Have you ever taken the kids to one of those mass chaos Easter egg hunts before? The ones where it’s a mad dash to gather as many eggs as possible, and many of the kids have zero regard for their surrounding peers.
They fight tooth and nail just to collect some crappy egg filled with junk. And more often than not, the parents are the worst offenders (but let me tell you how I really feel)!
MASS HYSTERIA, MASS CHAOS, NO MORE!
We actually found a great hunt at a local farm where every child gets an abundance of eggs. Then everyone turns their eggs in to collect the same basket, filled with the same goodies, that’s the same as every other kid’s. It sure ends in a lot fewer tears. Problem is, that basket is stuffed with chocolate up the wazoo, and pixie sticks the size of a toddler.
While I’m typically okay with “everything in moderation”, there is usually nothing moderate about Easter goodies. So this year we decided to forego the public madness and just do the traditional route of hiding Easter eggs in the back yard for the kids to hunt on Sunday morning.
Once that decision was made, I started perusing the interwebs for ideas on what to put in the eggs that’s not all candy. There were a lot of candy-free ideas, but many of them tended to be little plastic trinkets. I don’t know about you, but we have so many little plastic trinkets already that one more may literally make the house explode.
And thus, the search continued for semi-green, non-candy egg fillers. There are a lot of great ideas out there, but these are some of the ones I’ll be using this year. And if you want to take the eco-friendliness up a level, you can use these eco eggs and grasses.
24 Semi-Green Non-Candy Easter Egg Fillers
This might only work if your kids are smaller (thus have smaller feet), or you have the larger eggs.
- Bows
You can either buy cute little spring bows, or make these awesome handmade felt ones from Buggy and Buddy
- Money
A classic, but always a winner. I still remember growing up finding the golden egg that had the 10 dollar bill in it. Balla!
Who knows why, but there is something about chapstick that kids can’t get enough of. It always shows up in our Christmas stockings as well. (This DIY is super easy to make, too.)
Similar to chapstick, stickers hold a great power over littles. It’s like they find it impossible to control themselves around them. Bonus, this sticker set from Amazon comes with temporary tattoos and stamps as well!
You can use this super simple tutorial to make your own, replacing Christmas molds with Spring ones. Or you can just buy fruit snacks.
- Match Box Cars
You can never have too many of these. Such a fun classic. These come already filled in eggs!
- Play-Doh
I got this awesome idea from Meaningful Mamma and think it is so fun. And if you wanted to be a little more green, this Eco Dough looks pretty cool.
These always have a way of making their way into my daughter’s treasure chest, she loves them. Just make sure the kids don’t mistake them for candy!
You may need the larger eggs for this. But what a fun way to tell the kids you’re going on a trip!
You could put a different letter in each egg. Then see what words the kids can make out of the letters.
This adorable little DIY from Red Ted Art would be so fun to find hiding in an egg!
- Movie Tickets
Our theme for this year is “Experiences not things”. So even though it costs money to buy movie tickets, that movie will create a lasting memory.
If there was ever an appropriate time of year to eat cheddar bunnies, it doesn’t get more appropriate than Easter!
- Blueberries
You can fill quite a number of blueberries in an Easter egg.
What a fun way to encourage spring gardening with the kiddos. Make sure it’s something easy they will be able to see the results from. Sunflowers, pumpkins, and carrots are always a hit in our house.
- Bubbles
Remember when I said “everything in moderation”? For me, bubbles fall into that category. It’s surprisingly easy for bubble play to get out of hand quickly, but the kids sure to love ‘em!
These cute little Easter erasers fit perfectly inside an egg.
The little kind like this are so fun!
- Zoo Pass
This could also be something that goes into a golden egg.
It’s a little trinket-y. But still fun and not extremely plastic-y
Think of all the fun puppet shows you could put on. Put a different animal in each egg, and you have a forest themed play ready to go!
Apparently keychains are the cool thing to have on your school backpack. I was not aware of this, but it’s a good thing I have a 5 year old to keep me in line!
See if you can get it to bounce back and forth between the marbles.
There are so many fun Easter egg fillers that are not candy, the options are limitless! You could also use these items to make a candy-free Easter basket.
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