Easter Baskets

Happy Easter!
Ok ok we know, not for a few weeks.
But, given the current state of our world, it seems like anything that we would need to make Easter a little bit special will need to be ordered online so we wanted to get this out to you a few weeks ahead of time.
We hope that you can take time as a family to celebrate Easter and use it as a day to bring so much brightness and hope into your homes. Although it may be tough to plan events, attend a church service, or do a neighbourhood egg hunt, we hope that you can bring joy to your home in other ways and possibly start new Easter traditions for your family this year.
We love putting together Easter baskets for our kiddos and this year will be no different. Here are some amazing companies we have partnered with and know that our kiddos will love and use everything in their baskets this year.

Some of our favourite items for little hands:
OOLY Reusable play scenes - this one is a Princess Garden theme and children can re-create scenes using the stickers over and over again. Everything folds up nicely so you can store easily or bring it along for travel.
Kyte Baby footed jammies - the new spring colours are gorgeous. The terracotta would be perfect for any new little one and the fabric is so soft.
Manhattan Toy Company: Stuffed Bunny, Natural Wooden Beads and a Winkle - Everything Manhattan toy creates is adorable, durable and made with children in mind. These three toys engage children at a young age and are made from quality materials that last.
Duplo - some toys are around for decades and its goodness speaks for itself. This adorable Bakery set would be perfect for little hands aged 2 and older.

We love that LEGO always creates sets for specific ages so that everyone can find success when creating. Ezri will love to build this adorable Duplo bakery and enjoy some more pretend play as she sets it all up. This is a hands on toy that helps with imaginative play, boosts creativity, and involves practical learning - win, win, win.

As moms we are always looking for quality made toys that children of all ages will engage with. Specifically, we were looking for our babies and discovered The Manhattan Toy Company. They have so many toys and you can search by age group which is so helpful. Their Natural Classic Baby Beads are perfect for any baby. They move so the babies can make different configurations and their neutral colour blends in perfectly with any nursery decor. So far, Kovie and Rayne (8 and 11 months) have both loved their new toys called winkels. The winkels are easy for little hands to hold and is a perfect toy for teething little ones.

Ooly has so many products that are perfect for spring and Easter baskets. Their marker sets and pens are always beautiful bold colours and the set of Seriously Fine Markers are perfect for those detailed artists. Reusable Stickers Scenes are one of our kids favourite items right now as you literally can use them over and over again. There are different themes such as mermaid, race car, space, etc. and we love that kids can create with them multiple times.

We recently went on a trip and forgot one pair of headphones for our child. I tried to let one child watch a show quietly on my phone but was politely asked by the flight attendant to turn my sound off. These headphones from BuddyPhones would be perfect for travel or everyday listening at home. They can also pair easily with a kids audiobook, perfect for a quiet time, as they are comfortable for children’s ears, wireless, and cancel out noise.

I spy the new Seafoam colour in Toddler Pajamas from Kyte Baby! The colour is stunning and they are the coziest jammies your kids will ever wear. Our kids always comment on how soft they are so if you have children with sensitive skin or just kids that love to be incredibly comfortable, these jammies would be perfect.

Lego is a perfect Easter basket addition as you can customize to your child’s preferences. Lego has so many different sets for different ages. For older children ages 4+, the 40th Anniversary Lego Train or Classic Bricks and Animals set would be perfect to foster creativity for your children. They can create so many different animals following the directions or even create something else using their own imagination.

Because of all this time we are now spending at home, this Hoppy Floppy’s Happy Hunt Game from Educational Insights could be an awesome board game to play on Easter weekend. As your young kids are hunting for colourful carrots, they are also developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination as well as matching and strategic thinking skills.

Peekaboo Learning Farm from Learning Resources is a cute item for a younger aged child between the ages of 2-5. The farm set helps children learn and identify numbers and work on colour identification. Plus, each barn’s top comes off and an adorable farm animal lives inside! This would be the perfect Easter item or even a birthday gift for a young child.

Bendon Publishing makes so many awesome activities to include in an Easter basket for children. Our favourite are their Imagine Ink Mess Free Colouring Kits. We take these everywhere we go: waiting for appointments, road trips, traveling in the car or even at home during quiet time. What we love is that the kids can colour the picture with just one marker so there is no mess if you are visiting someone or traveling in a car.

These two have had an instant friendship since birth. They are only a few months apart and definitely aren’t twins but they share everything, including their pal Clover from Manhattan Toy. Although Clover lives at Kovie’s house, both her and Rayne love pulling Clover around and taking turns finding the treasures inside. This wooden toy would be perfect for a family as it will last for years and even has wooden shapes children can push through the sides.

We cannot say enough good things about Kyte Baby! The softest baby and children pajamas I have ever seen. This past year they just came out with womens pajamas that I can’t wait to try. What I love most about this beautiful new spring colour palette from Kyte Baby, is that their footed and unfooted rompers both have zippers at the top and the bottom which makes changing little ones such a breeze. The fabric is the softest, most breathable fabric so my kids wear them through all 4 seasons. The terracotta, honey, and seafoam hues couldn’t be more perfect for spring and Easter.

We are big fans of Playmobil and all of the creative sets they come up with for kids. We are exploring the Kayak Adventure, Spirit Summer Campground, and the NHL Score Clock this weekend with our kids but any set from Playmobil would be a great addition to an Easter Basket. Our kids typically spend a lot of time setting up these sets from Playmobil and we love that it fosters their imagination.

I can honestly say I still have my childhood sticker book. It is tattered and torn, but wow does it bring back so many memories. Mrs. Grossmans has carried the fun tradition of stickers for years and creates so many incredible activities for children that involve stickers including this adorable sticker book, sticker collage book and writing sets with stickers. Each sticker sleeve is made with excellent quality and there are so many different seasonal or theme packs! Mrs Grossmans also offers a Sticker Club which is a wonderful activity to engage children and also develop their fine motor strengths while having fun. There are 1, 3, 6 or 12 month subscriptions that come in a colourful envelope each month. A great gift idea!

I’m not sure any Easter basket is complete without chocolate. We grew up always getting a few Purdys chocolate eggs in our baskets simply because they really are the best. Purdys has a huge selection of Easter chocolates that would be great in a basket or on an Easter egg hunt (while social distancing of course!). I can’t wait to add a few fun chocolate pieces into my kids baskets and keep some for us parents as well ;).