I still fondly remember waking up early on Easter to sort through our baskets and candy, before carefully donning a beautiful new dress for Easter church. While I think that secular traditions such as baskets from a bunny have potential to detract from the true meanings of holidays, I also think that they can be used to thoughtfully teach our children and contribute to the holiness, or set-apart-ness, of particular days.

My husband and I follow three principles when it comes to traditional worldy gift-giving on Christ-centered holidays:

1. The gifts can never be the main focus of the day, or detract or distract from its true meaning

2. The gifts CAN be a very fun part of the day, that set it apart and makes it more magical than other days

3. Quality over quantity: every gift must have purpose rather than just be a “filler,” and ideally it’s something we would have needed to have purchased anyway

Our girls’ baskets change every year as they get older, but there are several items we always try to include. While not all of these recommendations are 100% non-toxic, for our family they’re the perfect balance of reasonably priced, practical, minimalist, and “less toxic.”

1. A swimsuit - because we would need to purchase new swimsuits each summer, including them in Easter baskets is a great way to save money and take up space with something useful. I really like Carter’s brand because they are reasonably priced and most are OEKO-TEK Standard 100 certified.

2. Other swim or outdoor gear - this will depend on the year, but a towel, cover-up, goggles, water balloons, or pool toys are often included in our baskets.

3. A book - this year Miss F is receiving Like Me and Miss E is receiving Good News! God Loves You and The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Easter Egg Hunt

4. Craft supplies - these vary by year, based on the girls’ skill levels and what supplies they actually need. Some good options are kid scissors, coloring or activity books, crayons, and play dough. The Mando Llama craft sets sold at Target are inexpensive and fun; Target also has coloring sets in the dollar section that Miss F loves.

5. Spare change - Miss F loves putting coins into her piggy bank, and we love that she’s already learning to save to purchase things she wants. This also lets us clean all of that spare change out of our wallets!

6. “Better” treats - we let Miss F eat any of the candy she gets at Easter egg hunts or friends’ houses, but we always include eggs in her baskets stuffed with slightly better treats. This year she’ll get Annie’s Neapolitan Bunnies and some YumEarth candy.

Finally, you do NOT have to provide an Easter basket for your kids to be a good parent. We understand that being able to give our girls’ baskets from a magical bunny each year is a privilege and do not assume that everyone is able to do so. As I mentioned before, our baskets are never the focus of Easter, and we have to actively work to make sure they don’t detract from our worship of Christ and His Resurrection.

Happy Easter, and He is Risen!