Easter is upon us and I love arranging baskets for my kids. My oldest daughter is seven so I’m not sure how much longer the magic of Easter will be alive until a classmate spills the beans. Therefore, I hold on tightly to every holiday that I can. I also know that when she finds out the truth, she’ll let my four-year-old in on it, and that would break my heart at this age! That being said, you can provide a cute, creative basket for your kids without driving yourself fucking nuts or it costing a fortune. So here is a glimpse into my kids’ baskets this year!

Pick your store of choice: I’m a Target girl so the majority of this shit came from there. The jewelry, sunglasses, and festive lip glosses were all from Claire’s Boutique. If you’re hosting Easter dinner, you’ve got enough to do as it is. So keep yourself unburdened and try and make it all a one-stop shop. (Or one-online site like Amazon or Orientaltrading.com!) Side note – If you’re spending hundreds on an Easter basket, you need to calm down. (Insert Taylor Swift lyrics here.)

Get them something to stimulate their minds. In this case, I got the girls LOL Doll Easter Egg Hunt Books. Target is sold out now, so I provided you the Amazon link. (I am not part of any affiliate program in any way, so it doesn’t matter to me where you get anything from!) You can also get any Easter themed books to read to/with them! I DO sell Usborne books just because I adore the brand and they have some cute ones! I got my kids this one and this one.

Add in an item that adds to their mental or physical health! I know, I know – this sounds lame as fuck for a gift from The Easter Bunny. But trust me, you can make it fun. Things like: a jump rope, board games, card games, puzzles, or science kits are a great start. I got my girls each a jump rope and a yo-yo from “Bullseye’s Playground” a.k.a. – the Dollar Spot at Target. For younger kids, a larger ball to play catch with, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles are all great and age appropriate.

Throw in a small toy: Stuffed animals are the bane of my existence but my kids love them. They have hundreds. I wish that were an over dramatic statement. Unfortunately that’s always their souvenir of choice when we vacation. We let them have $20 for souvenirs and they always choose the little stuffed fuckers. And guess what gets donated a couple years down the road because the kids have played with them thrice? You got it! Fluffy meets her demise. (I don’t decapitate stuffed animals, I just donate them….I swear!)

So this year I got both my kids a small “Diana” doll PURELY because my kids adore her and have repeatedly asked for one. I hope other moms out there know the frustration of having kids who follow famous young Youtubers like my seven-year-old does! Diana is a 6-year-old who is sponsored by every toy company under the sun. (She’s kind of like the Russian version of Ryan from “Ryan’s Toy Review”.) So she plays with her literal 14 Little Tike houses and 34 Barbie mansions and gets to open 5671 new toys each episode and your kids watch her play with them. Fucking ridiculous, right? Undoubtedly. Something our generation will never understand – getting joy from watching a stranger play with their own toys that you don’t own. But they wanted her and we already have plenty of Barbie dolls so they each got a Diana doll. Whatever your choice, I support you, and I’ve been there.

If you’re a better soul than I, or have more times on your hands, you’ll support a local shop. Or, find some cute Esty bullshit that is handmade and sourced from ethically raised llamas or something. But I am not that mom. Not today at least. So Diana, take our money – even though you’re already worth millions.

Easter Candy of course!!! As I mentioned in my 2019 Easter basket ideas – get candy you hate! Then, there’s no temptation to eat the Cadbury Cream Eggs and jelly beans. Our kids each got the stereotypical solid chocolate bunny from Russell Stover.

Egg Fillers: We tend to fill the majority of the plastic eggs that the Easter bunny hides for them with little chocolates. Okay I’ll be real – I get one BIG ass bag of chocolates from Target that’s just a variety bag. We also stash $1 bills and lottery tickets in them since that was my late mother-in-law’s tradition for my husband and his sister when they were kids. I may be a sailor-mouth, but I’m a nostalgic and sentimental one at that. I’m also using these earrings and scrunchies from Claire’s.com to fill eggs since they’re small! I went on to orientaltrading.com and got these Mochi Squishies just because they fit in smaller plastic eggs easily as well. If you can’t tell, we like variety over here!

For older kids who know there is no Easter Bunny but still love receiving baskets: For the tweens/teens/college kids in your life, add in things like: Makeup, books, baseball cards, lottery tickets, a new swimsuit or pair of flip flops, nail polish, spa kits, beef jerky, magazines, gift cards to their favorite stories, smaller sporting equipment, and of course, toss in some Easter candy! Happy Easter and Thank God we’re now one year through the apocalypse!!

If you need new ideas for 2022, here are my girls’ baskets for this year in this blog here!