Easter Basket Goodies for Babies

Egg-cellent Treats for the 0-1 Age Range

I’ve always stuffed my own Easter basket, though with little ones it can be tough to find toys and treats that fit inside plastic eggs but don’t become choking hazards. I personally went with the clothes, book, and toy route, but you can take that list and alter it to fit your own needs and desire to give your kids more stuff.

For infants, I obviously didn’t use candy. My first two kids didn’t know candy existed for the first several years, so that didn’t cause me any issues. My youngest child took a couple of years before he learned to covet what the older kids had, so he didn’t miss candy for two or three Easter seasons, either. Instead, I used o’s and goldfish to stuff the eggs when I wanted edible fillings. Both fit easily into the eggs, dissolve fairly fast for new eaters, and work on hand eye coordination as they track them down.

If you want a coordinating gift, you can add one of the accompanying books, which use o’s or goldfish to complete the pictures. I also like these small books to round out a basket. They don’t fit into eggs, but they do look nice with everything else.

For babies, I could hang clothes on the handle of the Easter basket (and since they couldn’t talk, they couldn’t complain about getting clothes). I didn’t get fancy clothes most years, but sometimes I knew we had weddings or other formal event coming up in the new few months and I would buy something appropriate and hang it on their basket.

I also used teething toys a lot for the youngest set. You never know when you’ll find one that soothes your child, so from the wooden type to the kind you can chill, I liked to toss one of those in as well.

I would also consider adding one of my favorite infant toys that pulls, wiggles, and clips onto just about anything from a car seat or stroller to a high chair or diaper bag. If you don’t already own one, a Skwish toy will fit into most baskets and last well beyond the first few months. If you want a bigger investment with a longer return, look into a set of Haba Animal Blocks. The bright colors and fun shapes work well for older babies who have started exploring. Sadly, most of the blocks don’t fit into standard size eggs, though you can get some jumbo plastic eggs that work. The irregular edges of the blocks make them easy to handle and once kids get older, they can enjoy crashing stacked blocks before they finally get to stacking themselves.

Speaking of stacking, you can’t go wrong with a set of stacking nesting cups. My 3, 5, and 7 year olds still use this infant toy for their kitchen play, matching colors with contents, and playing catch with balls, as well as who knows what else.

If you have a cranky infant, try the Baby Buzzer to soothe them and give your ears a break from the crying. It was the only thing that got my first child through the horrors of a diaper change for months and months. I didn’t even mind that it consumed batteries at a rapid rate. Finally, a good rainmaker rattle, in either the shorter more packable version or the longer variety, will entertain your child too.

Of course, you can always go with the simple things. We put a pinwheel and a mylar balloon in my firstborn’s basket, because at around six months, those things fascinated him endlessly. And you can never go wrong with a pair of bunny ears, no matter what age.