Easter Basket Filler Ideas for Toddlers that Promote Learning!

Easter is already right around the corner. I love any excuse to dress up my daughter in a frilly dress and see her face light up when she comes downstairs to a fun-filled Easter basket! But what I don’t love is a sugar cash at 8 a.m. on Easter morning – right before we have to get dressed up and go to visit relatives! So that got me thinking . . . What are some good non-food Easter basket filler ideas for toddlers?

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Easter Basket Filler Ideas for Toddlers

Play Silks

These are made from an amazing, flow-y material that just makes you want to touch one. Because they are so versatile, they really help to foster creative thinking! Also, a Play Silk can be used as the main “filler” instead of Easter grass along the bottom of a basket.

How Play Silks are great for learning:

Pretend Play – wrap a baby, make a fort, make a cape for a super hero, etc.
Sensory Experience
Gross Motor Play
You can read reviews and purchase on Amazon here.
Check out this video from the company for great ideas:

Easter Basket Filler Idea for Toddlers: Bubbles

Bubbles are always a winner in our house! I love Fubbles, which come in a no-spill container, but you can pick up bubbles at any store for “cheep cheep cheep” 🙂

Bubbles are great for learning:

Use to encourage first words – learn how in this article!
Increase fine motor skills through popping bubbles
Work on gross motor skills through running around to catch bubbles
You can read reviews and purchase Fubbles on Amazon here

Educational Toy Eggs

If you are looking to fill your toddler’s Easter basket with eggs for that traditional look, try filling it with these educational toy eggs.

They help toddlers learn:

colors
shapes
fine motor skills
You can read reviews and purchase these on Amazon by clicking here

Musical Egg Shakers

These Egg Shakers are like maracas and are a staple with music therapists! Use them whenever you do musical activities at home. Here’s 12 Songs that Encourage Language Development (Plus Free Printable) to get you started.

Music and Egg Shakers work on:

Language development
Following directions
Imitation
Gross motor movement
You can read reviews and purchase Egg Shakers on Amazon here

RELATED: Grab these Song Choice Cards from my Etsy shop!

Coloring Book and ULTRA-CLEAN Crayons

If you haven’t tried the “Ultra-Clean” crayons and markers from Crayola, these need to be on your list! (Even if it’s not for Easter)

Coloring helps toddlers learn:

Colors
Requesting
Pre-writing skills
Vocabulary from pictures in their coloring book

Chicks

These could be fun to put inside plastic Easter eggs and then used for pretend play – but mostly I just think they are adorable! You can find them on Amazon here

Pretend Play Doctor Set with a Stuffed Animal

I always got a stuffed animal in my Easter basket growing up, so I like to keep that tradition going with my daughter. You could place the doctor toys around the stuffed animal in the basket as a filler and then the stuffed animal can you your child’s first patient!

Pretend Play works on:

Creativity
Social skills
Conversational skills
Imagination
Language development
You can read reviews and order this set on Amazon by clicking here

Mr. Potato Head

I love the idea of putting some of Mr. Potato Head’s smaller body parts inside plastic eggs! As a Speech-Language Pathologist, Mr. Potato Head has been a go-to toy for working with toddlers and preschoolers. Find out how I use it to encourage language development here.

You can use this toy for learning:

Body parts
Requesting
Taking turns
Answering “function” questions (“What do you use to smell?”)
Fine motor skills
Creativity
You can read reviews and order Mr. Potato Head set on Amazon by clicking here

Books!

I love board books for little hands – find out why here. Plus, in this article you can read all about How to Raise a Little Bookworm and get more book recommendations for babies and toddlers.