Sitting on top of my fridge is a large plastic container – the kind you buy bulk pretzels in, although the pretzels are long gone. It is now our “candy bucket”.
Every year the night before Halloween the container is emptied out of the previous years candy then, after the kids have finished trick or treating and are tucked away in bed, their Halloween bags are dumped, the hard candies are tossed out and the rest is added to the “candy bucket”.
Throughout the year candy from birthday parties and Valentine’s Day will fill in any remaining space in the container. Occasionally the kids will have a piece as a special treat, but once all of the M&Ms and Twix are gone the container is mostly forgotten. Until Easter.
Easter, with it’s assortment of colorful candies and bunny shaped chocolates, Easter is when I begin glaring at the already excessive amount of candy going stale on top of the refrigerator.
Over the years I’ve been slowly replacing the candy in their Easter Baskets with bubbles and chalk and this year I wanted to take it even further by upping the fun factor and reducing the sweet treats.
This year I was determined to come up with candy free Easter Basket ideas that were fun and maybe a tiny bit educational too!
So here are 22 candy free Easter Basket ideas I’ve come up with to fill their baskets with fun without all the sugar!
1. Safari LTD. Toob Animals
Instead of filling plastic eggs with candy we fill them with these miniature animals!
This year we got Farm Babies, Zoo Babies and The Galapagos and the Easter Bunny is also leaving this adorable Farm Tote & Playset for them to store and play with all of their new animals.)
2. Coupons
Print some fun coupons for family activities and special treats and use them to stuff plastic eggs! You can grab my FREE PRINTABLE EASTER COUPONS here!
3. Grow Your Own Crystals
Turn small gel cubes into beautiful crystals with this kit.
4. My First Bird Book
Use the included bird feeder to attract birds, then read about them in this book!
5. Melissa & Doug Stamp Sets
From zoo animals to alphabets, these sets are great for young kids!
6. Melissa & Doug Big Picture Coloring Floor Pads
These giant easel size pads will wow kids!
7. Alphabet Blocks
These classic toys are great basket stuffers for toddlers and preschoolers!
8. Grow a Hedgehog Kit
Grow a beautiful crystal hedgehog and combine science with fun room decor!
9. Science Experiments You Can Eat Book
Kids explore kitchen science in this book, perfect for the science lover and future foodie.
10. Rocket Balloons
Launch these balloons and see who’s flies highest!
11. Paper Airplane Kit
My son is always asking me to make paper airplanes, and I’m always telling him I have no idea how to, so this kit will be educational for both of us!
12. Squirmles
Fuzzy little “pets” that magically jump and crawl (hint: there’s some fishing line involved).
13. Escape From The Overworld
For the Minecraft obsessed, get their heads out of the screen and into a book with a Minecraft themed novel!
14. Crystal Rocks
My kids love crystal science, and these kits are small enough to make the perfect basket stuffers.
15. Chalk!
Whether it’s sidewalk chalk, Giant chalk or a toddler’s First Chalk Set kids can never have too much chalk and Easter is the perfect time refresh outdoor toys.
16. Art Supplies
Easter is the perfect time for us to restock our art bin and stock up on fun supplies to keep the kids busy over spring break!
17. Zing Air Storm Bow & Arrow Toy
I did a review of these around Christmastime and we all loved them. We’ll be buying refill arrows for Easter, but if you don’t already own one – they are perfect for using outside as the weather gets nicer!
18. Hatch & Grow Dino Egg
We include these every year and the kids never get tired of them, plus the egg shape makes them perfect to stick in a basket!
19. Blind Boxes
Blind boxes and bags are so much fun to open, and there’s one for every interest!
18. Dinosaur Excavation Kit
Little ones become an archaeologist as they unearth Dinosaur fossils.
19. Reusable Sticker Pad
Create fun scenes over and over.
20. Grow a crystal tree
Grow a magical tree in under 24 hours!
21. Books!
Fill their baskets with some new Easter themed books.
22. A Toothbrush!
Since candy may be inevitable, even if it’s only coming from family and friends, take this opportunity to give the kids a fun new electric toothbrush to get them excited about cleaning their teeth!
I love the challenge of finding small and inexpensive surprises to fill up the baskets, and each year I find myself resorting to less and less candy! How great is that!? What fun surprises will the Easter Bunny be leaving for your little ones?
[…] won’t break the bank either. Last Easter I managed to cut a ton of junk and candy out of our Easter Egg hunt by filling the boy’s eggs with little Safari Ltd. Animals. The kids loved them and since a […]