3 Simple and Fun things you MUST do for Easter with your Toddlers
It's no secret that I have 2 toddlers; a 5 year old and a 16-month old. So for Easter, I like to do fun things with them where we interact with each other and build great memories. To me, you can do any little activities with your kid and it will have a huge impact on them. And you know what? It doesn't have to be expensive. The main thing here is doing it with your kids. You may be surprised at how appreciative they are of the little things.
When my older girl was 2, I started organizing an Easter basket (1) for her with a few little goodies in it that she likes- a stuffed animal, some crafts, stickers. When she was 3, I decided to ask one of our friends to have a little Easter egg hunt (2) together since it's always more fun with other kids. She loved this so much that last year she made us hide eggs for her over the entire Easter weekend just for fun 😂- not even with any fillers. When she was 4, I added on some Easter cookie baking and decorating (3). She loves sugar cookies! And eats about 4 in one day if given the chance. And you know what? I let her. Yes ....I let her eat as many as she likes because it's not everyday this happens😁. That year I baked all the cookies and made the frosting ...it was fun but I ended up with a million cookies! Way too much than I asked for.
This year, I have another toddler on my hands to plan and prepare for. So what should I do? Well I definitely want to keep the traditions of the previous years alive...with some added on extras.
Firstly, I bought some cool items to fill their Easter baskets with. Of course I was thinking I could just do one basket for them to share, but knowing my big daughter, it's best to do 2 separate ones; just in case someone doesn't want to share. In my experience, the first child grows up sharing a lot, but somehow when they get a sibling, that goes out the window at times. Below I shared some of the Easter basket fillers which I give them on Easter Sunday morning.
Home made Easter-themed sugar cookies. Yes I know it looks very amateur but the main thing here was all the fun we had. And it wasn't your typical sugar cookies. It was chocolate sugar cookies! Who doesn't love chocolate right? !!
Easter Basket for my 5 year old- Some lindt chocolates, good old peeps of course! Easter egg decorating crafts, a pen (she loves writing), an Easter egg mitten for her to use in her pretend kitchen, some stickers and a notepad.
Easter basket for my 16-month old: Bunny sun glasses, age-appropriate flash cards, a cute unicorn stuffed animal, a pretend make-up set and peeps of course! It will be her first time tasting peeps.
Easter Saturday
My lovely cookie decorating box, with cookies, royal icing and sprinkles.
On Easter Saturday, it's all about baking and decorating cookies. This year I decided to order an Easter sugar cookie decorating kit which consists of 12 cookies, royal icing and Easter themed sprinkles. This is just the right amount for us; none gets wasted and my 5 year old loves decorating and eating them all. This year I'll give the little one a cookie as well, although I'm sure she will end up wasting it 😆. I might do some gingerbread cookies on Saturday, IF I feel up to it. These have such a nice flavour with hints of molasses, ginger and other spices that are a pleasant change from the regular sugar cookies.
This little one's job was to add the sprinkles. She got a little carried away with this for sure 😅
She was super excited to get her hands on these. Kept eating the sprinkles in between 😆
The finished product! I don't think we did that bad!
Easter Sunday
On Easter Sunday I like doing an Easter egg hunt. I buy lots of plastic Easter eggs which I fill with various trinkets. I'm not into too much chocolates. Instead, I look for little fillers that they can use. I got some race cars, some little animals and I still included some chocolates. This year I also thought it would be fun to include some extra actions inside some of the eggs. I expect it to be lots of fun for the little ones who will be here to enjoy. So wish me luck!