Candy-Free Easter Basket Ideas

As a kid, my brother and I always looked forward to Easter and getting baskets with a chocolate bunny and going on easter egg hunts. These are still fun traditions that I like to continue with my kids, but since we largely avoid candy and other processed foods, I have to get creative with the contents of the Easter baskets each year.

My husband and I made a decision early in our marriage to try to focus on giving experiences instead of material gifts, and we wanted to find ways to continue this, even with our children’s Easter baskets. Over the years I’ve found some unique ideas and themes for the yearly baskets that were not only fun for the children to receive Easter morning, but help encourage family experiences as well.

Easter Basket Ideas Without Candy

I’m not sure when exactly Easter became a holiday associated with chocolate bunnies, but there are so many options that are much more fun and long-lasting than a sugar-laden basket of candy. We enjoy creating baskets around an activity or theme like gardening, baseball, swimming, or camping.

Theme Basket Ideas

These are some of my favorite themes from past Easter baskets:

Gardening Basket

A favorite in the past and the theme we chose again this year. I’m using inexpensive clay pots for the “baskets” and filling with child size gardening gloves, seeds, small garden tools, and other garden related items. Each child gets a different type of seeds that we will use in our garden and will help me start the seeds, plant in our raised beds, and water throughout the year.

Camping Baskets

One year, to help stock our camping supplies, each child received camping items in their baskets. They got sleeping bags, flashlights, binoculars, whistles, and camping silverware (we carry the dishes).

Sports Baskets

Baskets with gear to play certain sports and even tickets to our local minor league teams to go to games as a family throughout the year are always a family favorite.

Movie Night Baskets

Our kids really enjoy family movie nights, so their baskets could contain summer PJs and movie tickets or DVDs/Blue Ray discs. Each kid gets a different movie and gets to “host” that movie night by making popcorn and preparing snacks and setting up for the movie.

Craft Baskets

Crafts themed baskets are another favorite! Baskets are filled with craft supplies like construction paper, glue, scissors, buttons, and modeling clay.

Scavenger Hunt Basket

With this idea, the basket is part of the experience. On years we want to just give one experience/gift to all of the kids that won’t fit in a basket, we create a scavenger hunt around the gift and leave the clues in their baskets. Hide one part of the first clue in each basket so the kids can work together to find the first clue and lead them on a scavenger hunt to the final destination or gift.

Other Easter Basket Ideas

If you don’t want to follow a theme for an Easter basket, just fill it with a random assortment of items that encourage activity and experiences, such as:

• jump ropes
• puzzles
• card games
• jump gym passes
• bowling lane tickets
• outdoor games
• Legos
• water guns
• hair accessories
• beach towels and toys
• wooden airplanes
• kites

Other Natural Alternatives for Easter

Easter is the second biggest candy-selling holiday of the year after Halloween. Over 16 billion jelly beans are made each year, along with millions of neon marshmallow chicks and hundreds of varieties of chocolate treats. Think it is extreme to consider favorite food traditions? Certainly, there is a time and place for moderation and that sometimes the stress of choosing natural options can outweigh the benefits, but this is a holiday where we can definitely make improvements.

Since food dyes may affect behavior, and many people consume over 100 pounds of sugar a year, it is becoming increasingly important to consider healthier alternatives. These simple switches don’t take away any of the fun or tradition, they just reduce the sugar and food dye content.

Easter Eggs

Check out this post for ideas on how to dye easter eggs naturally.

Easter Egg Hunts

Instead of candy, fill the eggs with small items like coins or “points” that can be used “buy” bigger prizes from a box. Better yet, hide real eggs or create a scavenger hunt with clues that ends at a fun prize or destination.

Candy 

Just say no to the neon jelly beans and marshmallow chickens! Skip the chocolate bunnies and Cadbury eggs completely, or at least consider making your own healthier chocolate and marshmallows. Choose simple desserts like delicious seasonal fruits instead.

Do you have any family traditions? What do you put in Easter baskets?

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