Easter is just around the corner and I'm starting to think about Easter baskets and the egg hunt. This year, I'm going to have a young toddler at Easter for the first time in awhile. Penelope won't be ready to eat more than maybe a tiny treat. So, I'm preparing some Montessori friendly non-candy filler for Easter Eggs and baskets. I think there are a few great options so that she feels part of the action but the activity remains as developmentally appropriate as possible.
I've also decided to use bunny shaped Easter Eggs for Penelope so that the older kids know which eggs are meant for her. I think this will avoid confusion over which are stuffed with candy and which have other types of treats.
Montessori Toddler: Non-Candy Easter Egg Filler
My hope is that we can find a few things that will be interesting for Penelope but also practical items that we will actually use with her over the coming months. I don't want to just buy junk that is trashed without purpose.
Rock Crayons or Bear Crayons
Small writing utensils are so good for developing a proper pincer grasp for younger toddlers. These are a favorite around out house and I have started introducing them to Penelope with supervision. She loves exploring how they mark paper, and she would enjoy using these.
These are very small, and young mouthing toddlers will need supervision to make sure they don't become a choking hazard.
Small Animal Figures
We use small animals for so much during the toddlers years. From open ended play, to language work and sound games, we always have a little basket of animals available. A lot of the baby Schleich brand will fit into an Easter egg. I really like the puppies assortment, and Penelope will be getting this super cute bunny.
Mini Play Silks
We can never have enough play silks around here! Dress up, sensory play, open ended play, movement and dance - we use these things for everything. The mini size are perfect to fill an egg.
Stickers
Another classic art supply that we use all the time here. Stickers can be great for fine motor skills and are especially popular with toddlers. I like stickers because all my kids will use them, and eventually they get used up, the kids have fun, and they don't sit around taking up space. I linked Easter stickers, but you could customize to your child's individual interests.
Large Felt Pom Poms
We use large pom poms so frequently with toddlers! We use for math work, for sensory play, for transferring work and color sorting. Adding a few of nicer quality ones would be a really fun addition to a Montessori home and work great in Easter eggs.
I hope this gives you some fun ideas to fill your Easter eggs with your Montessori toddlers. These non-candy Easter Egg fillers are going to work great for Penelope and be a much more intentional choice to add to our environment.
Do you have other ideas? Drop them in the comments!
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Do you have other ideas? Drop them in the comments!
