Easter baskets are one of my favorite ways to celebrate the holiday and I loved putting together this Easter basket gift guide for you. There's a basic formula to follow for building your basket and we'll go over some of the different options available for each step.
I've included an example of a candy lover's Easter basket below and have a Peeps Easter basket and a Star Wars Easter basket you can check out as well!
Easter Basket Tradition
Have you ever wondered why we give Easter baskets? The practice varies depending on the location and time in history; however, they all share a common theme of filling a basket with food that is then taken to the church to be blessed.
Nowadays, and particularly in the US, Easter baskets are filled by the Easter bunny for children to find Sunday morning. They're filled with candy and gifts and then later used to carry the eggs collected during Easter egg hunts.
Hiding the basket
When I grew up, the Easter bunny would hide my basket to find Easter morning. I had so much fun searching around the house (and racing to find my basket before my sister could find hers- ha!). I took a poll on Instagram and learned that not everyone grew up having to search for their baskets. Is finding a hidden basket part of your holiday tradition? I'd love to hear about how you celebrate in the comment section!
What You'll Need
This overview should provide a general outline you can follow to build your baskets. Personalize each piece to the person receiving the basket.
A Basket
There are several common styles of basket:
- Wicker and wooden baskets - a traditional and classic look
- Felt baskets - the soft material is kid-friendly and good for infants and toddlers
- Stuffed animal baskets - these are baskets that are also shaped like bunnies, unicorns, etc as a part of the basket design. My basket as a child had a bunny wrapped around the side!
- Plastic buckets - these usually have fun Easter designs and patterns etched on the outside and are great for the egg hunt
Easter Basket Liners and Filler
Some baskets come with a fabric lining attached to the basket, but you can also line it with your own linen. Use a white, lacey one for a traditional basket, or feel free not to use one at all. Then, baskets are commonly filled with colored, craft paper or plastic grass to nest the toys and candy into.
Easter Basket Gifts
Easter baskets are then filled with an assortment of candy and toys. Some classic Easter treats include a chocolate bunny and chocolate eggs, marshmallow chicks, and plastic eggs filled with loose candies like jelly beans and M&Ms. Add some fun toys, like silly putty, and sidewalk chalk, or more practical gifts, like sippy cups.
Some more ideas for Easter basket stuffers:
- A large chocolate bunny
- Easter eggs
- Short-story or activity books, like mad libs, or sticker books
- Bunny ears
- Card game
- Gift card
Candy grass- They make edible grass that you can usually find in the seasonal candy aisle around Easter.
Grass - Using actual grass is a fun and more eco-friendly way to pad the bottom of your basket with grass
Yarn - Use a green yarn to mimic grass
Tissue paper - Tissue paper can pop up the sides of the basket as it does in a gift bag
How to fill an Easter Basket
Follow these steps to create a basket any kid would be excited to receive
- Choose a basket
Select a basket that compliments their personality and age. Consider how large a basket you will need for all the goodies you're putting inside!
- Line the basket
Some baskets will come with a fabric liner already attached. If not, create a basket liner with a soft fabric that hugs the basket or place a piece of linen in the basket, allowing the edges to hang over the sides of the basket.
- Fill the bottom of the basket with grass
You can use any form of "grass" you prefer: plastic, paper, tissue paper, yarn - even real grass!
- Add candy and toys
Add the largest pieces of candy and toys in the back of the basket. I like to place the largest center, and then build around it with the remaining basket fillers
Tip: Make sure that the handle of the basket is still easy to hold onto and not obstructed by any of the goodies inside!
What's in my Easter basket
My basket is filled with lots of Easter candy! I love the seasonally-themed candies that come out surrounding the holidays. Here's what I put in my Easter basket:
- Basket - I loved the egg print on the liner, the depth of the basket as well as the tall handle.
- Paper grass - I keep and reuse the craft paper grass. I love that it can also be used for other crafts, and packaging materials and be recycled if you're finished with it.
- Plastic easter eggs - I like to add a few to the basket, and then use the majority for the Easter egg hunt
- Chocolate Bunny
- Peeps - Peeps on a stick are great for baskets because the stick allows them to fit easily
- Lindt Chocolate Carrots
- Dozen mini-Cadbury creme eggs
- M&M Easter Cane
- Jelly Belly (the Krispy Kreme doughnut flavor!)
- 1 oz jar of Nutella - It was so cute! I had to!
- M&M Candy Egg
- Starburst Jellybeans Candy Egg
- Mallow-top Reese's Cups
- Assortment Candy Bag - I like to get a bag with a variety of candy to fill empty spaces in the basket with as well as for filling eggs for the egg nut
I hope this guide helps you create memories for your own family and inspire your own fun traditions!
Jess
My parents hid our baskets, too! They would usually give us riddle clues that we had to solve to find out where they were hidden. For my own kids, we usually hide the individual little treats for them to search for, but maybe they are big enough now to do the treasure hunt. Your basket looks so fun and festive – thanks for the tips!
Emma
I love the idea of using riddles as clues! I might need to try that this year!