Easter Basket Alternatives – Ditch the Junk – Go for Fun!

I was asked recently what to do about an Easter basket for a little one who is my client. Putting a lot of candy into the baskets right now isn’t an option, and I will go as far as to say that it should NEVER be an option for ANY child.

My first question to everyone is why?

Why is it that the Easter basket is thought of as a basket of candy? It certainly is NOT what the holiday is about. Consider to yourself, why do you go for the candy in the basket? Why is that the purpose of that basket, and if there a good reason there should be candy in that basket?

I honestly cannot think of any. In our house – this will be 10 Easters now – we do NOT put more than one single candy in the basket (or none!). Our son cannot eat (nor should he) those types of products. He is a kid, and does love them, and we aren’t cruel, but one single candy item is more than enough and also won’t put him over the edge with his digestion or his immune system and his condition.

The most popular Easter candy (according to a recent post by Martha Stewart) is the chocolate peanut butter eggs. These contain a whole host of things that wreak havoc on our system from soy, to dextrin, to hydrogenated oils, sugar and more!

I will even go as far as to say these non-food alternatives for kids are much more exciting, are much more engaging and productive. They are active things that help foster their brains and bodies in a healthy way.

Easter Basket 1: The Artist

There isn’t anything more fun for kids today than finding rocks and residing and they are GOOD at it! If this isn’t happening near you – start this trend. Paint the rocks, hide them in public locations with your group message to rehide on the back and share! It’s so fun! This basket has your way of starting them. This also has several other easy crafts and drawing ideas that will keep your kid busy and you can choose to join in – or you can choose to give them their own time to complete these things!

Easter Basket 2: The Builder

Maybe art isn’t in the cards for your kid – get building! In our house we love STEM and Lego. This can get costly if you go with just these items, BUT you can choose one of the bigger items, and the look locally for small wooden building kits or other wooden building kits on amazon. With a combination of different builds to do you will get HOURS of fun for your child, and you can join or let them build on their own!

Easter Basket 3: The Jack of All Trades

Want to combine it all together – here are some ideas for building from wood, some puzzles, some coloring – a bit of everything. Again – so much fun, stimulating and nothing to do with junk food!

Adult Easter baskets anyone?

If you bring a basket over to a family member, or like to get small gifts, again I say to you – think about that candy? Do you need it?

In 2018 there were over 34 million Americans (which is nearly 11% of the population!) with diabetes. Of that only 1.6 are type 1. That means the rest are type 2 which is caused by diet and lifestyle imbalances.

What I would suggest is if you want to give some food items you go local farm! What? Yes find your local small shop that sells some local items. Stick to things like:

* Raw honey – local is best. This helps with immunity! Bees have so many great immune system properties and locally it gives you the benefit of positive exposure to what is in your environment.

* Maple Syrup – your local farmers will have some PURE maple syrup. This can be used as an alternative sweetener over white sugar. SOOO many recipes out there that don’t require sugar and you can use maple instead. Switch to a whole milk yogurt and sweeten with a hint of maple. Yum!

* Local meat – grass fed and finished local meats are the best! You will get a cleaner, leaner meat that is higher in omega because the animal was raised and fed properly! 

* Pastured eggs and chickens – the same thing applies. Chickens raised properly have great eggs, and great nutrients.

* Local fruit and veggies – whatever is in season will be a nice touch to the basket!

* Local oils and vinegars – these are always delicious and nice additions to meals.

OR go full on no food and grab a few items your family loves! A small plant, a planter, some crafting materials if they are into that – family paint night items and more!

Remember there is NO NEED to share food and candy, or junk! Just pick out meaningful other things. 

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