How to Make Candy-Free Easter Baskets

Last updated on February 28th, 2024 at 10:36 am

Learn how to make candy-free Easter baskets, sponsored by our friends at Schleich.

Also, be sure to check out our mini-review below of the Schleich Large Farm with Animals and Accessories set, the perfect toy for your twinnies to enjoy together this Easter.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a celebration of rebirth, the welcoming of spring, and the perfect launch to getting back outside! The winter months are cruel for those of us with children; we are constantly longing for the days when we can get the kiddos into the yard and KEEP them out there to pump some fresh air into their lungs and wear them out with physical activity.

Personally, the part I hate about Easter is the CANDY. I mean, don’t get me wrong — I. LOVE. CANDY. But I don’t love my 4-year-old boys eating a ton of it, which always ends up in fights, sugar highs, and tantrums. So I thought to myself, what if I could create some really fun Easter baskets WITHOUT candy? That also tie in the coming of spring? Crazy?! Maybe just crazy enough to work.

Here’s some ideas to create super fun candy-free Easter baskets that will be the hit of the holiday. I found most of this stuff in the $1-3 bin at Target!

1. Use Kid Umbrellas Instead of Baskets

Buy some kid-sized umbrellas and open them up as your basket. Voila! Easter basket that doubles as rain gear! My kids don’t already have their own umbrellas and are super jealous whenever I bring mine out, so I thought this was a win-win. Amazon has so many cute kids umbrellas in various patterns, you can definitely find something on there for less than $20 each.

2. Mix It up With Grass Colors

Don’t stick to the traditional green grass color. Mix it up with white, pink, blue, etc. for a fun contrast.

3. Get Them in the Dirt

A mini gardening tool set, gardening gloves, watering can, and flower planting kit will get them in the dirt and learning about how seeds become plants. Show them how to plant the seeds and then let them try. Watch your kiddo’s eyes widen with wonder!

4. It’s a Bug’s Life

Get them exploring at grass level with a bug catcher. Finally you have a place to keep those adorable (gross) rollypollys besides a Solo cup! A butterfly net and a firm “catch and release” lecture will get your kiddos looking to the sky.

5. Make Them Mini-Picassos

A birdhouse painting kit, sidewalk chalk, notepad/crayons/pencils, water colors… whatever gets your kids interested in recreating the beauty of nature around them, they’ll love.

6. Don’t Forget Pretend Play

Schleich has a fantastic selection of high quality farm animal figurines in their Farm World line that would be perfect additions to an Easter basket.

7. Bubbles, Punch Balloons, Kites, and Frisbees…

just for fun! It’s SPRING! Why not?

With all of these amazing toys to keep your kiddos busy, who needs candy? Keep it all to yourself — they’ll be too busy to notice.

If you’re looking for a really nice larger Easter gift for your twinnies to share, check out the Large Farm World set with animals and accessories from Schleich. My boys flipped out at the sight of this farm set, and I have to admit that it was really stunning. The design and detailing of the set are truly high quality and I was very impressed with it. And the roof comes off, making it a lot easier to get inside and play with the figurines.

More Fantastic Features on the Large Farm World Set…

Detachable roofs
The farmer with moving arm pushes the wheelbarrow and uses the pitchfork to feed the animals
Moving massage brush for cows and calves
A winch transports animal feed through the whole farm

The Large Farm World Set includes…

1 farm barn
1 Simmental cow
1 Simmental calf
1 pig
1 farmer
1 ladder
5 outer fences
6 fences
1 massage brush for cows
1 blue feeding trough
1 green drinking trough
1 calf bucket
2 flower boxes
1 wheelbarrow
1 pitchfork
2 hay that can be picked up
1 potato
1 salad
1 fodder beet,
1 feeding box
1 milk jug
1 hay bale

Here’s one more Easter tip! Instead of filling your Easter eggs with candy, tie in a fun scavenger hunt game to reveal a larger gift. Print out pictures of farm animals and fold them up inside Easter eggs, and make it a game to lead up to the big reveal of the Farm World set. Print out two of each kind of animal and make it a match game between the twins. Once all the pictures are matched, reveal their big prize! They will love playing the game and will be tickled at the surprise toy that they both get to share (fight over) together.

Happy Easter!

Julie Burt Nichols is Twiniversity’s Dean of Parents, serving as Editor-in-Chief of Twiniversity.com, Account Manager, and Instructor for Twiniversity classes. Julie is mom to twin 6-year-old boys, Desmond & Alec, who were born on Halloween. Julie loves her job as the “Wizard Behind the Curtain” at Twiniversity — the #1 global resource and support network for parents of twins. She loves serving as a resource and support for parents of twins in the Chicago area. Julie is proud to be a certified child passenger safety technician.