easter gifts that aren’t candy or crap
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Holidays are tough.
Do we buy any candy for Easter? Of course, we’re not trolls, but we limit it pretty strictly.
Why? Grandparents. Need I say more?
Easter morning - an umbrella instead of a basket
Our son is lucky enough to have four living grandparents and a loving great uncle that sends him candy for the holidays. Lots of candy. As in: we have a drawer dedicated to hold the candy sent. He doesn’t need a lot more from us.
This has happily left us to focus on the gifts we give. We try to follow some guidelines that help us pick gifts for our little guy, and maybe they’ll help you too. We try to ask the following questions:
Is it seasonal?
Is it useful?*
Is it active?
Is it fun?
Is it educational?
* No, this doesn’t mean socks or clothing in general. Let’s be honest, littles rarely are super psyched to get clothes for gifts. .
Some ideas:
Up to his knees in his new rain boots
Umbrella, boots, and a raincoat. Our son needs a new inflatable pool and sandbox this year. However, if we give this to him on Easter morning, guess when he’ll want to use it? Easter morning. Since New England might be cold enough to snow on Easter, we’ll opt for some more seasonal gifts, such as new rainboots and an umbrella. And not just any umbrella. For our tactical child, a fun umbrella with an auto button he can open and close to his heart's content is critical. Plus, these umbrellas are usually adult versions and tend to last a bit longer than the cheap kid ones. He can go for walks, splash in mud puddles, and will likely end up with more water in his boots than in the puddles.
Bonus: We’ve used the umbrella (see the picture above), pitch back, beach buckets and other objects in lieu of Easter baskets, because who needs another cheap, dyed, weaved basket in their life. Seasonal, useful, active, fun.
Pitch back
Sports equipment - pitch back, soccer goal, t-ball, bicycle, skateboard, rollerblades, scooter, jump rope, golf putting green. After a long winter, I love giving sports equipment to motivate us to get back outdoors. We’ve used Easter as an excuse to introduce all kinds of fun activities to our son. The rollerblades we chose can be switched to roller skates and be adjusted for size, which is great for a fast growing kid! We’ve also used Easter to get that bigger bike and new helmet each year as our kiddo grows. Somehow it’s even more exciting for him when the Easter Bun brings it. As a bonus, we use the putting green and roller blades inside all winter. Seasonal, useful, active, fun.
Other outdoor fun - bubbles, sidewalk chalk, stomp rocket, kite. You can’t go wrong with bubbles and sidewalk chalk. I swear I was getting these from my parents right up until my senior year in high school and still to this day love to blow bubbles and draw on the driveway. We’ve also had so much fun with these stomp rockets. It’s hilarious watching the kids taking a running start to jump on the rocket launcher and having to poke a tree with a stick to get them down. Lots of fun for parents watching their kids run and get worn out. Also, what fun to run around the beach with a little and his kite even when it’s too early to swim. Active, fun.
Flying a kite with Daddy!
Other educational (but fun) - drone, telescope, solar system mobile, etc. We’ve recently introduced a drone after he fell in love with grandpa’s drone. Our son immediately picked up the movements, better than both his parents. The good thing is there are drones at a variety of price points. I chose one with an auto-return and an emergency drop. This came in handy when I accidentally sent it over our roof to the front yard and wanted it to land immediately. Whew! In the past, we’ve also gotten him a solar system mobile for his room and someone was kind enough to give him a telescope. We love to talk about the universe, the planets, and our solar system with him. Oh, and if you notice Mercury missing in the picture, it got knocked off its axis and currently resides in the sock drawer. Fun, educational.
Drone
Spinning ceiling solar system
Parents are busy and the holidays can be stressful, but hopefully some of the tips we use to celebrate Easter with our little guy will help you. What great gifts have you given in the past? Please comment below!
