Easter Basket Ideas for Babies and Toddlers!

Family & Parenting, Food & Entertaining, Montessori, Parenting, The Holidays

Easter is coming up soon and it’s time to start thinking about what the Easter bunny might bring! Most of the time, we think of candy and maybe a spring toy or two but with the youngest family members, it can be tough to figure out what to include. These are some Easter basket ideas for babies and toddlers to make your life easier!

With babies and toddlers, Easter isn’t as easy as putting some candy-filled eggs in a basket and calling it good. That much sugar isn’t good for their health or our sanity (what we have left anyways) as parents. Here are some fun developmentally appropriate alternatives that you can do, many of which they’d be getting anyways.

Best Easter Basket Ideas

JoFAN 6 Pack Wooden Shaker Eggs – These are a great Easter basket gift. Not only do they resemble eggs but they are a toy that can grow with your child. As a baby, they act as a hand rattle. For toddlers, they can help them learn about rhythm and music.

Easy Grip Egg-Shaped Toddler Crayons – It’s never too early to let children explore their creativity and with these washable paint crayons, they can grip the egg shape more easily than traditional crayons.

Harvest Carrot Game – This is perfect in so many ways for little ones. It’s a Montessori toy that works on size, shape, sorting, fine motor skills, and problem-solving all in one. My son absolutely adored this toy from day one and would focus for hours as he figured out how to make all the carrots fit where they belonged. The best part was how much he learned doing so!

Buzzy Bee Teether – Not only is it adorable but easy for babies to hold and dishwasher safe. What’s not to like?

Pink Bunny Lovey with Teether and Busy Baby Features – This is a great multi-purpose toy that will delight any little girl. Between the teether, ribbons, crinkly sound, and soft minky fabric, it will soon become a favorite.

Blue Ginkgo Silicone Rainbow Stacker Nesting Puzzle – A classical Montessori stacking puzzle that’s perfect for your little one’s Easter basket. It’s also made of silicone so easy to grip for them and clean for you.

Learning Resources Garden Fresh Salad Set – With spring here, it’s a perfect time to enjoy fresh veggies. With this set, your little one can make their own pretend salad just like you. It comes with a serving bowl and four smaller ones so they can even play with their friends.

Easter Egg Matching Montessori and STEM Set – At first, this looks like a play carton with eggs inside but each egg cracks open to reveal a color and shape. At my son’s Montessori school, this was one of his absolute favorite toys and helped him learn shapes, colors, and problem-solving skills.

Learning Resources Farmer’s Market Sorting Set – This was one of the first pretend food toys we got Dom and he would spend hours sorting the fruit and veggies by color or working on learning what each one was. They look real enough to easily recognize but clearly a certain color as well to make the sorting easier on younger kids.

The First Years Stack N Count Cups – If you’re looking for something smaller for their Easter basket, these stacking cups are perfect. We got these for Dom when he was still a baby and at 3.5, he still doesn’t want us to put them away or take them out of rotation. At first, they helped with fine motor skills and counting but now, he uses them to sort other toys into or to serve people ‘drinks’ that he’s created, normally from other toys.

Montessori Shape Puzzle – Puzzles are great for many things from fine motor skills to problem-solving and even learning such as this one. It focuses on shapes and colors while being easy enough for a baby to start working on. The pieces have knobs on them for easier handling.

Green Toys Yellow and Red Dump Truck – I absolutely love Green Toys vehicles and we probably have way too many of them but the dump truck is a good one to start with. It is chunky enough to stand up to toddler play and no small parts for parents to worry about. As an added bonus, they are all made in the US from recycled materials.

10 Inch LCD Drawing Board – Kids, including toddlers, love to draw and color but for parents, the worry about writing on walls, furniture, or various other surfaces can limit how much we let them express their creativity. That’s not to mention how much paper they go through… Enter the LCD drawing boards. With the stylus, they can draw or write to their heart’s content and with the click of a button, they are back to a blank slate to do it all over again! This is what helped my son to start writing his name before he was a year and a half old and they aren’t expensive making it perfect for an Easter basket gift.

Crayola Color Wonder Paper and Color Wonder Markers – For an older toddler, they may want to explore their creativity with more colors. This is where Color Wonder products come in. We love the blank sheets which allow Dom to fully use his imagination and the smaller markers are perfect for little hands. The best part is they can’t draw on the wall, furniture, or any surface except the paper with them!

Candy Land Board Game – Since Easter is the candy holiday, why not swap some chocolate bunnies out for the classic candy board game of Candy Land? While the recommended age is 3, many toddlers can start playing earlier since it’s based on colors and doesn’t require any reading. It also teaches taking turns and following directions. The best part though is the time spent with your little one.

Easter Chunky Lift-a-Flap Board Book by Babies Love – This book is great for babies and into the toddler years. For babies, they’ll love the bright colors and heavy-duty flaps (no flimsy paper flaps here!) that they can open and close all by themselves. As they get older, they can find and name the parts in the pictures while learning about Easter and springtime.

Llama Llama Easter Egg Board Book – We love the Llama Llama series at our house and this Easter book is no exception. The way the words flow through the book and the bright colors are great for entrancing a wiggly toddler.

Peek-a-Flap Hop Board Book – The Peek-a-Flap books are great for teaching kids real-life facts in a fun way all while giving them a more interactive experience with the flaps they can open and close all by themselves. This one centers on Easter and now that my son is a bit older, he’s started telling me about the things he’s learned from it.

Happy Easter, Little Pookie Board Book – Sandra Boynton is a house favorite for her whimsical stories. Little Pookie learning about Easter is no exception. This is a perfect option for your little one to get them excited about Easter!

It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny – Ok, this is here because it was a favorite of mine when I was little and now, it’s one of my son’s favorite books. It’s funny, adorable, and has a great lesson about accepting yourself how you are. The perfect Easter gift!

Poke-A-Dot Old MacDonald’s Farm Board Book – If you are having trouble getting your wiggle worms to settle for reading time, Poke-A-Dot books are perfect! They incorporate pushing plastic bubble buttons with reading and counting, helping keep their interest longer when they just don’t want to sit still. Being spring, this book with all of Old MacDonald’s animals is a great Easter basket addition.

Poke-A-Dot First Colors Board Book – For a slightly younger crowd, this book about colors is great to start with. Simple pictures and bright colors combine with the fun of “popping” your way through this one!

Gund Baby’s First Easter Plushie Basket – No Easter basket would be complete without a plushie. For your baby’s first Easter, Gund has put together the cutest group including a bunny, carrot, chick, and their very own Easter egg. It’s an all-in-one way for your baby to safely explore Easter classics!

Miyoni Cream Colored Lamb – Miyoni is Aurora’s lifelike line of stuffed animals. For Dom’s first Easter basket, I wanted to get him something that would grow with him. This adorable little lamb is perfect! It’s so soft and has no issue going through the wash as long as you only use low heat in the dryer. He still takes it to bed with him every night and it holds up wonderfully.

Jellycat Bashful Grey Bunny – No Easter basket would be complete without a bunny to snuggle and love. Jellycat Bashful Bunnies are one of the best options out there and they come in grey, cream, tan, and even pink! With long floppy ears, soft silky fur, and a huggable body that can’t be beat, these are by far the best bunny to include for your baby or toddler this year!

Conclusion:

I hope that these ideas can help inspire you in creating a fun and memorable Easter basket for your little one. What was your baby’s favorite Easter toy? Please post your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!