Something about creating colorful, meaningful Easter baskets, gets me ready for Spring.

It feels like we’re just getting over Christmas, still stashing toys away (and maybe still opening boxes) and yet Easter is well on its way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ready for Easter; waiting for Spring… just don’t know I’m quite ready to “rid” of toys to make way for new ones via the Easter Basket. Nor do I wish to over-fill a basket with candies and sweets.

Here are five terrific Easter basket ideas that combine the best spring time sweets and treats with learning fun and play.

1. Books – Easter is the perfect time to gift books about animals, family, seasons, and nature. Perhaps gift a series like one from American Girl or Heroes of Olympus for older children, and we’ve always loved Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park. Or try a larger book for the entire family like National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry.

2. Yowie Surprise Chocolate Egg – these aren’t your regular surprise eggs… nope, these come packed with educational value (not to mention 100% milk chocolate tastiness!). These edible eggs come in a variety of colored foils (although the packaging does NOT indicate what prize is inside). Yowie eggs are filled with replicas of wild animals (many endangered) or 1 of 6 Yowie characters. This concept was designed to educate children and families on the ecosystem and natural world include those endangered or threatened species.

3. Movies – My favorites to include at Easter are Disney Nature series. We couldn’t get enough of Oscar in 2012’s Chimpanzee or the adorable bear cubs of Disney Nature’s Bears. Parents, please don’t forget the Educator’s Guide with lots of information and activities.

4. Subscription Services – Include a playful postcard in the Easter basket that explains the subscription. Magazines are wonderful gifts that keep giving and what child doesn’t love seeing his or her name on mail? Pley, a toy rental company, offers a monthly subscription whereby children are shipped a toy from their wishlist that they later return for another to try. We’ve been fortunate to partner with Pley for this sponsored post and feel it is a wonderful Easter gift idea, as it will bring all the excitement of new toys without all the clutter and expense. Their extensive list includes 300+ variations of Lego and Megabloks, among many other other toy brands.

5. Baking Supplies – Sure Easter is the perfect time to indulge in sweets, but who said they can’t come in the form of unbaked ingredients? A basket of cupcake mix, colorful icing tubes, sprinkles and cookie cutters offers an afternoon of family entertainment (with a mix of math). These Eiffel tower measuring spoons will be perfect for my Paris obsessed daughter.  Or if monsters are more your child’s thing… check out these Monster High or Monster Truck cookie cutters. Kitchen accessories offer so many fun Easter basket options.

Easter season is yet another opportunity to creatively sneak in a little learning fun with the above Easter basket ideas and more if you visit our article on “5 Reasons Easter Baskets are Better Than Christmas Stockings“.  We hope you love Easter as much as we do and we hope you love Homeroom At Home enough to subscribe to our mailing list, visit and like us on Facebook and Instagram and share this article with your circle of friends and loved ones. Comment below with your standard Easter Basket “go-to” item. And we’re curious, what unique Easter Basket gift will you include this year?