A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

44 Fun Ideas for Easter Baskets

I asked a bunch of friends what their favorite Easter traditions were when they were kids, and nearly all of them said “Easter baskets.” Some had to search for their baskets because the Easter Bunny hid them, but others said the baskets were sitting out waiting prettily for them when they woke up Easter morning.

Around here, the Easter Bunny hides the kids’ baskets. The little gifts and trinkets have gotten fewer and less expensive over the years as we’ve added more kids. Plus, I quickly realized that when you add in all the little treats and presents from grandparents and aunts and uncles, the kids were getting a lot of stuff!

If you’re new to the Easter Basket scene (or just need some fresh ideas), here are 44 fun things for the Easter Bunny to tuck into your kids’ Easter baskets:

  • Chocolate bunnies or eggs
  • Peeps
  • Jewelry
  • Fun Band-Aids
  • Yo-Yo
  • Books (Pat the Bunny, The Runaway Bunny, anything by Beatrix Potter)
  • The Velveteen Rabbit, narrated by Meryl Streep
  • Bubbles
  • Kite
  • Coloring books
  • Fun markers
  • Crayons
  • Colored pencils
  • Jump rope
  • Frisbee
  • Bath toys (Color Dotz, bath crayons)
  • Rubik’s Cube
  • Small puzzle
  • Small stuffed animal
  • Silly Putty
  • Shaving cream
  • Veggie Tales ‘Twas the Night Before Easter DVD
  • Wind-up toy
  • Small instruments (tambourine, maracas, recorder, harmonica)
  • Baseball or football cards
  • Sidewalk chalk
  • Bouncy balls
  • Temporary tattoos
  • Lip gloss
  • Nail polish
  • Beach toys
  • Swimsuit
  • Sunglasses
  • Hair accessories
  • T-shirt
  • Magazine subscription
  • Gift card
  • Novelty electric toothbrush
  • Plastic eggs filled with coins or jellybeans
  • Seed packets
  • Watering can
  • Kid-size gardening gloves
  • Kid-sizes gardening tools
  • Rain boots

I always have to add some Cadbury Mini Eggs (for Tim) and Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs (for me) to the baskets. The kids are very kind about sharing.

Last year we ran out of time before I could make this homemade version of  Tim’s all-time favorite Cadbury Eggs, but this year I’m determined. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Books Everyone Should Read / Consensus Cloud

David McCandless and Miriam Quick created a “Books Everyone Should Read” consensus cloud featuring the most frequently named books from more than 15 notable book polls, readers’ surveys, and top 100 lists. The lists include Pulitzer Prize winners, Desert Island Discs choices from recent years, Oprah’s Bookclub list, and The Guardian newspaper’s Top 100 Books of All Time.

This consensus cloud is a veritable gold mine for anyone looking for something good to read. It’d be great for book clubs, too. Just glancing at the list, I can see that my book club has read a bunch of the books already, but there are still plenty more to choose from.

Did your favorites show up in the cloud? Quite a few of the comments on the creators’ website were left by people who took issue with the list being called “Books Everyone Should Read” and suggested it be named “Books That People Are Reading” instead. I guess not everyone thinks Twilight belongs in the same category as To Kill A Mockingbird! (I suppose “should” sounds better from a marketing point of view.) I have quite a few friends who’d say that everyone really should read Twilight.

You can check the data and analysis at Information is Beautiful or go here to buy a PDF (or to see a bigger, easier-to-read version). Do you have a book lover in your life who’d love a list like this?