Easter /Ostara/Spring Basket Ideas For All Ages
Do you need some great Spring Basket ideas for ALL AGES?! This is the mega-list of Easter Basket/ Ostara Basket/ Spring Basket fillers!
Both my husband and I grew up in houses where Easter Baskets were a tradition. In my childhood home, we would wake up on Easter and have to FIND the baskets- and trust me there was some serious creativity on the hiding as we got older, I remember one year one of them was IN the drop-ceiling kitchen light fixture!! My husband’s family didn’t hide the basket, but they did a plastic egg hunt every year- which is still a tradition at Grammie and Grandpa’s house that my kids adore. While we’re a secular family and and no longer connect with the religious aspects of spring, we still love keeping the fun and excitement of some of our favorite childhood traditions alive with our family.
Here are some of my favorite things to fill baskets with, ascending by approximate age- but you know your kid better than I do- some 4 year-olds are fine with tiny objects some are not, so use your discretion. My oldest never needed a stitch of baby proofing and never put a thing in their mouth that wasn’t food- my youngest still puts a marble in their mouth every once in a while to make sure my heart still works and can beat 9,400x a second.
One of my high school friends (and mom of 3) shared her non-candy tradition ideas with me years ago and these have become staples in our baskets ever since and work for ALL ages:
The 6 things in my kids Spring Baskets every year:
A new swimsuit and beach towel (usually from Target)
New garden gloves and a garden tool and/or seed packet- something backyard-y
New sunglasses
A book
Something art related(art supplies, chalk, craft supplies etc)
A crystal or rock or cool treasure- this is tradition at every holiday here.
Honestly, for me, that’s the ideal basket and takes the thinking out of it for the most part because it’s, at it’s core, the exact same stuff each year- just more age appropriate versions of each thing! Also, I know things are tremendously challenging for so many people right now, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND hitting up your neighborhood “buy nothing/swap” Facebook group or Nextdoor page and see what you can wrangle as far as books or a Lego set or something someone else's kiddo has grown out of that yours will love because it’s new to them!
Giant List of Non-Candy Spring Basket Ideas for All Ages:
Bubbles, bubble machine
Sidewalk Chalk
Big crayons for little ones- I adore these, HoneySticks, just in case they end up in your kiddos’ mouth!
Clothes- we get a new swimsuit for the coming swim season but a new pair of shorts, a t-shirt or tank, any clothing item that your kiddo would think is fun that reminds of the coming longer days and MORE SUN! (definitely hit up your neighborhood buy-nothing group for something like- new or gently used, lots of people are spring cleaning right now!)
Sensory Activities like this Unicorn Kit or ANY of these
Puzzles (if you live near a Barnes & Noble they have an EXCELLENT puzzle section. If you’re ordering online we love Galison!
Bath toys- fun foam letters for the littles, mermaids, boats, bath crayons, some glow sticks- anything that would make for a fun bath-tivity time!
Plastic animals (dinosaurs, zoo animals etc) we love these, from Schleich.
Stuffed animals- highly recommend Squishmallows
Dress up/ pretend play items- this is also something we always tell the grandparents during winter holidays, our kiddos still love!
Lego sets- Target has some under $10! Like this cute aquatic set!
“How to Draw… “ books like this
Coloring Books
Activity books- the Highlights books like THESE are a current favorite of my youngest (8)
Boogie board (we use these for homeschool too so it’s a great gift that gets loads of mileage)
Books- check out this new (2022) Spring favorite from Moondust Press: FLORA
Games- board games like Throw, Throw Burrito, card games, all the games! We received No Stress Chess this past winter and it’s been fun for my oldest who plays well and has for years to play with my youngest who doesn’t exactly know the rules of the game yet- they both have fun with it!
Collectible cards- Pokemon etc
A case for said collectible cards
Temporary tattoos- (I bought a small pencil box and cut them all up and included a sponge and washcloth and gave them a “tattoo parlor in a box” one year!)
This awesome book my rad neighbor Jenny told me about (spoiler alert, my kids are getting these!)
Butterfly kit/insect kit
Back yard adventure kit (magnifying glass, critter keeper, etc)
Journals- my absolute favorite for this age range is The Big Life Journal, which we started here recently and you’ll be hearing lots more about it soon! We are obsessed with journals, a good journal- some new pens- can’t go wrong!
Favorite sport themed items
iTunes or digital music gift cards
Phone case or pop out holder
Video game gift card
Amazon or Target gift card
Visa gift card
Cute pillow
Super fun, creative socks
Small throw blanket
Jewelry or accessories- I highly recommend ETSY for that
A stainless steel water bottles
Reusable straws
New phone case
Food delivery gift card
Class pass for online class
Lanyard kit
Key chain
Card game
Lotion set
Chapstick or Lipgloss
Satin Heatless Curling Headband
Phone chargers
Subscription box- I write about these often because they make GREAT gifts (and often double as some awesome curriculum!) many boxes offer one-off purchase options so you can just get a single box with out the commitment of a subscription- check out 25 of my favorite boxes or get even more ideas at CrateJoy.com
If you’re anything like me- I hook myself up on the holidays, my stocking is always AWESOME for the winter holidays, so I love doing grownup baskets for Nate and I when I can! Here are some ideas:
For the bigger kiddos or adults in your life:
ART supplies
A new coffee mug or other cool drinking glass
Adult coloring book
BOOKS (audible or amazon gift cards are awesome too)
Journals
An online class gift card
Cozy throw or blanket
Fun Socks or if you wanna get fancy BOMBAS are the BEST!
Wine or other favorite beverage…I mean, we are on day what of this thing?
Puzzles
Video game
Coupon book (how bout you take over the homeschool for a day or 16??)
Lounge wear
A heartfelt note
A plant (we exchange a lot of house plants, succulents, and freakin fruit trees over here- our new Spring Equinox Pomegranate tree is looking at me through the front window right now!)
I had a few people ask, so here are my recommendations for a BIG item! So...if you want to GO BIG, here are some suggestions:
A ukulele or electronic keyboard
A kiddie pool or water table
First camera
Instant Camera/Polaroid
Super legit art supplies (easel, oil pastels, etc)
Nintendo Switch Lite or Switch Games
I’ll keep updating this list so feel free to come back and check it any time!
Wishing everyone a SAFE and HAPPY SPRING & EASTER & OSTARA! Stay well, stay home!
**Originally written pre-lockdown March 2020, edited and updated March 2022, and again 2023…and just updated in Feb of 2024!