Easter treats for kids - without the waste

Much like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, Easter has become a holiday with its own set of cheap, gimmicky, disposable merchandise, much of it aimed at children. We have one grandma in particular who loves celebrating Easter with lots of gifts and treat for our kids. That said, she also knows we don't like disposable trinkets in our house. I’ve got to hand it to her; she has taken on being a low-waste Easter Bunny with style. Here are some of her great ideas:

Easter Basket:  She used to get Easter baskets that really had no particular use other than for Easter treats. Now she gets reusable storage containers in Easter colours, or decorates them. They go on to be used for toy or craft supply storage, which has been great!  

Surprise eggs: We aren’t fans of the kids getting sugary milk chocolate Easter eggs, so grandma got creative. She bought reusable plastic Easter eggs and stuffs them with coins for the kids’ piggy banks. We collect them once the kids are done and give them back to her to use the following year. She also has some kind of high quality, allergen free chocolate treat in there too.

Presents: Each year she gives the kids some garden seeds to plant. I love this idea! We usually start a few in some small pots on the kitchen windowsill where they can watch them sprout. Once they are big enough and it is warm enough we move them outside to our garden. The other thing the kids usually get are a few books; either Easter themed, or something they are interested in at the moment.

Once in a while she may sneak in a few not-so-reusable things, this year it was eggs you soak in water to hatch and Easter crackers. But all-in-all we were not left with piles of garbage, sugary treats or even excess toys by the end of Easter. What about you? What do your children get at Easter? Do you try to give useful Easter gifts that won’t end up as garbage?