Every year I see the same thing: Easter baskets stuffed with candy that gets eaten in a day and cheap plastic toys that break before the end of the week. As a former Kindergarten and First Grade teacher, I can't help but see every gift as an opportunity. Not in a boring "make everything a lesson" way — but in a "what if this thing they love also quietly builds a skill" way.
Here's how I think about Easter baskets now that I'm a mom.
The Rule I Use
Would my daughter still be playing with this in three weeks?
That's it. If the answer is yes, it earns a spot in the basket. If it's a one-day novelty, it doesn't.
Picks That Pass the Test
🐣 STEM Egg Sorting Set — The Obvious Pick This Time of Year
Okay, I know. Eggs in an Easter basket. But hear me out.
The 12-piece color matching and shape sorting egg set is genuinely one of the best developmental toys I've found for the 2–5 age range. Each egg splits open to reveal a shape inside that only fits one way. It covers color recognition, shape sorting, fine motor control, and early problem-solving — and it looks adorable peeking out of Easter grass.
My daughter got this recently and still plays with it regularly. That's the real test.
Ages: 18 months–5 years | Price: ~$14
📚 A Few Good Board Books
For younger toddlers, Easter is a perfect excuse to add two or three new books to their shelf. I look for ones with real photographs (great for vocabulary) or simple, repetitive text that supports early literacy. Spring/nature themes are perfect for this time of year.
What to look for: High contrast images for babies, lift-the-flap for 1–2 year olds, rhyming or predictable text for 3+
🖍️ Beeswax Crayons
These are a Montessori classroom staple. They're chunkier than regular crayons, which makes them perfect for little hands still developing their grip. They also blend beautifully and are made from natural materials.
A small set of beeswax crayons plus a blank sketchbook is an open-ended creative gift that grows with your child.
🌱 A Small Planting Kit
Spring = planting. A tiny kit with a few peat pots, soil, and easy seeds (sunflowers, beans, herbs) teaches cause and effect, patience, responsibility, and science — all things I covered in my classroom. Watching something grow from a seed they planted is genuinely powerful for kids this age.
These are usually $5–10 and available at Target or Amazon.
🧩 A Wooden Puzzle
For toddlers and preschoolers, a well-made wooden puzzle is always a good basket addition. Look for knob puzzles for younger kids (easier to grasp), peg puzzles for 2–3 year olds, and interlocking puzzles for 4+.
The key is matching the complexity to the child — too easy and they lose interest, too hard and it becomes frustrating.
What I Skip
Slime kits — fun once, then it dries out or ends up in the carpet.
Bubbles — great outdoor activity, but I buy these year-round. Not worth the basket real estate.
Cheap character toys — usually break within a week and don't offer much developmental value.
Excess candy — a little is totally fine. A basket-bottom pile of it isn't something I need to manage.
The Bigger Picture
Easter baskets don't have to be educational in an obvious way. But when you're choosing between two fun things, why not pick the one that also quietly builds a skill? That's really all I'm doing — choosing fun things that happen to do a little extra work.
The egg sorting set is my top pick this year because it's genuinely thematic, genuinely fun, and genuinely useful past April 20th.
Happy Easter. 🐣