Need Ideas for Kids Easter Eggs for Head Start

Go to the Dollar Tree and look for packages of little rings, army men, cars, tops, or small animals that might fit in Easter Eggs.

Silly putty, stretch animals(bought by the bag in the dollar section) , bouncy balls, erasers,grow in water animals(cannot think of the name), barettes, balloons. Look in the party favor isle.It all depends on how much they might put in there mouth.
Hope this helps

Well, I went to Wal-mart today. They had a lot of little things to put in eggs. There is the little capsules with animals in them. There are about 15 in each pack for $1.00. Then stickers are always good. You could do the little bags of nuts, fruit snacks etc.... Change, quaters are nice. The little bubble rings. (wal-mart) 5 in a pack.Also, toy cars,rings etc.... Good luck with this.

Hi Gina!

If you have a dollar store in your area (like Dollar Tree), go to the birthday party section. You can find tons of those plastic little tops for really cheap. Also look for small toys like fish or jungle animals. I think that someone also mentioned balls and stickers: and to keep with the Easter theme, if the school allows it, perhaps some stickers with religious themes. If not, at least Veggie Tale stickers. All kids love Veggie Tales! That way you could stay true to the religious significance of the holiday without offending parents who do not celebrate the Christian meaning of Easter. Veggie Tales is a great cartoon because it is satisfactory to Christian and secular parents alike. Good luck and God bless!

A.

Put in stickers, I go to the dollar store & get party favors & split them up for classroom parties. Be sure not to get things like the "high bounce" balls as they're a chocking hazard...I used to go to a church that was so narrow minded they told you when & what & how to do everything...I finally realized THEIR OPINION didn't line up with GOD'S WORD....! People can be so "off" with their opinions it causes people from getting saved!

How about fruit snacks or gogurts? How about having a large easter basket drawn on poster board and some of the grass in each egg. The kids can bring it to the basket and glue it on. Or even a gift basket they all put their graas in for someone in the military. Small balls of play doh for them to add together to play with after the hunt? Letters they can spell a word with, super balls, garden seed, notes from teachers, chap stick. Just some suggestions. Hope they enjoy.

I always give out super yummy nutritional supplements that look like gummy bears. The kids love them and they are good for them -- great for picky eaters. However, that might not work at Head Start. How about those little tubs of Play Doh or crayon packs? You might want to look at packs of party favors.
S. B.

I read through probably half of the responses and NO ONE has mentions BALLOONS!!! My kids love them!! My mom lives almost a thousand miles away and ALWAYS sends balloons with her packages and letters for birthdays (and un-birthdays, too)!! They are small and will definately fit and even better - THEY WILL FIT YOUR BUDGET!

stickers are good to put in eggs and then hand them a little notebook to put them in. Your church members should keep their comments to themselves.

You can get little markers that are only 3 inches long. Some of them are scented. They fit great in the larger eggs. Another idea is stickers. My kids have always loved stickers. The last one is little animals and dolls. You can get them about an inch long and several of them come together. If there is some way to distinguish between the boys and girls, get little jewelry for the girls and small action figures for the boys. I hope this helps
S.
Huntsville, al

Stickers, mini bags of goldfish crackers or animal crackers, mini granola bars (look in bagged candy aisle) if the kids are old enough, toy rings, bounce balls, other party favors.

stickers Dollar tree has a lot of them

Novelty erasers, pencil toppers, super balls, stickers, miniature bottles of bubbles (you can find them at the dollar store on the party favor aisle).

Does bubble gum count as candy?

Dear Neighbor:

Perhaps you can find dried fruit individually wrapped.. I noticed some the other day while shopping in Wal-Mart's ..Have to look carefully for such items.

Maybe could use animal crackers(if allowed since not individually wrapped) or fruit snacks (if allowed, maybe too close to candy. I have also used stickers (buy packages and cut out a few for each egg)Also maybe plastic rings or if the eggs are large enough maybe the little bottles of bubbles, like are sometimes used at weddigs.

Maybe this helps. Also, I really don't want be disrespectful but there are alot of Christians out there winning souls for Christ and doing God's work that have tattoos. They can reach the people that maybe you or I or some of your church members may not be able to reach! Remember we're all God's children!! I am sorry if what I said seems disrepectful it's not intended to be!!

Have you thought about putting little bouncy balls in there?
Or some other little toys. Kids like to play with so many different things.
Hope that this will help just a little bit.

Stickers, coupons for a free kid-sized frosty at Wendy's (usually a pack of 10 is $1, I think), rings, mini-raisin boxes, coins (nickles, dimes, quarters), ponytail holders, super balls, anything little that you can pick up at a dollar store.

I would look in an Oriental Trading or ABC catalog. They usually have very cute little trinkets that kids love for a low price. http://www.orientaltrading.com/

Gina, if the eggs are large enough, try putting in little cars for the boys and get some of the small huggie bears and place a few in the eggs. Also you can get little girl bracelets and necklaces to put in the eggs. Another good idea is get some 50 cent pieces and place in random eggs. Kids will love that.

J.

Cereal....fruit loops, apple jacks, lucky charms...Stuff like that. Cereal that is big enough to eat with your fingers. Plus, all of those cereals are colorful, so it is still kind of "Eastery".

Gina, I teach kindergarten and I encourage my parents to use stickers. As for the nutrition part, my school allows gummy bears because they are non-fat and lower in sugar content than other candies. Small dollar tree toys and pennies are always good also.

I've done smooshed fruit before. They sell it at Wal-mart and maybe Sams by the fruit roll ups. The brand is called FruitaBu. One packet is 1/2 a fruit serving. It's just like a fruit roll up but they use real fruit. I just doubled checked, a packet will fit in the standard sized eggs but you have to work with it to get it to fit. Medium sized eggs will work better. Bouncy balls also seem to be a hit with kids. My daughter went to a hunt at a country club and some of her eggs had a magnetic letter, the kind that you can cover your frig with. You could buy one packet of letters and fill several eggs.

A.

If it were me, and I couldn't use candy or tattoos, use stickers. My son is 4 years old and he loves stickers. He sticks them everywhere. Just get a package or two of stickers and cut them apart and put them in the eggs. Just like tattoos, but they don't go on the skin. I would say use cust little earsers, but I don't think they are old enough for that just yet. If you don't want to use stickers, go to Wal-mart over in the Easter section, and look at all the cute Easter stuff that they have pagkaged up. You might find something there.

stickers, plastic rings, bead necklaces, bouncy balls, character band-aids, whistles, maybe even the mini cans of play-dough?

Have a fun and blessed Easter!
Jenn

I have four kids of my own and I'm one of the Youth Leaders in my church, so I go through this all the time. It's good not to want to give them a lot of candy. Some suggestions....stickers, play rings, easter/spring pencil erasers, money(coins and dollars), mini cars. Just remember, what ever you put in the eggs don't necessarily have to be Easter oriented.

Mrs. Gina,
Little Shells, pretty stones, Gods little treasures are often overlooked. Stickers, tokens good for treats/goodies? all just a food for thought.... Laura

How sad that a church would want to deprive kids of the fun of temporary tattoos... do they also say that drawing on the body is a sin, too?

Some ideas: stickers, little plastic animals (especially Easter-themed), colored real hard-boiled eggs, healthy snack items like mini-rice cakes or peanuts, and band-aids (kids love band-aids! Can't explain why, but they do...)

My children are much older, so if I suggest something not so age appropriate I apologize. How about small stickers rather than the tattoos, or maaybe bubbles, I know that you can get really small bottles in the "wedding" section of Hobby Lobby. Also, you might check the birthday isle for just really small toys. Oriental Trading has tons of small items some of which may work. Most bible book stores will also have an area with small items, like bracelets, erasers, etc. Wish you all the best.

Oriental Trading Co. has some cute little things that fit into the plastic eggs. You can also look at Wal-mart in the party aisle and see if they have anything that will fit. Usually the small plastic rings or friendship bracelets or necklaces with small pendants fit. Or balloons, small balls, stickers (you can buy the book of stickers for a dollar or two and cut the pages into small squares to fit inside the eggs), etc. Try your local dollar store too.

Stickers. Buy a sheet of them and cut between them so the paper stays on. Or you can try a party store or walmart and get some cheap party plastic toys.

How about a quarter...a dollar....a coupon for an ice cream cone at a local eatery.....the possibilities are endless and lots of safe fun ideas come to mind.
B.

We put quarters in some. I have also seen some bigger plastic eggs at the Dollar Tree that would fit a small box of raisens. No matter what they are happy to find the eggs and you'll have fun watching them.

At Wal-Mart, there are prefilled Easter eggs. They have stuff in them like dried banana chips, raisins and nutrional food items like that. And the eggs are REALLY cute. My son loves the banana chips!

We usually put pennies in our Easter eggs and very rarely use candy. My kids go crazy looking for eggs because they want to save money for special items later on.

go to a party supply store and get grab bags full of plastic rings, tops and bouncy balls. maybe some crayon packets too. then you could run ff easter themed coloring pages off of your computer to fold up and stuff into eggs.

the temp tatoo incident seems a little silly to me, even if you are against tatoos (as damaging to the body), it's basically just a sticker (temporary thing stuck on your arm).

If it were me, and I couldn't use candy or tattoos, use stickers. My son is 4 years old and he loves stickers. He sticks them everywhere. Just get a package or two of stickers and cut them apart and put them in the eggs. Just like tattoos, but they don't go on the skin. I would say use cute little earsers, but I don't think they are old enough for that just yet. If you don't want to use stickers, go to Wal-mart over in the Easter section, and look at all the cute Easter stuff that they have pagkaged up. You might find something there.

Gina B, I can relate to your problem. 55 YO grandma who has taught childs church for 20 years. Log on the oriental imports and they have some great ideas that can be purchased in gross quanity.

If it is for church, have you thought about resurrection eggs? They have little religious symbols that might work. Other things that might work are little erasers, little lambs or donkeys.
Hope that helps a little

How about the tiny bottles of bubbles.

Hi Gina!

My granddaughter also lives with me and whatever the occasion, her mom - Ginamarie who goes by Gina :)- will usually get some themed pencils and stickers and put them together. Stickers will fit easily into the plastic eggs, and I haven't heard of any kids who don't like them.

How about stickers, small toy cars, plastic jewelry such as rings and bracelets. You can put small whistles, fun shaped erasers. Most of these items could be picked-up at the dollar store. Have fun with it!

Hi Gina,

It's been a long time since I've had to fix Easter eggs as my daughter is 29 but when I was a youth sponsor at my church, I remember going to McDonalds, Burger King and some of those type places and they would give coupons to us to put in the eggs. Children love things like that and also any of the dollar stores have little trinkets to fill the eggs.

Hope this helps.

hei im N. b. i stay at home with a 3 year old. my church pretty much believes the same way. the Bible says not to mark yourself. Anyways we used things like small toys aka hotwheels, stickers, play jewelry, fake money, things like that. And there are lots of other ideas out there. but you could always do candy thats not really sweet. if they will let you. like maybe....gummi bears or fruit roll ups. well i hope this helps -N.

Hi Gina,

We buy stickers in sheets (love Deals and Dollar General) and cut them into strips or indavidual sticker pieces and place them inside. Also the little bottles of bubbles (party store or Wal Mart), Fill snack size zip locks 1/2 full with goldfish crackers or those gummy fruit things, Hobby Lobby toys (most are 5 for $1), Super Bouncy balls, Crayons in the bigger eggs. Good Luck!

I teach first grade and one of my students favorite treats in eggs is money. Finding a quarter or a couple of nickels is like winning the lottery to a child. They also like stickers. I would buy a package and cut them apart so that you can put just a couple in the eggs.
Good Luck!

Personally I think...these people need to lighten up but since I can't control everyone... I say look for some small party favors that will fit in the eggs. You can buy the larger eggs that most of multi pack party favors (that you find at wal-mart) will fit in. OOOOOHHH you might also get those tiny bubbles that people use for favors at weddings. You can get those in white bottles and decorate them with ribbons, easter stickers or paint pens.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter!!

I'm not sure if your head start has rules like ours does here but we were not allowed to bring in candy because of the healthy lifestyle they r abiding by also everything we bouht had to be bigger than a toliet paper roll ( because kids stick it in their mouths ) but lil coloring books ,crayons ,go to the dollar tree they have alot o f things to choose from

Our family egg hunt has been limiting candy for years and we have come up with lots of alternatives that are inexpensive. Check out the dollar store and especially the party favor section. I have found small cars, yo-yos, whistles that will fit in the eggs - often at 6 to 12 for a $1. In the easter section I found some rubber rabbits and some colorful erasers. Rubber or plastic animals (bags of like 25 for $1, like a farm set) are also a hit. We have lots of girls, so we fill many eggs with hair clips, pony tail holders, bracelets, rings etc... Pages of stickers can be cut apart and put into eggs. Kids of all ages are especially excited by change (money) in the eggs, but this may be a choking hazard for young kids. We have "exchange time" after the family hunt in case boys got ponytail holders and want to trade for a plastic dinosaur. You may not be able to do that at head start, but you can always say "give it to your sister or your mommmy". Some of the items are kinda junky, but it is about the excitement of finding the eggs and opening them to reveal a treasure!

If her age group knows better than to put everything in her mouth (we haven't gotten there yet) then I would suggest little rubber balls, jacks, little rubber or cloth bracelets, hair clips or schrunchies, for boys maybe tiny cars, soldiers or dinosaurs - I would check the dollar store or places like WalMart (or maybe a party supply store) before going to the big toy stores. Sometimes they sell things like this in bulk for children's birthday parties for favors

In addition to the ideas below, you could order from Oriental Trading http://www.orientaltrading.com/. They have tons of this kind of stuff, including true Easter items (i.e. "He Lives" stickers, etc.)

You could try stickers, small toys (bouncy balls are big favorites)...

In the program I run, we put pieces to a puzzle. If each child gets one of each color, hey can put the puzzle together and get a prize.

J. Grsy

Bless you! What about stickers? Another good idea would be if the items don't have to be wrapped, you could put a few goldfish crackers in them....would those tiny boxes of raisins fit?

I remember when my boys were little we would put pennies in the plastic eggs. They really enjoyed that, also, you could make up a story about the Easter bunnies but include the real reason we celebrate Easter and encourage the child to donate some of the money to the church or the charity of your choice. L. B

You could go to the dollar store and see if they are little cars. Easers would be something different. You could go the the birthday party section at wal-mart and see what they have that would fit in the eggs. Stickers is another thought. I hope this helps.

S. Jane

McDonalds will give out coupons for ice cream for half off for kids orginizations. Maybe if you had a talk with the manager of one near you, they could help you out with something like that.

Also, we use Animal Crakers, gummy bears, sugar free candy (Wal-Mart has many varieties), toy cars are a hit, pony tail holders, silly putty, sugar free cookies, stickie hands/gummy toys, super bouncy balls, small animals (like army men but dinosaurs and horses and farm animals), pieces of a picture they all get to assemble after the hunt.

Or, you could put tickets in there for extra things you could draw the numbers for, if they are too big/unable to put in an egg. Things like who gets to pick the movie today, what story do we read today, a whole box of animal crackers, a pack of 4 or 5 pony tail holders or a nice matchbox kinda car, a small box of leggo's (the special kind like a dragon or a star wars kinda theme), coloring books and crayons(so two of them would have to work together to use their item, share the book/share the crayons), just about anything you could possibly think of that a kid would like to have. Tickets and a drawing is a great way to make that easter egg hunt last another hour or two and you simply grab whichever item is good for the child's age/gender and it opens the door to many items that you can't fit in an egg.

I hope you get plenty of ideas.

We use coins, stickers, gummy fruit snacks, or small party favors. In the prize egg we put $5 or $10 (our youngest is 11 years and the oldest 18). Good luck and have fun.

Stickers would be nice. Also, how about pencil erasers. They have a lot of cute little ones that will fit in an egg. Just some thoughts.

How about some easter earsers with little bunnies on them, I know that if you went to the dollar store and look around I am sure you will found some thing. Also maybe a party type fav may be the kind of thing you need.

I would go to the party store/dollar store and see what they have there that would fit in an egg, maybe getting a larger size egg. Stickers also could go in and kids are just as excited about those. Maybe fun ponytail holders for the girls? Are fruit snacks considered candy (they are made with fruit sugar and sold on snack aisle). At valentine's I gave stickers and little note pads instead of candy. Think of it as a way to minimize candy for everyone. Also I have seen little 4 packs of crayons that would fit in a large egg. What about the little packages of raisins? or other dried fruit? Maybe even grapes? Good luck and congratulations on sticking to your convictions.

A. Moore

I love those little bouncy balls and rings and I found some egg shaped side walk chalk that fits in the egg. Just be careful about the "putting the toy in their mouth" factor...sorry, I also love the washable tattoo idea. Kids love those things and they are harmless.

Easter trinkets are a good idea. Oriental Trading (www.orientaltrading.com) has great trinkets that fit in plastic Easter eggs. And they ship fast.

Well I am a 24 yr. old mother of five and dont like my kids to get a lot of candy so everyone usually puts small toys in them you can find them anywhere small enough to fit in the eggs!Also at walmart I know you can buy the eggs prefilled without candy just assorted easter toys.

One year I used tiny little iron on patches for cute things she could have ironed on to her clothes. Ducks, flowers, whatever you can find that is small and cute. She loved it and I was going to put them on a tshirt or jeans, but she liked them so much she wouldn't let me :)

How about just plain stickers...no tatoos. this is what we do at my church egg hunt.

How about pennies, nickels and dimes? Kid LOVE getting money!!! Other suggestions...fruit snacks, little plastic rings or pins, bouncy balls and other small trinkets. www.orientalexpress.com is a great website to find inexpensive trinkets for things like this! Hope this helps...J.

My little one has the same issue, we use stickers and erasers. I took an empty egg and my daughter to the dollar store and found lots of little things to put in the eggs...

What about stickers? You can usually find some cute ones at Dollar Tree or in the office supply section of Wal-Mart or Target. Plastic rings (like the spider rings you get at Halloween) are always a big hit with that age group. Would pennies be too much of a choking hazard? There are some cute Easter-themed erasers in with the pencils. Check the party favor section - there's bound to be something inexpensive that will fit in an egg.

Gina I know your pardicament I too am a member of that same church.I have been trying to teach my three girls about respecting there body and how to show others that we have respect for ourselves. There is an alternitive to temparary tatoos. STICKERS. Stickers are great! I am 31 and I still love them. plus they are cheap. I am all about thrifty. It sounded like you might of been a little resentful of the primary teacher. Forgive her she might be afraid of tattoos.I have a diffrent view.My husband and I meet when we where stationd together in the Army Befor we had become members in the church in question In the Army it is a right of passage to get inked to comemorate and major event. So my husband and I both have to dreaded tattoo.We both are teachers of the youth and are open about where we have been and why even though we would not make the same choises that we have made in the past.we still are who we are because of our past,and there is nothing to be ashamed of we learn from our mistakes and move on. I am sure yo will come up with something and you will do great. Good luck and God bless you.

How about raisins or trail mix. That is healthy and lots of kids love it.

At the dollar store you can find small erasers, stickers, bouncy balls.

Stickers are always a good idea and they make small stamps that could possibly fit into an egg. Also you could try party favors that are sold at party stores or Wal-Mart. Miniature cars could work as well (they can be found at the Dollar Tree). Good Luck!

maybe some little toys from dollar store as long as the kids are old enough not to choke on them, or stickers

Hi Gina,
How about stickers? Or go to a party accesory store, like Paper Wharehouse, they have small neutral items that would fit into the eggs. Some of the party favor items in Walmart, or stores like that, would work also. Oriental Trading has a website and you can purchase a variety of items in large quantities at a low price. Good luck on your hunt and Happy Easter.
W. Q

Small stickers (you can buy a large sheet & cut them out so you have 2 or 3 per egg) work great as do small toys like rings or balls (you should be able to find them in the party goods section of Wal-Mart & the Dollar Store). Have fun & Happy Easter!

Well I was thinking about it and you can probably go to a walmart and look in the party favors isle and get rings and little nick nacks also in the toy isle they have those little sponge like animals that are little balls you put them in water and they expand into stuffed animals and towels and wash cloths etc... they are small enough to fit into eggs and also if you get girl and boy stuff it might be fun to put them in color appropriate eggs and let them trade with there friends afterwards... just to make the fun last a little longer!! BUT THERE SHOULD BE CANDY!! lol I think holidays are those times we splurge and its fun!! Good luck Mandy

Stickers is what comes to my mind.

I am the Primary president at my church, and I can't say that I would have handled the tattoo situation in that way...I probably wouldn't have even noticed or thought about it, but at least your child was being taught to CTR. Anyway, I've seen some other responses suggesting Oriental Trading. That's a really great site to get what you're looking for. I highly recommend it, especially because the stuff is so cheap!