30 Easter Basket Fillers (No Candy, No Junk!)

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Who needs an Easter basket filled with candy or junk that you’ll just throw away? Not us! Here are 30 Easter basket fillers that your kids will love.

non-candy easter basket ideas

One of my most passionate mom hang-ups is all of the junk that floats around on holidays.

And by “junk,” I mean the little toys — those little plastic pieces of ephemera that will get used once and then forgotten until I throw them away, feeling super guilty about all of the waste we’ve created.

So we try with all our might to celebrate gift-giving holidays without contributing to the junk problem. Which is why I wanted to share these 30 non-candy, junk-free Easter basket fillers for young kids!

What To Consider When Purchasing Easter Basket Fillers

When we consider what we’re planning to fill Easter baskets with, we always take a step back and try to choose things that fit a few criteria.

First, I like to include open-ended, creative toys. Things that you can build and rebuild with, or use in different ways.

Secondly, we always lean into the art supply category pretty heavily, with things that our kids can use to create their own art. Then I love to pepper in some books (always) and things that they can wear or use in their daily lives.

Sticking to non-candy, junk-free Easter basket fillers can seem tough at first but it means that your life will be so much easier after the dust settles! No sugar rushes, no piles of plastic. All good.

30 Non-Candy, Junk-Free Easter Basket Fillers

These 30 Easter basket filler ideas are perfect for kids ages two to ten. Our kids have enjoyed all of these throughout the last few years.

Read on for a description of each item, and a link to where you can find them all!

Building and Creating

Squigz Minis My kids love to build with these when we’re out at restaurants, and they’ve saved us from many a boredom meltdown!

Plus Plus Building Pieces Same with these Plus Plus building sets. They fit so easily in your purse.

Magna Tiles Definitely more of an investment than some of the other items on the list, but these have provided hours of play for our kids.

Kinetic Sand Combine a container of Kinetic Sand with a few cheap cookie cutters.

Stacking Game Blocks This set is half building blog, half Jenga! And super colorful.

Arts and Crafts

Perler Bead Kit I love the perler bead kits that come with pre-sorted colors. It makes it lots easier for kids to manage creating on their own.

Crayola Special Effects Sidewalk Chalk We go through sidewalk chalk like it’s going out of style, and this is some of my favorite.

Spray Bottles I always say that the $1 spray bottles I got from the dollar store when my kids were babies were their favorite toy ever! Particularly fun when combined with sidewalk chalk.

City Coloring Poster A giant coloring poster is a perfect spring gift because the kiddos can work on it all summer long.

Glitter Gel Pens These are the pens that we took on our Italy trip, and the kids used them over and over again!

Watercolor Paints Each of our kids have one of these cheapie sets and the colors last forever!

Paint By Sticker Books These are really fun and a great thing to bring along to meals out, etc.

Reading and Writing

Highlights Magazine Subscription (or for kids ages 2-6, High Five Magazine) Henry (age 6) loves Highlights and Maggie (age 3) loves High Five! There are a ton of activities in each issue and they love that something comes in the mail just for them.

Disney Little Golden Books Did you know that every single Disney movie, old and new, has an accompanying Little Golden Book? Our kids have a collection started, and this set is a great way to start one for your littles too.

Search and Find Books Hours and hours of activities in these books! My kids are super into search and finds right now.

Mad Libs You’ll probably have to help little kids fill in the blanks, but their reactions when you read them their stories back are priceless.

Boogie Board Writing Tool Henry has been loving the Boogie Board he got for Christmas to practice writing and reading. We’ve also played about a zillion games of hangman on it.

Fun Supplies

Reusable Straws Am I the only mom whose kids are always asking to use a straw?

Kids’ Nail Polish This kids’ polish is nontoxic, low-odor, and comes in so many fun colors!

Temporary Tattoos Just fun, right?!

Gazillion Bubbles (or the Bubble Hurricane) After tons of bubble trial and error, I have found that the Gazillion Bubble solution is the best (and bubbliest!). I also love the Hurricane for when you don’t want to blow any more.

See-Through Umbrella I don’t know what it is about kids and umbrellas but ours absolutely want to carry theirs everywhere.

Fun Band-Aids We have a “no blood, no band-aid” rule in our house, so when we give the kids a box of their own bandages they feel like they’ve won the lottery. 😉

Fun Lip Balms Another example of letting them have a little autonomy! Instead of begging me for my lipgloss, every so often I’ll give them their own lip balm.

Ukulele You know I love musical gifts! This is a great little starter ukulele.

Knee High Socks These particular socks are for ages 2-4, and SO cute.

Sunglasses Perfect pre-summer gift!

Reusable Water Bottles I happen to love these Camelbaks for kids, but any reusable water bottle is an awesome way to cut down on waste.

Summer Hat Perfect for summer adventures!

One Last Easter Basket Filler: Experiences and Memories

If you don’t want to give stuff, give the gift of an experience as an Easter basket filler! Think zoo tickets, a show, movie passes, a gift card to their favorite restaurant, theme park tickets, and more.

Our kids love getting $5 gift cards to their favorite local frozen yogurt place. It’s fun for them to manage their own experience, and a chance to do something fun together.

More Fun Easter Ideas

Check out our most popular Easter projects and printables while you’re here!

easter basket fillers

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. This means that I receive a small commission should you make a purchase via one of these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you as always for your support!

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