15 Easter Basket Ideas for Boys & Girls That Are Fun & Useful

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As the mom of three, and someone who hates wasting space and money, I’ve gotten pretty good at finding Easter basket ideas that aren’t small tchotchkes (or full of sugar, though there is always some sugar on Easter). In fact, I almost have a recipe for what I put in my kids Easter baskets each year. I try and go for a mix of fun and practical items.

If you, too, are looking for Easter basket ideas your kids will actually use, here are my go-tos.

Kids Easter Basket Ideas

Overall, I use an Easter basket as a reason to restock my kids with spring and summer essentials. Things they want and need for the months ahead, so I look at what I buy for their Easter baskets through this lens.

Note: I don’t buy all of these things every year. My Easter baskets usually have a handful of the items below, plus some candy, filled Easter eggs, and a whole bunch of paper grass.

My go-tos include:

1. Sidewalk chalk

My kids are 10, 7 and 4 now, and all three still use sidewalk chalk often in the spring and summer, to draw things like roads for their vehicles, or create different sports courts on our driveway.

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2. Bubble s

While bubbles aren’t quite as big a hit with my boys now as they were a few years ago, my daughter still loves getting these bubble wands in her Easter basket as much as her brothers used to.

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3. Water Balloons

The bubbles have since given way to water balloons! My kids love them, and they’re a perfect activity for that first unexpectedly warm spring day. I also love the reusable water balloons, they’e a little pricier, but you get more mileage.

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4. A Puzzle or Card Game

I don’t usually put in a ton of toys in an Easter basket, but I will include a small puzzle game (Kanoodle and Rubix cubes are a big hit here), or card game to keep them occupied on spring trips or sports tournaments.

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5. A New Book

Books are a go-to gift for any occasion in our house, so I always include them in our boys’ Easter baskets. I used to buy seasonal-themes books, like Happy Easter, Mouse!, but now that my kids are a little older, I but them books they like to read before bed, like the Dog Man series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or the 13-Story Treehouse series.

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6. An Easter outfit

If we’re going somewhere nice for Easter and my kids need an outfit, I give it to them as part of their Easter basket.

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7. Bathing suit

I like to give each of my kids a new swimsuit for Easter. On the years when Easter falls before our kids’ school spring break, and we happen to be going somewhere warm, this is a very timely gift. But even if we’re sticking around for spring break and they won’t need the bathing suit for a few months, it sort of sets the excitement that spring and summer are coming.

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8. Swim Goggles & Gear

Ditto to the above, swim goggles are one of those things I end up buying my kids every year anyway, so I might as well make them a gift!

9. Spring sports gear

If my kids need a restock on their spring sports gear, I will throw in small things like baseballs or golf balls/tees, soccer socks, golf belts, or any other little items they need for their spring sports seasons.

10. Sun hat / Baseball hat

Again, since we’re outdoors more in the spring, I take the Easter basket as a chance to give them a new sun hat or baseball hat that they can use through the warmer months.

11. Spring Shoes

Lastly in the category of seasonal essentials are new spring shoes. My kids’ new school shoes are usually shot by the end of winter, so Easter is usually a perfect time to refresh their shoe wardrobes.

12. Bead Art Kit

We recently found these bead art kits on Amazon and my daughter loves them. There are a variety of steps to creating bead “stories” so they hold her attention for a while. Perfect for a rainy spring day.

13. Trading Cards

My boys are obsessed with trading cards right now. Baseball, football, hockey, golf. You name the sport, and we have trading cards for it. The small packages are perfectly-sized for Easter baskets/