). This year, the Easter bunny will fill my kids’ baskets with outdoor toys (e.g. jump ropes and planting kits from Green Toys, sidewalk chalk), books, craft items (e.g. all-natural art supplies from Clementine Art, stickers, homemade play dough), puzzles, flip flops, healthy treats (e.g. trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, and whole grain pretzels), and some organic candy. For my girls, I plan to also include hair barrettes, nail polish, and a gift certificate to their favorite frozen yogurt shop in their baskets. I may even sneak in a dollar bill in an egg or two in each of my kid’s baskets!