Beyond Candy: Practical Easter Basket Ideas for Health-Conscious Families
Easter is right around the corner, and billions of people are getting ready to celebrate this long-standing holiday. It’s observed in more than 95 countries with an estimated 80 percent of the world’s population planning to honor it in one way or another. For most of them, Easter baskets will be part of the festivities.
Traditionally, candy and other sweet treats are go-to fillers for Easter baskets. In fact, consumers spend well over $3 billion on Easter candy each year. Scattered among all those sugary surprises, children generally find an assortment of little toys and trinkets to enjoy. At this point, though, quite a few families have become more health conscious, and parents are veering toward more practical goodies to fill those baskets.
Stepping Outside the Box With Your Easter Baskets
If you’re looking for something different to fill Easter baskets with this year, there are countless alternatives to the typical unhealthy snacks and cheap toys people generally fall back on. You can pack those baskets with healthy, delicious treats and fun, yet useful, items that your children are sure to enjoy. Take a look at some amazing alternatives to conventional basket stuffers.
Metal Hydration Bottles
Metal hydration bottles make fantastic Easter basket fillers. With beautiful colors and fun designs, they can appeal to children, and adults, of all ages. They’re made to last, so recipients can use them for years to come. They’re also environmentally friendly. According to some reports, one person using a reusable bottle can prevent more than 150 plastic bottles from ending up in landfills each year.
At the same time, a metal hydration bottle may encourage your children to drink more water as opposed to sugary soft drinks and caffeine-laden sodas. You can introduce them to fruit-infused water and allow them to experiment with making their own unique flavors to fill their bottles. On the other hand, you could add low-calorie, sugar-free water flavors to their baskets.
Nutritious Snacks
In keeping with a healthy theme, you can add nutritious snacks to the mix as well. Dried fruits, trail mix, fruit leather, yogurt-covered raisins, and granola bars are only a few of your options in this category. Each one is a nutrient-rich alternative to chocolate, jelly beans, and sugar-covered marshmallows, and your children will love them.
Outdoor Toys
Building a healthy, practical Easter basket doesn’t mean you have to leave toys out of the picture. Some toys can encourage your little ones to be active and spend time outdoors. Jump ropes, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, kites, water guns, and bug catching kits are a few examples.
If you want to go bigger, you can gift your little ones a sandbox. Equip them with buckets, sand molds, and shovels for endless hours of outdoor play. In truth, you could let the sandbox be the Easter basket and fill it with a selection of the other items listed here.
Gardening Tools
Gardening tools are yet another practical and exciting option, and there are several child-friendly versions out there. Be sure to add seeds for planting to the mix as well. You can help your little ones plant their own backyard garden and teach them how to tend their vegetables.
Even those who aren’t interested in gardening, per se, are bound to enjoy digging in the dirt. Once their seeds sprout, they’ll be fascinated by watching them grow and bear vegetables. Children often get excited about eating vegetables they had a hand in growing. With seeds and gardening tools, you’ll essentially be giving your children Easter toys, a science lesson, a reason to spend time outdoors, a message about sustainability, and an incentive to eat healthier all in one.
Arts and Crafts Supplies
To spark your children’s creativity, arts and crafts supplies may be the perfect practical Easter basket fillers. Those range from coloring books and crayons to painting projects like ceramics and suncatchers. If you have an older child who’s a budding artist, a high-end art set would be an incredible Easter gift. Cross-stitching, friendship bracelet, and sand art kits are a few additional possibilities here, and those barely scratch the surface.
Beyond the Contents of the Basket
If you’re going to step outside the box with the contents of your Easter baskets, why not venture beyond the basket too? Instead of placing all those fillers in a standard pastel plastic basket, you could pack them into a cloth tote or backpack with a cute, colorful design on it. A fabric storage basket would also be a nice substitute. Each of these is a reusable alternative to conventional Easter baskets that actually becomes part of the gift.
Putting a New Spin on Easter Baskets
Candy is the norm for Easter baskets, but there’s no rule saying you have to follow the herd. Countless practical basket stuffers are out there from metal hydration bottles to crafting kits and beyond. Gifts like these bring joy long after the holiday itself. They could leave a lasting positive impression on your children, and some of them may encourage healthy habits that stay with them for the rest of their lives.
