Frugal Easter basket ideas for little ones

I have been giving this a lot of thought this past week as Easter is approaching. So I really need to get on the ball so that everything will be made, packed and ready for when we go to Grandma's for Easter. As many of you know we have 6 children, they range from 18 to 3 years old so there needs to be things for all of the different ages, different genders, and so that everyone will be happy. :)

Now, I have to say that getting Easter Baskets at the store can be expensive. So I go to the goodwill,Salvation Army or a store like it and pick up brand new ones for really reasonable. Most of the time I can find them for less then $1 each. So I start with those, and I have to say that I HATE the Easter grass as it makes a HUGE mess all over the house, not to mention its not good for pets as some do try to eat it, thinking its real grass. So I cut strips of green paper for inside the baskets. (I recycle them for use with crafts later after Easter)

So I thought that today I would start with the smaller children and then work my way up to the older children. So I will be doing this in different parts to cover all the children.

Fun things for in their baskets

* The first thing that the kids LOVE to find in their Easter Basket is their homemade Easter egg sidewalk chalk.

To make your own sidewalk chalk eggs, you will need:

* Empty egg cartons
* Plaster (get this at your local home improvement or hardware store)
* Water
* Food coloring
* Hot glue gun

Here are the easy instructions:

1. Mix together 1 cup of plaster and 1/2 cup of water. Add a few drops of food coloring. You can either mix the food coloring in throughly to get solid colored eggs, or swirls the color a bit for unique designs. Pour the mixture into the empty egg carton cups.
2. When the chalk eggs are dry and hardened, peel away the egg carton. Glue two halves together to make a whole egg.

You can also experiment with this chalk, making different shapes, depending on the molds you use. Anything that is made out of cardboard can be easily peeled away for an easy mold. Silicone bake ware make good molds, too. The chalk will easily pop out. Try using silicon muffin pans or cookie molds for something different.


*I also love to use a few of the games that I have picked up for $.24 to $1.24 each. So this time my 3 year old will be getting a travel sized Hungry,Hungry Hippo game in his basket.


* Homemade playdough

* 1 cup plain flour
* 1/2 cup cooking salt
* 1 cup water
* 1 tablespoon of cream of tartar
* 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
* Food colouring

Easy Homemade Playdough Recipe Directions:

1. Mix the flour, water, salt and cream of tartar together in a saucepan.
2. Stir over medium heat until thickened. Allow the playdough mixture to cool and remove from saucepan.
3. Add the oil by kneading the oil into the playdough mixture on a floured cutting board or bench. The oil keeps the playdough soft.
4. Divide the playdough into several separate playdough balls.
5. Add food colouring of your liking to each playdough ball until the colour is as bright as desired.


Rubbery Playdough Recipe

An easy homemade playdough recipe to make is rubbery playdough. Rubbery playdough is a lot more elastic than the previous playdough recipe, providing more of a challenge for kids when they mould it with their hands.

Rubbery Playdough Ingredients:

* 2 cups baking soda
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 1 cup cornstarch
* Food colouring

Rubbery Playdough Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients for rubbery playdough together in a saucepan until so there are no lumps.
2. Boil the ingredients over medium heat until the mixture thickens.
3. Remove from heat and spoon the rubbery playdough onto a plate.
4. Divide into balls and add food colouring as desired.

Storage of Homemade Playdough to Reuse for Kids' Craft Activities

All playdough can be stored in an airtight plastic bag or container, preferably in the fridge. Take out and let the playdough warm to room temperature before using again.

There are many playdough variations that parents and kids can make together. Try the above recipes to make homemade playdough, rubbery playdough and edible playdough to keep children amused, help them learn about colours and shapes, as well as develop their fine motor skills.


* How to make Crayons: (one recipe recycles broken crayons and other how to make them)

Recycling broken crayons to make egg shaped crayons

1. Gather up all of your broken crayons, and cut them into small pieces. (An adult will need to complete this step.)

2. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

3. Fill the muffin tin with an inch-thick layer of crayon pieces or use candy molds to make shapes.

4. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the wax is melted.

5. Allow the tin to cool; then pop out the crayons, and they're ready for use.

Tips:

1. If you don't have a muffin tin to devote to crayon making, you can line your regular muffin tin with foil cups.
2. Candy and soap making molds can also be used to create fun, shaped crayons.
3. Recycled crayons make a great no-cost gift or party favor.

What You Need:

* Broken crayons
* An old muffin tin
* A knife

Have lots of crayon stubs that are too small to hold on to? Don't throw them out! You can use them to create big, chunky crayons – and your kids can help.


* Making your own crayons

Ingredients:

Chocolate or plaster molds

1 Cup of Soap flakes (like Ivory Snow)

Food Coloring

1 Tablespoon of hot water

Put soap flakes into a bowl, add soap flakes, stirring constantly. Mixture will be quite thick and difficult to stir.

Separate mixture into several bowls. Add food coloring, mixing each color until it is blended well.

Press mixture into molds, let dry for at least one week. After removing crayons from mold, let dry for a day or so.



* Another great place to go for some of the trinkets for their baskets is the Dollar bill store. Here are some of the things you can pick up to put in an Easter Basket.

* flash cards
* Cars
* necklaces
* pirate costumes
* Pom poms for cheerleading
* Jump ropes
* dinosaurs
* stuffed animals
* handheld games
* color crayons
* Color books
* reading books
and so much more




candies and goodies for the baskets

*I also purchased candy molds at the Goodwill as well. I went and picked up chocolate as well at the scratch and dent store for .70 a bag and will be making the kids some of the chocolate that will be going into their baskets.

*I will also be making them some homemade egg shaped cookies and frosting them for them to put in their basket.

* Rice Crispy treats in the shape of eggs in different colors you can interchange the colors as your making it so that their 3 different colors to make the eggs colorful. (or as many colors as you would like, then just wrap with plastic wrap.


These are a few of the items that you can put in your child's Easter Basket. These are some fun and great ideas that are easy for you as well as fun for your children. Hope you enjoy these ideas and everyone has a great Easter.