Easter is quickly approaching and you are excited to fill up your little one’s Easter Basket! Until… you realize you have no clue what goodies to include. Maybe your little one is too itty bitty for sweet treats. Or maybe you ran out of ideas from last year. Not to worry! I have come to the rescue! Here are 10 items to include in your little one’s Easter Basket.
Egg shakers are great for all ages! Not only is the sound that comes from these little musical instruments entertaining, but it also supports development in many areas. While exploring the shakers, children will observe that whenever they shake the eggs, a sound is created. This activity can help them begin to understand that their actions have results (cause and effect). Additionally, the egg shakers allow children to practice using the muscles in their hands so they can develop their fine motor skills. Children can also develop their hand-eye coordination by shaking them to the rhythm of a favorite tune.
2. Palm Grasp Non-Toxic Crayons
Keeping with the theme of egg-shaped materials… we have palm-grasp crayons! These crayons are especially great for toddlers and preschoolers. Itty bitty kiddies come with itty bitty hands that have trouble manipulating materials. Regular crayons can be difficult to control for little ones (AND CHOKING HAZARDS).These palm grasp crayons promote proper grasp for pencil holding, making these crayons a perfect choice for this age range.
3. Playdough
IT’S PLAYDOUGH. Need I say more? Even if this is something you stuffed last year’s Easter Basket with, you can never go wrong with more playdough. Besides… No matter how many times you buy playdough, it never lasts forever. I’m sure your child(ren)’s current playdough is dried out, the colors are mixed, or the bottle has somehow dwindled to crumbs. It happens! But something you can never deny is how much fun the kiddos have with playdough. (Maybe even how much fun you have playing with playdough.) So if not for them… do it for you. 😉 Haha On a serious note, playdough is such a versatile material. Not only are children practicing their fine motor skills and coordination, but this is such an amazing material for promoting language development. Children can form shapes, letters, and numbers. They can let their imagination run wild and talk about their creations. They can create characters and pretend play! It can also be a great sensory tool as a calming activity to help promote little ones’ social-emotional skills. Can you tell I love playdough?
4. Bubbles
Bubbles support children’s development of fine motor skills (holding the wand and popping the bubbles), gross motor skills (chasing the bubbles). and oral motor skills (blowing the bubbles). Such a simple activity that supports many areas of development. This is easily a favorite! Plus, the bubbles linked above are no-spill. Every parents’ dream!
Puzzles of any kind are wonderful for developing fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving skills. This particular puzzle promotes color matching and exploration to reveal “hidden treasures”. As your little one gets bigger they develop a sense of object permanence (objects and people continue to exist even when they are not seen). Exploring the puzzle and searching for the “hidden treasures” will help your little one practice this skill.
These matching eggs are great for preschool-age children to practice matching, sorting, color recognition, and yes… you guessed it… fine motor skills! This could also be used in your child’s kitchen area during pretend play! So many great uses, and it costs around the same as real eggs cost today. Good price for an educational toy such as this… bad price for a dozen eggs. (But that’s a topic for another day.)
If your little one is a really little one, you can purchase this carrot teething toy. Babies put EVERYTHING in their mouth. But that’s how they explore the world around them! Mouthing also promotes oral development so they develop the muscles in their mouths needed for communicating and eating. Interesting huh? Who knew teethers help your little one say mama one day?! Who am I kidding… we all know the little traitors say dada first.
Books have many benefits, including developing language skills, cognitive skills, problem-solving skills, promoting attention and focus, social-emotional skills, and much more. No one is too little or too big for books. My 9-month-old already has a bookshelf stocked with books. Your little one isn’t just going to love reading one day out of the blue. You need to give them a lot of exposure to books of all kinds! Every gift he gets always comes paired with a book. You could also get a book that talks about Jesus’s resurrection. Many books that are appropriate for various ages are available that explain the resurrection.
Russian Nesting Dolls are a fun way to have your child practice their fine motor coordination, counting, sequencing, and language skills (bigger, smaller, etc). Extra points for the fact that it is Easter themed!
10. Bunny Plush
Last, but certainly not least, every child loves an adorable plush animal! Not only is it a wonderful comforting tool for your little one, but it is also beneficial for helping your child learn social-emotional skills as well as cognitive skills and language development. How, you may ask? Well, children can utilize these plush friends to partake in imaginative play. During imaginative play, children may tell stories, which encourages language development and helps build vocabulary. Additionally, these stories may require your child to solve problems, express emotions, and think critically. We need to remember we don’t always need toys with all the bells and whistles!
I hope you saw some ideas that will be sure to make your little one hoppy. (No? Not impressed with my Easter pun? I thought it was quite egg-cellent. Okay, let me stop with all the yolks. Thanks for visiting! May you have a blessed Easter with your family.
Catholic Easter Worksheet Bundle | Etsy
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