fun toy Easter basket stuffers for toddlers

Honestly, at our house, we skip right over many holidays when it comes to celebrating with the kids. The kids went to bed at the regular time for New Year's. Valentine's Day might mean a few heart-shaped decorations and one fun family dinner, but mostly it means a babysitter for them while mom and dad get a date night. My children literally don't know what St Patrick's Day is yet (don't I sound like the most fun mom ever?).

But Easter? Hey, we actually do something with the kids for Easter! Easter is a thing at our house. We love to get fun spring outfits, do an Easter egg hunt, and give everyone an Easter basket.

On Saturday I went shopping for a few things for Claire's Easter basket. Which basically meant Cadbury mini eggs that we can only hope I have the self-control to not open before it's time to put together her Easter basket.

I realized I wanted something for her basket to offset all the chocolate. There was a little $2 bin at the store, but honestly the toys in there looked like they'd be broken even before the Cadbury mini eggs were gone.

So I searched Amazon when I got home, and wow, I didn't know there were pages and pages of awesome Easter basket stuffers. Here is a list of a few of my favorite Easter basket stuffers for young kids.

These are all under $10, small enough to fit in an Easter basket, will last way longer than anything in the cheap bin at the store, and are educational and fun to boot. Oh, and also they're all on Amazon Prime so you can buy today and have it show up on your door two days later, just in time to pack those Easter baskets. (If you don't have Amazon Prime, you can get a free trial here to get the free 2-day shipping.)

4 puzzles in a box: We purchased this set about a month ago, and they have been so fantastic in teaching Claire how puzzles work. The easiest puzzle is only two pieces and the largest is eight pieces. The pieces are nice and big, easy to hold and manipulate, and brightly colored.

Tangle Jr Fidget Toy: AKA the How to Keep Your Kid Quiet in Church toy. It's even fun for me to twist and turn these little toys and make fun shapes.

Light-up Spike Ball: Really, to make a kid's day, all you have to say is "light up" or "bouncy ball." Luckily, this is both of those things. This listing comes with a few, so each kid gets one and you can have an extra in case the dog think it's his toy.

Bubbles: We've been needing to replenish our bubble supply, and an Easter basket seems like the perfect opportunity. The bottles are small enough that they fit most Easter eggs, and this listing comes with 24 bottles (hello birthday party favors!).

Bathtub Crayon: A fun crayon with six different sides and colors for the bathtub. UPDATE: When I first made the post, it was on sale. The sale has now ended, which makes this product actually a little over $10, sorry. It still looks cool though.

Bookmark Timer: This one is for all the school-aged kids. It's a bookmark with a little built-in timer/stopwatch so kids can track their reading time. I would have killed for a few of these in my classroom when I was a teacher.

Play-Doh: The classic. Who wouldn't like some fresh, new, not yet dried and crusty colors in their Easter basket? We are down to one or two lone Play-Doh colors that are still malleable, so we need to restock. And 10 colors for $7 is pretty darn good.

Liquid Motion Bubbler: I remember getting to hold one of these at the dentist when I was getting a fluoride treatment at the dentist, and something about them is super mesmerizing.

Hair Chalk: Another fun one for the older kids - and hey, maybe the adults too. This hair chalk is bright, fun, easy to put on, and not permanent. It would also make the perfect birthday party favor.

Doodle Pro: We LOVE this. Claire will play with this forever, and loves how you can swipe away the drawing any time you want. We also use it for learning time, and it's the perfect car trip toy too.




Hope you like these as much as I do! If you buy today, they'll be at your doorstep by Wednesday so they can go straight into the kids' Easter baskets and you don't have to make another trip to the store. Happy shopping!

Do you do an Easter basket?

What do you put in it?

Any more good fun + educational stuffer ideas?

Contains affiliate links.

a bright spring dessert table

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and ConAgra Brands. All opinions are mine alone. #SweetenYourSpring #CollectiveBias

The temperatures are slowly heating up over here (although honestly I'm surprised that it's April and still only 75 degrees yesterday here in Phoenix), and with the new month on the calendar we are getting ready for spring.

And Arizona doesn't do spring halfway. Everything is blooming - the trees, the plants, the flowers, the cacti. It is so gorgeous, vibrant, and alive. (It's also incredibly allergy inducing.) But you know what? We don't really do light shades of timid spring in Phoenix. On our walk to the mailbox yesterday, I saw several trees covered in almost neon-yellow pollen, several bushes with bright red blossoms, and several shockingly bright pink bougainvillea. There was not a pastel shade to be found. Here in this crazy inhospitable desert, I haven't seen a single pastel fragile tulip - spring is brightly colored and hot instead.

These bright colors and bold feel have really been inspiring me lately - in my wardrobe, in my home decor, in everything. (I was also inspired by this site.) So when it came time to shoot my annual spring tablescape, is it any wonder that bright colors trumped delicate pastel shades?

A few little touches that made this spring tablescape bright + peppy + colorful:

For a nice and bright base, I used a green tablecloth, and then I cut a square of my favorite wrapping paper for an accent. It's one of my favorite table decorating hacks - using wrapping paper instead of a table runner is much cheaper, and you have a lot more options when using wrapping paper. 

 I then used the bright colors in the wrapping paper to help coordinate the rest of the colors. I recommend you stick to 3-5 colors for your entire tablescape.

These bunny decorative accents served a few purposes: they were fun to scatter all around the table, they brought out my main colors even more, and they were a fun decoration to put on each plate.

I added some height with these fun reusable yellow fans. I also used the decorative egg trees, the pie stand, and the drink to add more vertical layers.

When it comes to the actual food, I really like to keep it simple. It takes a lot of love and care to make comfort foods right, and with how crazy life is these days I sometimes substitute high-quality pre-made desserts so I can spend more time with my family. This Marie Callender’s® Chocolate Satin Pie hit the trifecta: affordable, convenient, and delicious. Sam and I have been cutting tiny slices of the leftover pie all week long to enjoy together after the kids are in bed. We picked it up at Walmart, and love that it's so very silky and smooth and rich (a small piece will do!).

For finishing touches, I love small details that tie both color and theme together. I loved making these utensil and napkin rolls with these brightly colored bunnies to match everything else. 

PIN FOR LATER:

Find more darling Easter and spring inspiration here.

And now I just need to invite more people over to help us finish that pie. 

Any takers? ;)

Easter bunny pudding cups!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SnackPackMixins #CollectiveBias http://cbi.as/1wma

How was everyone's weekend? I am feeling great today. After many long nights last week with only 4 or 5 hours of sleep (lots of crazy things happening in the Emery household!), I finally made up for it with 10 hours of sleep last night. Isn't it crazy how much of a difference a few more hours of sleep can make? Today I'm feeling refreshed and ready to go!

I wanted to share with you one of my very favorite Easter crafts that doubles as a delicious snack. As a child, I remember eating pudding cups once or twice a year on special occasions, and it was always a yummy treat for our family. These would be perfect for a class party, play group, preschool rotation, after-school snack, or Easter dinner dessert!

Materials:

6 Vanilla or Chocolate Super Snack Packs (make sure to get the new super size so the ears fit!)

12 shortbread or milano-style cookies

12 small or 6 large pink taffy candies

googly eyes

brown pipe cleaner

pink mini pom poms

hot glue gun with glue sticks

Instructions:

Glue on the googly eyes with a hot glue gun.

Cut each pipe cleaner in thirds. Line the pieces up and twist the middle a few times to make whiskers. Glue the whiskers onto the pudding cups with hot glue. 

Glue a pink pom pom onto the top of the whiskers.

Open the top of the pudding cup. Lean two cookies against the back side of the cup. 

Flatten out the taffy candies with your fingers and press them to the cookies. My taffy candies were large, so I cut them in half. 

Enjoy your yummy treat!

P.S. I got these new Super Snack pudding cups at Walmart. Click here to get an awesome coupon for $0.50 off a Super Snack six-pack!

Enjoy!