Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate and I let Caterpillar have it (almost definitely too often) but if you’re fortunate enough, like we are, to have several loving friends and relatives who want to spoil your little ones this Easter time you might find yourself with eggs still in the fridge at Christmas. Or worse, you’ll sneak quite a lot of it yourself (guilty!). So I’ve compiled a list of a few alternative Easter gifts that are good for your pocket and your waistline:
Craft Packs
Caterpillar loves getting arty – anything where he can get messy with paint, glue or glitter brings a grin to his face and it’s a nice creative outlet for parents too. Unfortunately, I’m not very arty myself and appreciate a little guidence. Craft packs, like these ones from Wilkos, give you inspiration, instructions and at £1-£4 are about the same price as an Easter Egg.
Kids magazines
When I had Caterpillar I was shocked to discover just how many magazines and comics are available for children – the range is huge and includes almost every TV character you can think of. Most include stickers and many include art supplies too (we especially love the Mr Maker magazine). With something to suit any child’s taste these are a great little gift.
DVDs
Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks have single-handedly saved my sanity during the last four years and I’m not even ashamed to admit it. With the latest Disney offering – Moana – freshly released you’ll win lots of brownie points with both the kids and the parents who get to enjoy a little peace.
Books
Caterpillar and I share a love of books and they will always be a great present in my book (ha!). Children’s books can be really expensive but they don’t have to be. I’m a big fan of both The Works and The Book People for some amazing bargains.
Pound shop haul
Children don’t care where their toys come from so why not grab a handful of cute toys and art supplies from your local pound shop, package them up in a bright box, and the children will think it’s Christmas instead of Easter.
Hope you find these suggestions helpful. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments below. Happy Easter!
There are so many lovely Easter ideas out there now, that said mine will have a chocolate egg, but just one. I love some of the stories and toys around. #Twinklytuesday
I know, it’s great to have choice nowadays isn’t it? Thanks for reading x
Some fab ideas here. My girl is 19 months and she still hasn’t had chocolate. I especially love the craft pack X #twinklytuesday
Wow, good for you! I think T had it when he was less than a year lol! Thanks for reading and commenting x
For our little one’s first real Easter basket (his first Easter at 5 months we just gave him a bunny and a couple little toys and a big plastic egg to play with) I really didn’t want to do chocolate/jelly beans/candy in general. He does get a taste of chocolate and other sweets every now and then, but I don’t want to overload my 17 month old on sweets. So we bought yogurt melts for his eggs instead 😉 He’ll have the joy of shaking an egg and finding a surprise, and I’ll know he’s having a decent snack instead of candy!
Love this idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m not going mad with the chocolate this year either! Think I’ll Nick your idea for the book and crafts 🙂 lovely alternatives! Thanks for sharing with #bestabdworst and happy Easter!! X
Thanks for reading 🙂 x
We too like to give our girls alternatives at easter with just a tiny egg to go with it. Like you say they get given so many eggs from other people! x #BlogClubUk
Yep, T has a small egg and then a couple of little gifts to hopefully get a bit of balance. Thanks for reading and commenting x
I’m with you! I love chocolate but I’m trying to go with a less chocolate fuelled theme this year. Our egg hunt eggs are plastic and filled with little chicks and toys. I’ve also gone down the book route and I’m thrilled at how many Easter themed favourites are available. You have just inspired me to try and get hold of a copy of The Good Dinosaur too – although I think that one might be more for me!
Hope you have a lovely Easter.
Dawn x
#bestandworst
I know what you mean, it’s such a great movie 🙂 Love your idea about putting little toys in the eggs! Thanks for commenting x
I agree that’s it’s always a good idea to have some alternatives to chocolate lined up! We are doing an egg hunt for ours this year, but I’m only going to do it with miniature eggs, so that each have about 6 very small ones to eat at the end. My mum would go mental with the chocolate if I let her, so I’ve told her that it has to be crafts/books if she wants to get them anything extra! And definitely with you on the pound shop things-it was MA’s birthday at the weekend, and he had one big present, but I panicked the day before that he should have some little bits to open when he woke up, and grabbed a few bits from the bargain bin at the local toy shop. Well, the £2 bargain bus has received all of the attention, and the big present totally ignored!!
#BloggerClubUk
Ha ha – always the way, they love the cheap stuff! We are doing an Easter Egg hunt too and we’ve bought him a small egg so he’ll hopefully have a nice combination of chocolate and other bits. Thanks for reading x
I love all of these ideas, especially the craft packs. We saw The Good Dinosaur twice in the cinema, it’s so good. I am also guilty of eating my child’s easter eggs, he always gets about 10 and he’s only 2!!xx #BloggerClubUK
Yep, me too. V dangerous to have them sitting in the fridge in my house lol! Thanks for reading x
There are so many Easter-related things other than chocolate, i can’t believe how much is in the shops! Though Tyler will be happy with a Kinder Joy egg, easter or not! xx
#bloggerclubuk
So would I lol! Love Kinder Joy. Yes, definitely seems like Easter is all over everything this year but I like that 🙂 Thanks for reading and commenting x
Gotta love a Poundland haul – I just did another one today!! Lots of great Easter crafty stuff (I may have snuck a wee bag of mini-Crème Eggs in too! 😉 #BloggerClubUK
I love Poundland! Especially for craft stuff and kids snacks. Thanks for reading x
Initially when I saw your blog title I thought…what alternatives to chocolate? This Mum is mad. Then I realised you were talking about the kids and I thought, thank goodness, I was really worried then, haha.
Great tips for Little Monkey however. I’ve just text my Mum to pick up the Little Dinosaur instead of an egg. At least Henry will be happy with his animation and I’ll be happy with one less egg to stuff down my face :o).
Renee @peoneandme #bestandworst x
Ha ha – yes much more for me and than for T as it’s me that ends up scoffing on it after his bedtime lol! Thanks for reading x
I have bought Mia a really little egg and a book this year as she really isn’t that bothered about chocolate (weird child?! Obviously not mine!!) however I’m hoping that our family will still buy her chocolate eggs as I absolutely love them! I do buy Mia the craft packs from Wilko’s as I think they are great and Mia loves making things at the moment! 🙂
#BloggerClubUK
I love the Craft pack! Can I play with this even though my child isn’t old enough? I noticed the DVDs for kids at Sainsbury’s today were very cheap, it was something like 2 DVDs for £5! Great list to prevent myself from gaining 5,000 pounds over 2 days ; ) Thanks for linking up with #StayClassy!
Absolutely lol! I love crafting with T. Thanks for reading and commenting x
I must admit we have asked family not to bring chocolate this year.. I know it sounds mean but we are getting to the stage in our house where he wants it every day! (and we still have huge amount left over from Christmas) And although I have nothing agains treats I don’t want him forgoing proper meals for sweets/chocolate which I have seen happen with other people’s kids. It doesn’t help that one Nannie in particular likes to buy favour with chocolate and then helpfully adds that she use to get so cross with her mum for doing the same thing…!! Lol. These are some great ideas as alternatives – I really want to see the Good Dinosaur! xx #BloggerClubUK
Funny how our parents change when they become grandparents isn’t it? I know what you mean, we’ve still got some Christmas chocolate too. The Good Dinosaur is brilliant, highly recommend. Thanks for reading and commenting x