Easter is fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking about treats for your loved ones. Chocolate has long been the standard fare at Easter but it’s not always the most appropriate gift.
We are a lot more health conscious than when I was growing up and allergies seem to be much more prevalent so a little more creativity and imagination come Easter can be a wonderful thing.
There are a couple of pretty standard go-to options throughout my family for Easter gifts for the kids because we are all aware of not wanting to overload them with chocolate. In the case of my children it’s not because they won’t eat it, more that they will binge.
PJs are a great gift at Easter, they may not be fun and original but who doesn’t love the feeling of fresh new pyjamas. There isn’t a huge range of exclusive Easter pyjamas the way there is at Christmas but with a little shopping around you could find fluffy bunnies. It’s also great timing because Easter is almost at the turn of seasons, we start to reach for long snuggly PJs instead of shorts, and in my house it’s when we tend to discover that most of the warm PJs from last year no longer fit.
Another personal favourite of mine is BOOKS! That could be because I think any occasion is the perfect time for a new book. For the littlest in the family I try to find an Easter book and I did spot some gorgeous, vibrant, colourful pop-up books in Kmart for a great price but the littlest are at the stage where pop-up books are easily damaged. Instead I bought a very cute little book called The Easter Bunny’s Helpers which I’m sure will be much loved. For the older children it’s generally just a book they will love rather than one that is Easter related.
Pinterest would be an absolute fount of inspiration but I haven’t been and looked there, I don’t think you would see me again until after Easter. I did do some searching across the web though and came up with some fantastic ideas.
One of my favourites is based around the Easter Egg Hunt, which is something we do at my house every second year (if the kids remind me) and that can make the chocolate mount up. I found a couple of different hunt options and they involve buying a selection of the plastic coloured eggs that come apart and can be filled with little things. Some of the suggestions were a coin, trinkets, little toys, bubbles, stamps and pretty much anything that would fit in a plastic egg. My favourite would have to be the hunt for experiences. Instead of trinkets in the plastic eggs you place a range of different mini experiences that would be enjoyed by your hunters. Some great examples were 30 min extra technology time, 30 min extra reading time in bed, a get out of jail free card for those times they get in trouble, a picnic, a trip to the park, the list was amazing. You can find all of the details at Planning with Kids so a big thank you to Nicole Avery for such a fantastic idea. The best thing was the experiences most likely to be sought after were repeated so it was possible for the hunters to get one each. I think I may need to look at this for mine this year.
There are always a lot of Easter arts and crafts around that make for great gifts and offer some great together time while you make and build with the kids. Sticker books, colouring books and activity books are popular and there are often a great range of Easter ones so one of these and some pencils, crayons or textas would be sure to bring smiles to little faces.
Easter can still be about food if you take the focus from chocolate. Easter themed cookie cutters can make for some delicious basket fillers, or an activity you can make with the children and decorate together. These would be easy to find sugar free and allergy friendly recipes for too.
For those little tiny people in your life there is always the plush Easter toy. You can’t go past a super soft fluffy bunny, chick or duck. This is a keepsake that can be kept for always though it’s not as much of a thing as the Christmas Bear embroidered with the year. Though you could always opt for a personalised Easter bunny or bear, there are many places online to source them.
Easter books, Easter puzzles and Easter games are always an option and there are some gorgeous Easter movies so picking up a DVD and having family time to share it would be lovely, Hop is a great Easter movie that my whole family loved.
I like to add a little chocolate to our Easter morning so often will purchase an egg gift. A ceramic mug with egg, or an egg cup with egg. These are available all over the place and often cater to all tastes. The way we break mugs in this house it’s never a bad thing to bring in a couple of extra. There are often plate and spoon sets, all sorts of childrens crockery sets with eggs. To keep it Easter themed there’s usually a Peter Rabbit or Bunnykins set.
The inspiration for a reduced Chocolate, or even Chocolate free, Easter is out there and I certainly got some new ideas. I hope we’ve helped you too.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
This is great, thank you. I tend to easily gain a kilo or two due to the dreaded and delicious Easter chocolates, this article gives me lots of motivation and ideas, very helpful.