This is my baby girl’s first Easter where she is old enough to egg hunt and show interest in what’s inside her Easter basket. However, not only is she dairy free and soy free due to intolerances and allergies, but anytime we can avoid candy overload for all of our kids in general, it’s a win.
While there are a lot of ideas for basket themes (e.g., summer swim with goggles, pool toys, and rash guards) or non-candy items to put in the basket itself (e.g., bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and jump ropes), I was stumped as to what to actually put in the eggs.
I consulted my mama friends and our readers, and with their help, I came up with this awesome list of non-candy ideas for various age groups. I’ve included a few allergen-free ideas, too.
Ready, set, stuff those eggs!
For Itty-Bitty Bunnies:
- Raisins
- Puffs
- Yogurt Melts (Happy Family makes dairy free melts—win, win!)
- Cheerios
- Animal Crackers
- Small bath toys (e.g., cute mini rubber duckies inside slightly bigger eggs)
- Goldfish crackers
- Crinkly paper (just fun to play with!)
- Replace plastic eggs with these Shakin’ Eggs toys or these maraca egg shakers (Baby Girl LOVES these eggs!)
For Slighly Older Bunnies:
- Temporary tattoos (this was an overwhelming favorite!)
- Stickers
- Shopkins
- Puzzle pieces (put different pieces in different eggs)
- Homemade coupons or tickets (the sky’s the limit on this one!)
- Star Wars Microfighters
- Money (coins and/or small bills)
- Lego Minifigures (“Minifigs” if you are properly obsessed)
- Trail Mix (put the different components of the mix in different eggs so they have to open them all and mix their findings together—very cool idea!)
- Hair accessories (think ponytail holders, barrettes, and/or small bows)
- Chapstick or lip balm
- Tiny plastic animals (typically bought in a tube or around the checkout stand at a toy store)
- Plastic jewelry (e.g., rings, etc.)
- Bouncy balls
If you have an allergy baby or kid like I do, most of the above ideas are great non-food alternatives to avoid the issue altogether. However, if you want to be able to keep some of the traditional candy element in your basket (understandably so!), this is a great resource list for allergy-friendly Easter candy. Whole Foods, Natural Grocers (San Antonio just got a new location!), and Trader Joe’s are my go-to local stores to buy allergy-friendly foods for Baby Girl, but this resource list provides tons of other options available online.