Non-Candy Easter Basket Ideas

Easter is a fun holiday packed with treats and goodies, but that doesn't have to mean an overload of added sugar and risk for your children's health. 

According to a study published by NCBI***, "Associations between added sugars and increased cardiovascular disease risk factors among US children are present at levels far below current consumption levels. Strong evidence supports the association of added sugars with increased cardiovascular disease risk in children through increased energy intake, increased adiposity, and dyslipidemia."

According to Heart.org, American kids consume 81 grams of sugar per day, equaling over 65 pounds of added sugar per year. Think of it this way – children are ingesting over 30 gallons of added sugars from beverages alone. That’s enough to fill a bathtub!

Where is this added sugar coming from? Almost everything the average American child eats contains added sugar. Foods marketed to children like cereal, fruit snacks, juice, and fast food, all contain excessive sugar. Buzz words like "whole grain", or pictures of fruit on the packaging is made to confuse parents and create life-long consumers of sugary foods.

Many parents don’t realize just how much sugar their children are consuming. If left unchecked, the continuous consumption of added sugar can significantly affect your child’s health.

In short: It's time to think outside the candy basket!

• Books: Obviously, right? Reading supports cognitive development, improved language skills, preparation for academic success, increased concentration, improved creativity and of course - Cultivates a lifelong love of reading.

• Arts & Crafts Kits Crafting helps develop fine motor skills, boosts counting and pattern recognition and encourages critical thinking. For the youngest members of the family it also helps teach shapes and colors.

• Coloring Books & Markers This helps improve motor skills, stimulate creativity, enhance color recognition, and develop focus and concentration. Coloring pages also promote stress relief, better handwriting, self-expression, patience and perseverance, social skills, and improved academic performance.

• Puzzles & Board Games Board games offer opportunities for early learning, boost language skills, sharpen focus, and teaches the value of teamwork.

• Homemade Play-Dough Through these manipulations, children develop eye-hand coordination, the ability to match hand movement with eye movement. They also gain strength and improve dexterity in their hands and fingers, critical areas of physical development for writing, drawing, and other purposes.

• Stuffed Animals Stuffed animals can help kids develop sensory skills. Children also derive comfort from cuddling stuffed animals and build social skills by involving their animals in pretend-play scenarios. 

• Bubbles Researchers found a clear link between a toddler's ability to control their breathing and carry out complex mouth movements with the ability to develop language skills, and that bubble blowing is an activity that speeds this development.

• Clothing Okay, this one is pretty self explanatory, but we all know that clothes builds kids' self-esteem, helps them be independent, and allows them to develop a sense of style.

• Fun Reusable Water Bottles Using a reusable water bottle helps reduce plastic use, which is the most destructive to the environment, teaching kids different ways to care for our planet. 

• Kites & Outdoor Toys Kids can learn about science, physics, aerodynamics, weather, and ecology. Kite flying also helps develop hand-eye coordination, kinesthetic awareness, and gross motor skills.

These are just a few ideas of non-candy Easter alternatives that your kids will be sure to love! Offering your kids fun, non-candy treats will help them enjoy Easter in a healthful and joyous way. Help your kids celebrate this Easter by providing them with brain-boosting non-candy alternatives!

***Vos MB, Kaar JL, Welsh JA, Van Horn LV, Feig DI, Anderson CAM, Patel MJ, Cruz Munos J, Krebs NF, Xanthakos SA, Johnson RK; American Heart Association Nutrition Committee of the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology; and Council on Hypertension. Added Sugars and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017 May 9;135(19):e1017-e1034. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000439. Epub 2016 Aug 22. PMID: 27550974; PMCID: PMC5365373.