fill ‘er up — all aflutter

EASTER for our family is a sweet day to be together and to recognize and celebrate nature’s waking from hibernation. It’s the beginning of a new season and a lovely chance to spend a minute taking in everything that’s emerging and growing and blooming after a long winter with all the hope of what’s to come. Plus, it’s just really fun. The brightly colored eggs and baskets and bunnies and candy just feel happy after a good stretch of seeing lots of brown and white and grey. So, though we don’t ‘celebrate’ in a spiritual way, it’s still a special day and a much-anticipated signal that we’ve ‘made it’ through the winter (though if we’re real, it could def be snowing).

AND WHEN there’s an opportunity to blow out the fun for my guys, you know I’m in. So I’ve already started thinking about Easter eggs and baskets and treats. Today, I’m going to share a few of my PRO TIPS for filling Easter eggs. It can be super daunting and I really hate to just jam a bunch of junk in them. I’d always rather find fewer things that I know my boys will actually like and won’t end up in the landfill by dinner. Then I fill in with candy or money to make a big pile.

IF YOU have little littles, you’re SO set. There are TONS of little bits for little kiddos that make epic Easter egg filling. Standard party favors like bouncy balls or finger monsters [my little still loves these silly things] can for sure be fun, but also look for bulk packs of toys in themes that they love, like these Minecraft figures or Thomas Minis and TAKE THEM OUT of the packaging. There. That’s my super secret weapon. It seems so simple, but a friendly reminder can’t hurt. Take treasures out of the box or the mass of shrunken plastic that requires a chainsaw to penetrate and suddenly you have lots of tiny toy bits that would fit perfectly inside an Easter egg. These cutie Peppa Pig figures, Micro Machines, Polly Pockets and Barbie clothes are all excellent examples (def check the size to make sure they’re as tiny as they look and will fit in your eggs). You can also unbox a small Lego set and put a few pieces in each egg so they have the whole collection at the end.

MY ANIMAL-loving son was OBSESSED for several years with Safari Good Luck Minis (aka ‘teeny tiny animals’ in our house), which are perfect egg filler. The Safari Toobs are also gold and there is a huge range of themes from literally every kind of animal to Friendly Fairies to Tools to Human Organs. My little has amassed bunches of these over the years because he loves them and they have a set for just about anything he’s into at the moment (they’re AWESOME restaurant and travel toys, too). Some of the contents are bigger than others, so again, just be mindful if you’re intending to stuff them into an egg, otherwise you can always put them into the basket. If your little likes to craft, you can put loose pom poms, googly eyes and fun beads in the eggs so they end up with a nice little collection of supplies to work with.

ALSO CHECK out the popular toy-style advent calendars. If you can find a theme that your kiddo would love (and isn’t chock full of Christmas trees and Santa), you can pull everything out of the cardboard and use the figures for eggs. You’ll be an Easter hero. Just don’t try to pass off old snowman chocolates or yo'u’ll be fired from Bunny duty. I did the Star Wars Micro Forc e calendar last year and it was fantastic (there were a few Christmas ones in there, but you can just save them for stockings later). These LOL and My Little Pony ones looks awesome, too.

AND THEN there are the older kids. T(w)eens [especially boys], can be much trickier to wow with little bits. I’m totally there myself, but have a few ideas... Candy and money are obvs always a great option, but there are a couple other things that lots of biggies would find amusing. Small fidgets, like Hedgehog Rings, Monkey Fidgets, Magnetic Rings or Teeny NeeDohs are fun and would all fit in an egg. If your big kid is into gaming, you could put some gold coins in a few eggs that can be traded for currency in the world they love (Robux or Minecoins or whatever). Critter, food or cube puzzle erasers are good distractions (Japanese Iwako makes lots of cute themed packs). Or these poop ones, because…t(w)eens. Vinyl stickers for water bottles, skateboards and devices can be jammed into eggs and come in designs that appeal to literally EVERY interest under the sun from hot cars to basketball to cute ‘stuff.' A quick search will almost surely find something that your kid is into. Mochi Squishies are super cute. You can also stuff in little jewelry, a fun hair tie or lip balm if it’ll fit.

ONCE YOU’VE filled your eggs like a rock star Easter Bunny, there can be other logistics to grapple with, too. If you’re having an egg hunt with a group of kids that are super varied in age or have vastly different interests, you can try color coding the eggs. One color is candy or coins that’s open game for anyone, then choose a different color for each kiddo or age/interest that’s filled with the special stuff. You’ll up their challenge by having them search just for specific eggs and everyone will end up with treasures that they love.

SO WITH just a wee bit of forethought, creativity + thinking outside the packaging, you can crush this Easter egg filling job and find treasures that will last beyond the big day. Hop Hop. xo

Easter Egg Filler