Whether you are trying to encourage your family to change their lifestyle habits or you are trying to get your kids started young with a good diet, minimizing the candy in the Easter baskets is a great way to encourage your kids to get excited over their hobbies rather than sugary foods.
And of course, the more creative you get with the Easter baskets, the more fun it will be for you to put them together and the better the reaction you’ll get from your kids. So consider some of these unique ideas:
Items Related to Hobbies
Bonding with your kids over their hobbies is an excellent way to build a good relationship, and giving gifts related to their hobbies is a great way to show that you support them in their interests. Consider small relevant gifts that will fit in an Easter basket. For example, a young athlete might like gift cards for a sports equipment store, tennis balls, baseballs, colorful shoelaces for their soccer cleats, etc. Or a little artist might like to get age-appropriate art supplies. For a young child, crayons, chalk, coloring books, and non-toxic markers are great choices too. For an older child, sketchbooks, higher quality markers and supplies, graphite pencils, nice erasers, etc.
Personalized Items
Kids are so frequently trying on new personalities and hobbies, it can be hard to be sure that you are getting them a gift that is going to last. Personalized items are a great way to give your child something that is both useful and personal. For example, consider water bottles, backpacks, baseballs caps, and accessories in their favorite colors with the child’s name inscribed. You can even get each child personalized Easter baskets that you can re-use year after year!
Outdoor activities
Spring time is an excellent time to get kids going outdoors. Temperatures are not as hot as in the summer and humidity won’t be so high. For the health-conscious parent, it’s a great time to encourage kids to find ways to have fun outside. Get kids involved in gardening with their own seed packets and child-sized gardening tools. Buy games and toys meant to be used outside like sidewalk chalk, pool and beach toys, athletic equipment like soccer balls or basketball shoes, etc.
Fun, Colorful School Supplies
By Easter time, most kids are looking forward to the end of the school year. But fun school supplies might help them stay engaged for just a little while longer! You can get pens and notebooks in all kinds of colors, but you can also get supplies decorated with popular characters. A new set of Batmen pens and notebooks will at least be more fun than the old Marble notebook and No. 2 pencil! Also consider kid-friendly books that might be more engaging to your child than their assigned school reading. This could be an excellent opportunity to encourage reading in a reluctant reader.
Toys!
Toys of all kinds are always popular, so don’t forget to get your kids some silly, just-for-fun items! If this is your first year going easy on the candy, some good, engaging toys may be a good way to keep your kids from getting disappointed. Good small items might include dolls, race cars, puzzles, games, doll accessories, Play-Doh, or video games.
Other Small Items
For miscellaneous small items, which will be especially useful if you’re also trying to cut candy out of the Easter eggs, might include hair accessories, lip gloss, Hot Wheels, keychains, small toy animals, small bouncy balls, and coins or one-dollar bills.
Don’t Cut Out the Treats Altogether!
If you still want to give your kids some treats, you can still give them small amounts of candy, maybe one chocolate bunny for each, without having the holiday focused on sugar. You can supplement with other treats like dried fruit, nuts, beef jerky, or lower sugar candies like yogurt covered pretzels and almonds.
