I absolutely love Easter. With the exception of Christmas, it is my favourite time of the year. I love the time we have off together over the bank holiday, celebrating the start of Spring and hopefully more sunny days like today! As well as the religious connotations which I try to teach Erin about, I also love the fun & games we have together as a family. The one thing I am conscious of however, and that is the excessive amount of chocolate that is bought for Erin – at nearly four years old, there is only so much chocolate I will allow her to eat, yet every year we get treated to so many chocolate eggs for her that we have to hide some, or even resort to eating it ourselves (it’s a tough job but someone has to do it hey!).

I recently shared my 10 tips for a successful Easter Egg hunt. In preparation for this years event I have done a roundup of some of my favourite alternative Easter Gifts, which could be used as Egg Trail treats, larger items for more substantial gifts, or fun activities to keep them entertained all day long! With no chocolate to worry about, these gifts will keep the kids quiet far beyond Easter Sunday itself, and there will not have a hyperactive or mucky faced kid in sight!

Chocolate Alternatives

Squeezies – the new fruit snacking range from Del Monte – are a great alternative to chocolate. These pouches are perfectly sized to pop into larger plastic eggs as a fun trail treat – I will be hiding a few of them around the garden! Squeezies are made from 100% real fruit and have no added sugar or preservatives. They retail at 79p each, and are available at most Asda stores. With fun Disney packaging, and collectable caps that can be used to build fun shapes, Squeezies are a great way of encouraging your child to have their 5 a day!

Kiddilicious healthy fruit snacks always go down well in  this house and are another great alternative to chocolate. The Fruit Wiggles and Fruit Smoothie packets are just 50p each, and made from 100% fruit – available at most supermarkets and perfectly sized for sneaking into plastic eggs for your Easter Egg Trail. Erin loves the strawberry fruit wriggles!

Personalised Products

My 1st Years have some super cute personalised egg cups which are perfect for your dippy egg and soldiers! A sentimental gift that children can grow up with, this is a fun product to bring out every single Easter, and is a much healthier variety of egg! 🙂 Just £12, available in pink or blue, these egg cups can be personalised with up to 12 characters.

Cute Collectables

Itty Bitty’s from Hallmark are a great alternative item for your children to hunt for on your Easter Egg Trail. These collectable mini plush toys retail at £6 each, and include ranges such as Star Wars, Marvel, DC Comics, and Scooby Doo. Why not hide some of these around the garden for your little ones to find?

hese super cute Peppa Pig stackable soft toys from Character are perfectly sized to squeeze into larger eggs, and children will love trying to collect them all! These tiny plush toys retail at £3.99 each.

Larger Toys & Treats

Zuma Zupps Tiny Pups – We recently reviewed the Zuma Zupps Interative Pupps, and they went down an absolute treat with Erin (nearly 4 years old). These miniature pupps respond to your child’s touch, talking and barking as well as their own individual trick. Retailing at £14.99 these would be a great way to mark the ‘new life’ message of Easter! 🙂 You can read our review here

Aldi have a fab selection of Easter Gifts in their Easter Special Buys event – online and in store (whilst stocks last) from the 6th April onwards. Products include the fab Portable Basketball Set (£34.99) or the bargain priced Skateboard (£9.99) which comes in a variety of colours and is perfect for beginners or young riders. They also have a fab selection of sticker books, giant colouring pads and puzzle books starting at just £1.99!

Crafty Creations

Easter is a great time for the kids to be creative, and craft its a great way to keep the children entertained whilst waiting for family to arrive (or dinner to cook!).

Flying Tiger stores have a fab range of DIY craft kits for the children – We love these DIY Easter Chicken craft sets! 🙂 Easy and fun to make, and just £3 each!

Sambro have recently launched a range of Giant Craft Eggs, with themes such as Paw Patrol, My Little Pony and Shimmer & Shine. They retail at £5.99 each and include pens, paper, crayons, stamps and fingers paints all perfectly contained within a reusable giant egg! We have 1 Giant Craft Egg to give away to one of our readers – look out for our review and giveaway post coming soon!

BIC Kids have a range of ECO pens in lovely spring colours, perfect for those Easter craft creations. Made from recycled wood, these fit in perfectly with the Easter / Spring theme of new life! 🙂

Little Brian Paint Sticks are perfect for Easter crafts without the mess – these innovative paint sticks don’t require water – you can simply paint straight onto your chosen surface and they dry in minutes! These paint sticks are available to buy at Asda until the end of April, or on Amazon, with prices starting at just £4.99.  

Again as part of their Easter Special Buys Event, Aldi have everything you need for fun Easter crafts, including plastic eggs, bonnets, mini chicks and more.

Baby’s First Easter

As it is Neve’s first Easter this year, we wanted to celebrate in style! We have totally fell in love with this Some Bunny Loves You babygrow from My 1st Years – a cute and fun way to mark the occasion without giving them their first dose of cocoa! I can’t wait to dress Neve up in this over the Easter holidays!

Fun Outdoors

For me, one of the best parts of the Easter weekend is getting outside in the garden – (British weather PLEASE be kind!) Halfords have recently launched a range of fun yet affordable outdoor toys, perfect to keep the children entertained whilst you whip up a storm in the kitchen. We LOVE the meercat ring toss game and rounders set – and are looking forward to playing with these together as a family!

Something for the whole family

Finally, if you are sick of all the calories at Easter, Go Go Fruit Baskets are a happy and healthier alternative that the whole family can enjoy. Beautifully presented, and with a wide range of themes to chose from, these fruit baskets make a fantastic centrepiece for your Easter meal.

However you spend your Easter holidays, I hope these ideas prove helpful! Have a good one!

Lucy x

*Disclosure –  I received press samples of some of the products featured. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links*