This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
A well-organized blogger would have shared these ideas at the beginning of Lent. But alas, you’re stuck with me. But surely there’s other folks out there who remember a couple weeks before Easter that Easter baskets are a thing, right? (Just say yes and humor me.)
Easter is an important season! So while we definitely don’t go nuts with Easter baskets, we try to get a couple of things for each kid to make it special. We like to have the Easter baskets ready to go before we leave for the Easter Vigil. Then we can start celebrating with gifts at home right away after they’ve made the Herculean effort to behave for a super long Mass that begins at their bedtime!
Yes, we are the crazy people who take young children to a 3 hour Mass–but how can we miss it? Holy Water for everybody! Baptisms! Confirmations! FIRE! Our kids LOVE going. Sometimes they fall asleep, sometimes they don’t. But we love having them there and all year long they look forward to getting dressed up and going to the Mass of all Masses.
Because they get some sweet treats from grandparents, we usually just add a little fair trade chocolate to the mix and then add some small gifts and books. Here’s some of my favorite gift ideas:
Chews Life
This year I am all about these decade bracelets from Chews Life (run by fellow Catholic mama, Shannon).
I bought some for my kids’ and my godson and goddaughter’s Easter gifts. I opted for Miraculous Medal bracelets for the girls and St. Benedict medals for the boys. They’re made of foodgrade silicon so they’re perfectly chewable for babies or toddlers to gnaw on during Mass or prayer time. There’s tons of great stuff in the shop and you can read my review of the Chews Life rosaries and busy mom’s rosary bracelets here.
Shannon is generously offering 10% off to Carrots readers with the discount code CARROTS. Just be sure to order by 4/8 if you want to be sure of receiving your items before Easter!
Shining Light Dolls
Shining Light Dolls are just a few inches high and the perfect size to stash in Easter baskets. And they have some new ones out since the last time I ordered!
We’ve had ours for a few years and they’ve held up super well!
Cherubalm
Trying to figure out what to put in the baby’s Easter basket? Cherubalm, y’all.
They have several great scents of baby balm, but the Khrisma scent is my favorite because it really smells JUST like holy chrism oil they use for baptisms.
Annery’s Handmade
I am giving this set of Rosary Roses to my littlest girl as her big gift this Easter.
They’re the perfect thing to calm busy little hands when praying the Rosary and keep track of the prayers. Annie is graciously offering Carrots readers free shipping on orders of over $10 during the month of April with the discount code SHIPCARROTS
Zuver Goods
For the older kid that’s still getting an Easter basket (my mom quite doing baskets when my older brother turned 18 so he got six years more of Easter baskets than I did…..NOT that I’m bitter, I’m TOTALLY OVER IT) I love these gorgeous wooden finger rosaries from Zuver Goods Co.
And Carrots readers can use the discount code ZUVERCARROTS for 10% off items in the shop.
Books
I love stocking the kids basket with good religious books about saints or the faith. I have a list of a few of our favorites here and some specifically about Lent and Easter here.
I’ve been reading Caryll Houselander’s Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls lately to the kids and it’s small enough to fit in an Easter basket!
I also love this precious Stations of the Cross book for little ones.
Extras
We try to focus on religious items in Easter baskets but occasionally we’ll include classic toys like PlayDoh, Perler Beads, Melissa & Doug toys, small games like this one, or small art supplies.
I hope this little guide helps my fellow last-minute shoppers! What sorts of things do you like to give as Easter gifts?
Everyone gets Easter baskets when they come to my house for Easter. Kids get toys like small cars or dolls, and snacks like Annie’s bunny crackers or cookies or gummies. Female adults get tea or a nice plant or seeds to plant outside. Males get beer! The clerks at the liquor store get a kick out of my beer for Easter baskets.
That sounds so fun!
Thank you! This is exactly the post I was waiting for!
Oh good!
You’re so funny. This weekend I saw your post title in my husband’s inbox and panicked – “Wait what? Last minute? Is it tomorrow!?”
Two weeks is nothing like last minute in my book. You’re totally early. 😉
Ha! A woman after my own heart <3
I agree, I’m just getting started now!
Hi Haley – do you have any Catholic or Catholic-ish fiction you would recommend for a 13-year-old boy who loves fantasy?
Not expressly Catholic, but the Redwall book series is very good, especially the older ones.
There’s also ‘A Philadelphia Catholic in King James Court’, but that’s not so much a fantasy book as an apologetics primer wrapped up in a story. A good read though.
Such a good question! I’ll need to put on my thinking cap. Redwall is definitely fantastic.
You might be interested in the Will Wilder book series for your son. It is written by Raymond Arroyo, EWTN Anchor. One of the moms at our school (Catholic) recommended it. It is in our school library too!
Ok, things that will be in our four children’s Easter baskets: rosary roses (like the ones you got for G) for our almost-4-year-old, pocket kites, probably swimming suits (they all need them, and we’ve done this before, it’s just pricy so I haven’t completely committed), sidewalk chalk & bubbles (every year—even our 15-year-old still enjoys these), considering sewing them some library bags…not sure. I just realized that since one child is getting rosary roses, everyone else needs something different to even that out.
In the past, we’ve done LifeFactory water bottles, music CDs, DVDs of classic movies, cute lunch plates, seed packets or seedlings, card games, spring/summer pajamas, art supplies, books.
They also get some candy but that’s not the main deal.
Also, thank goodness for Amazon prime.