Funny Easter Baskets Full of Cleaning Supplies
A timeless Easter basket, in two sizes
For a classic Easter basket, we love the Pottery Barn Kids Seagrass Easter Basket because it gives off big Beatrix Potter energy, and it comes in two roomy sizes so you can fill it with a lot or a little. The bigger basket (15½ inches in diameter) can hold a large stuffie and plenty of treats. The smaller size (12½ inches in diameter) is no slouch, either, if you want something easy for young kids to carry. Pottery Barn Kids also sells several customizable liners in ginghams, plaids, and seersuckers, and it has a similar white basket in slightly different sizes.
A space-saving Easter basket alternative
For families who are short on storage space or looking for something low-key and less traditional, Hallmark's Canvas Fabric Bunny Gift Bag is our favorite alternative basket. What's easier to store or pack than a tote bag? The design is gender neutral, adorable, and unfussy, and it costs a fraction of the price of the Pottery Barn Kids woven baskets. It's about 11 by 11 inches and 3 inches deep, so it should be big enough to hold a couple of books, some candy, and a few other Easter goodies. It's also easy to sling over your shoulder at an egg hunt if you, like me, always end up carrying your child's winnings.
Recyclable paper grass
Old-school plastic Easter grass—like its cousin, Christmas tinsel—is an environmentally unfriendly mess that you can't ever truly get rid of. Strands of the stuff seem to live on forever; even though our family doesn't use it, I've still found wayward strings outside my house posing a hazard to local birds building their spring nests. Paper grass, such as MagicWater Supply's Crinkle Cut Paper Shred Filler, is a better option for the local wildlife, and it comes in many saturated colors and metallics that will delight kids. I've even saved and reused it for birthdays and Christmas gifts. (Be sure to check whether your local recycling center accepts shredded paper products; many do not.) You can buy it in half-pound, 1-pound, or 2-pound bags.
Festive, easy-to-spot Easter eggs
I bought Joyin's 72 Piece Plastic Easter Eggs assortment a few years ago, and the prints have filled my daughter's Easter basket with personality ever since. They stand out just enough in the backyard for a family egg hunt, and they've stayed sealed and dry inside after a night in the Pacific Northwest damp. With 72 eggs in a box, I have plenty left over to replace missing or broken pieces for years to come (this will be my fourth year using that original box, and it's still going strong). We fill our eggs with coins and candy, but Wirecutter senior staff writer Lauren Dragan suggests Matchbox cars or clues to bigger gifts, and senior editor Erica Ogg likes filling them with pom-poms for very young children. If you're not convinced about the prints, Joyin also makes a discotastic shiny gold version.
Real gold coins from the US Mint's new state series
People often give out chocolate coins at Easter, but swapping them for a few real gold pieces adds a little holiday magic to the basket. Senior staff writer Nancy Redd says she picks up one-dollar gold coins from the bank for her kids. I called a couple of my local banks, and they confirmed that they generally have some circulating gold coins available. But they also suggested grabbing them early, as lots of like-minded folks clean them out for Easter. If your bank runs out, or if you want a mint-condition coin, you can buy proofs straight from the US Mint in collector's packaging. I bought my daughter this New Jersey coin a couple of years ago—it's where we're from originally, and it was one of the first coins released in the US Mint's American Innovation state series.
A cornucopia of candy eggs
Chocolate eggs are an Easter staple, and although many varieties are available, we have some tried-and-true favorites. My English husband grew up on Cadbury Mini Eggs at Easter. The pastel candy coating keeps kids' hands clean while they scarf down chocolate in their Sunday best, and sprinkled in an Easter basket, the eggs look classier than any brightly colored candy wrapper. The US version tastes a little different from the original British candies, but these are still delicious, bite-size milk chocolates. For another candy-coated egg option, my family did a taste test this winter of Brach's Malted Milk Eggs versus Whoppers Robin Eggs. Between the two, we were split almost evenly on taste—I preferred the Robin Eggs for that familiar Whoppers texture, but my husband thought the Malted Milk Eggs had less of an aftertaste. The Robin Eggs came out just ahead because they're smaller and easier to eat (my daughter struggled with the gumball size of the Malted Milk Eggs), and they're more widely available for Easter at this writing. If you're looking for individually wrapped candy eggs, you can't go wrong with a gooey Cadbury Creme Egg, which I've always loved, or a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg, a favorite of some Wirecutter staffers.
Really good jelly beans
If Easter chocolates should be pastel and understated, then Easter jelly beans should be a riot of colors and flavors. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans deliver on both counts. A 2-pound bag offers 49 flavors (and colors), including toasted marshmallow, chocolate pudding, and A&W root beer. Also from Jelly Belly: The Baby Carrot bag (a carrot-shaped pack filled with tangerine-flavor beans) and the pint-size Spring Mix flip-top boxes (about two bucks each) are delicious—we've tested them!—and adorable Easter basket additions. If your kids are Harry Potter fans or just like being grossed out, Jelly Belly makes Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, which include flavors like soap, earwax, and earthworm. Online reviews suggest they may have more bad flavors than good, but some folks take matters into their own hands by mixing them with regular jelly beans to improve the odds of getting a winner. And for a vegan Easter basket option, we tried Jelly Belly's Vegan Gummies. They aren't classic jelly beans, despite how the photos on the bag may look—they're actually larger-size gummy candies—but they were tasty, with fruit flavors like apple, orange, and cherry. As my husband noted, "I wouldn't know they were vegan."
Some sweet reads
If you want to avoid giving too much sugar or too many toys, there's no reason the Easter Bunny can't bring books. Gentle, timeless picture books for younger kids, such as Frog and Toad Storybook Favorites, recommended for ages 4 to 8, are lovely gifts. When I was an elementary school librarian, my youngest students also loved funny picture books with a seasonal connection like The Good Egg. My first-, second-, and third-graders wanted action-packed, breezy chapter books like The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess, or big books of facts like National Geographic Kids Almanac 2022. My older students (fourth- and fifth-graders) preferred popular series books so they could spend a lot of time with their favorite characters, like this Percy Jackson and the Olympians five-book paperback boxed set or this Wings of Fire eight-book boxed set (a current favorite with my 10-year-old daughter and her classmates). For middle- and high-schoolers, a gift card is a safe bet so they can choose their own books.
Our favorite bath bombs, in seasonal shapes
When Wirecutter did the testing for a guide to the best bath bombs, Lush's offerings came out as the clear winners (for both kids and adults) thanks to their fizziness, appealing fragrances, and overall sense of luxury. We think its whimsical Flying Carrot bath bomb—made with carrot powder, lemon myrtle oil, and rosewood oil and scented like lemon sorbet—is a hilarious treat for kids of all ages this Easter. The more opulent Golden Egg bath bomb, which contains bergamot and orange oils and smells like honey-toffee, is a shimmery indulgence for teens who might be too cool for a basket full of candy but still like treats.
Eggs you can play with long after the holiday
When my daughter was a toddler, she was obsessed with a version of Tomy Toomies Hide & Squeak Eggs (ours didn't squeak). We bought a lot of Tomy toys between the ages of 1 and 3 because they're colorful and indestructible, and they remain in great shape when you're ready to donate them or pass them on to the next kid. The eggs, recommended for kids 6 months and older, ranked among her favorites, and I love any toy that comes with its own storage case for kids this age—it's so much easier to keep track of all the pieces!
Colorful chalk for sidewalk art
Depending on where you live, Easter often ushers in the perfect weather to start making art outside with some colored chalk. Wirecutter associate manager for commerce operations Sany Begum says, "We don't celebrate Easter, but my mom used to buy it for us for special occasions because we used to draw on our walls. I loved it!" My family always has Crayola sidewalk chalk lying around the house somewhere; the pieces are big and square for small hands, they're pointed like pencils for more precise drawing, and the colors look great. And when your kids make a giant mess on the driveway, it all washes away with a hose or a rainstorm.
A springtime stuffed animal
An Easter basket isn't complete without a stuffed animal perched inside. Jellycat, the maker of outrageously soft and endearing stuffies, is a staff favorite—and a cult favorite, too. If you haven't already begun your family's collection, Easter is the ideal time to kick it off with one of the company's iconic Bashful Bunnies, aka the ultimate "starter" Jellycat, which my daughter will likely be receiving this year. The plush friends come in almost two dozen colors and seven sizes, ranging in price from about $10 for "tiny" to $180 for the almost-4-foot-tall "very big" version. You can opt for a classic color, an Easter-y pale pastel, or—for the more advanced Jellycat aficionado—the rarer Tessa Tulip, whose ears are lined with a floral cotton print. Even babies can get in on the action with a Bashful Bunny rattle or small soother blanket. And although bunnies are understandably a popular choice for this holiday, my daughter fell in love with her Pottery Barn Kids Lamb Critter Plush, which is just as appropriate for spring. We've had several "Lambies," in two different sizes, and for a while they went everywhere she went. I can confirm that they hold up to a lot of infant/toddler/preschooler love, and they maintain a prominent position on her shelves now that she's in fourth grade—she still reaches for them now and then in her rotation of bedtime friends.
Piece be with you
Those Cadbury eggs last for only so long. For an out-of-the-box (or make that basket) Easter treat with staying power, we recommend a puzzle that the family can enjoy together time and again. I've bought several puzzles for my daughter over the years, especially at the start of the pandemic. I've been consistently impressed with Ravensburger puzzles for their durability and range of designs. They hold up to multiple rounds of assembling and disassembling, unlike some other puzzles we tested for this guide, which bent and tore at the edges when separated. The designs come in and out of stock, and some of the popular ones sell out quickly (I've been scouting this Happy Sheep Yarn Shop puzzle on eBay for myself because it's so hard to find), but the quality on all of them should be high. The New Neighbors 60-piece puzzle, recommended for ages 4-plus, is still readily available; my family has owned it for two years, and it has held up.
Easter-themed Mad Libs
There's just something about Mad Libs, the classic fill-in-the-blank word game, that draws kids in. Even if the participants start out rolling their eyes, in mere minutes they're reduced to absolute giggle fits. That's what happened when my daughter and I tested the Easter Eggstravaganza Mad Libs book. She groaned when I asked her to help me try them out, but after two rounds she asked to fill out a third one, and she laughed so hard while reading the finished story back to me that she actually fell off her chair. The stories don't have a religious tilt; they're just silly, with titles like "History of the Jelly Bean," "Rabbits Run Amok," and "Easter Bunny and Santa Claus: BFFs Pt. 1 and Pt. 2." Although the official recommended age range for Mad Libs is 4 to 8, we think it's helpful if the kids playing know the different parts of speech (noun, adjective) to help fill in the puzzles. Older kids would probably enjoy these, too, if they're playing with a big family group.
Board games for the whole family
Kingdomino, ages 8 and up ($17 at the time of publication)
Board games are a no-brainer for family fun. Many families already have the classic games, but Wirecutter has loads of recommendations for kids board games that even some of the youngest family members can play, too. First Orchard helps teach preschoolers about turn-taking, while The Magic Labyrinth challenges elementary schoolers' memories while they navigate a maze hidden under the game board. Kingdomino lets tweens, teens, and grown-ups (or game-savvy kids as young as 8) create different kingdoms using the basic concept of dominoes.
A big bottle of bubbles
I've never met a kid who doesn't love bubbles, and Gazillion Premium Bubble Solution offers a full liter of liquid and a seven-hole wand for a lot of bubble fun. In Wirecutter's stocking stuffers guide, senior staff writer Ingrid Skjong points out that this solution won't stain most clothes, and it produces stable spheres, so kids can watch them float for longer. It fits best in a larger Easter basket.
Facial expressions
My 10-year-old and I loved trying out the Klutz Glitter Face Painting kit together. I have extra-sensitive skin that's easily irritated, and I let her test the paint on my (clean, makeup-free) face. Happily, I didn't have any reaction to the formulas, and my daughter was able to use me as a canvas—drawing freestyle as well as following the well-illustrated instructions in the included booklet for creating ornate designs, complete with sticky rhinestone embellishments. Be warned that this kit does come with a pot of glitter (which could get messy)—and the longer you leave the paint on, the harder it is to get off. After 10 minutes, the paint rinses clean with just water, but after several hours it takes two or three washes to get rid of all traces.
An easy card game
A card game everyone in the family can play during Easter downtime is a nice distraction between a morning sugar rush and a dinner feast. Several Wirecutter staffers love Uno, and we recommend it as a stocking stuffer, too. This tin-box set looks extra special, but there are so many designs available that your kids might love: There's a Braille version, and we've seen Minecraft, Harry Potter, Disney's Frozen II, Jurassic World, and Super Mario editions, among several others. If your family is already stocked up on Uno, we're also big fans of Sleeping Queens (also available in a tin box) and Rat-a-Tat Cat; both card games have amusing illustrations and can be adapted to delight different ages.
Go-to goo
When I asked Wirecutter staffers for Easter basket ideas, senior staff writer Rachel Cericola said, "Silly Putty. Never gets old!" At over 4 inches tall, the supersize Crayola Silly Putty The Bigg Egg—it weighs a quarter pound!—will look impressive in an Easter basket, and the reviews on Amazon are overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Supervising editor Marilyn Ong also recommends Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty. It's a silicone-based goo similar to Silly Putty, but it comes in many more colors and interesting formulations like the glitter-filled Star Dust and the clear Liquid Glass.
Art supplies for every age
Fresh art supplies are likely to be a welcome gift for anyone on the Easter Bunny's list. We recommend Do-A-Dot Art Rainbow Markers in our gift guide for 3-year-olds because the colors are bright, the sticks are easy for little hands to hold, and making dots is fun and different. For older or more fashion-inclined kids, there's Tulip's One-Step Tie-Dye Party Kit, featured in our gift guide for 6-year-olds; with 14 colors of dye, the kit requires some parental supervision, but elementary schoolers can make a lot of projects with the materials. And Prismacolor's Premier Colored Pencils—vibrant, blendable, and easy to sharpen—are our favorite colored pencils, whether you're a tween, a teen, or a grown-up.
A make-your-own-stuffies kit
If you don't feel like giving your kids another stuffed animal, let them make their own instead. We recommend Klutz's Mini Pom-Pom Pets activity kit in our gift guide for 8-year-olds, and it includes everything kids need to craft a whole host of adorable, miniature poof-ball critters. (Instructions for 20 endearing designs are included, or kids can make up their own hybrids.) Younger children might need some help from grown-ups for a few of the steps, but they should be able to finish these creations on their own.
Easter ink
New PJs for the whole family
Some of our favorite pajamas for kids have adorable Easter prints and are perfect for bringing out the night before while everyone is getting ready for the Easter Bunny's visit (as well as for keeping in rotation year-round). Hanna Andersson's sleepwear is beautifully made, comfy, and constructed to last (seemingly) forever. If you want matching ensembles for the family, the Choco Bunny collection—available in sizes from 0–3 months through adult—is a particular treat. (In addition to the zip-up baby sleeper, kids long johns, and adult tops and pants, there's a shorts version for kids that's ideal for warmer weather.) Meanwhile, Primary offers comfy long-john PJs for kids in sizes 2 to 14 years, plus zippered footie PJs in sizes newborn through 18–24 months. The company confirmed that its spring designs will start arriving mid-March, but these Rainbow Heart tops, bottoms, and footies are always available, and my daughter has had a well-loved and well-worn set for a few years (we really need to order a new size this year). Petite Plume's Easter Gardens pajamas, available in sizes 6–12 months to 14 years, are an elevated take on a classic button-down pajama set; made from ultra-smooth brushed cotton and accented with piping, they'll have your kids looking as if they had stepped from the pages of Winnie the Pooh or The Velveteen Rabbit. The Easter Garden print is also available in other styles, including a nightgown, a romper, a short set, and this sweet bunny-ear sleep mask.
Wearable bunny ears
Few things are more adorable than kids in animal ears, and the Pottery Barn Kids Bunny Ears rise above the rest. I've bought a lot of toys and holiday decorations from PB Kids because the quality is high, the stuff lasts, and it's all cute. These ears come in white and pink, and they have a fabric-covered headband for extra comfort; we bought my daughter's pair in 2020, and they're still as perky as ever.
This article was edited by Ingela Ratledge Amundson and Kalee Thompson.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/easter-basket-ideas/
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