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I love few things more than a basket full of colorful Easter eggs. Easter is important to our family and one of our favorite times of the year, but I often find myself annoyed with the over-commercialization of what I consider a religious holiday. I also get peeved when Easter gets turned into an excuse to let kids (and ourselves) over-indulge in treats filled with sugars, food dyes, and artificial ingredients.
This year, I’m trying to make our celebration of Easter more focused on the actual reason for the holiday. (Hint: It doesn’t have anything to do with a bunny that brings eggs!)
Easter is a liturgical time of celebration, and one of the biggest feast days in the church, so I’m glad to let the kids enjoy some treats. I’m opting, though, to keep some of our favorite traditions with healthy and natural twists.
Let me explain why!
“Natural” Easter Eggs and Easter Baskets… Too Extreme?
I admit I don’t really understand the Easter tradition of a bunny (they don’t lay eggs) delivering plastic candy-filled eggs and baskets. I think giving our kids heaps of junk food at Easter (and other holidays) sets a precedent that associates celebrations with unhealthy foods. To me, there are better ways to develop good food habits for a lifetime.
This may sound extreme to some. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with an occasional indulgence in a food that is less than healthy. But I think most concerned parents would agree that kids these days are getting these indulgences a little too often. From the birthdays of every kid in their class at school to Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Easter, etc., there are more than enough opportunities for kids to get the message that fun and celebration = unhealthy tasty sweet foods.
(Perhaps that is just a pet peeve of mine, though?!)
But let me get off my soapbox… on to Easter eggs!
How to Dye Easter Eggs Without Chemicals
Eggs are one of our favorite foods, so I certainly don’t have any problems with the eggs themselves. (As you may guess, it is the plastic, candy-filled versions I take issue with.)
It turns out that the harmless-looking color tablets that you drop into vinegar water to dye Easter eggs contain harmful chemicals that could have an especially bad effect on some kids. True, we don’t eat the shells, but since eggshells are permeable and some kids are so sensitive to the effects of artificial food dyes, I thought it was worth exploring more natural options.
Option 1: Store-bought Egg Dye
To dye Easter eggs naturally the easy way, use a safe, natural food coloring and mix according to the following ratios:
- 1 tsp store-bought natural food coloring
- 2 TBSP white vinegar
- 2 TBSP water
Option 2: Homemade Egg Dye from Beets (and Other Fruits and Vegetables)
If you don’t have natural food coloring around (we often don’t), you can also use random fruits, veggies, and herbs to accomplish the same thing. We tried this a few years ago and will be doing it again this year.
Below are the foods that can be added to boiling water while cooking eggs to make various colors. You can also juice or boil the ingredients, cool, add vinegar, and use it as a regular egg dye:
- Blue Coloring: Add a cup of purple cabbage or blueberries to the water when boiling the eggs.
- Green Coloring: Add a cup of spinach or a few teaspoons of spirulina to the boiling water. You can also juice greens, mix the juice with vinegar, and use it as a cool dye once the eggs are cooked.
- Red/Pink Coloring: Pomegranate or beet juice is added to the boiling water. You can also put a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in pomegranate or beet juice and use it on pre-cooked eggs as a cool dye.
- Purple Coloring: Add grape juice to boiling water or soak pre-cooked eggs in grape juice/vinegar mix.
- Yellow/Orange Coloring: Add a few teaspoons of turmeric or saffron to the boiling water, or boil these spices in water, cool, and mix with vinegar for a cool dye.
Some notes: These natural variations make pastel-colored eggs which I think are more beautiful than the neon eggs created by the artificial colors. Just a warning, though, you won’t be getting any florescent shades with these methods!
Strategies for Easter Egg Hunts
I’ve never been a huge fan of Easter egg hunts and would forgo them completely, but the kids do really look forward to them. Unfortunately, they usually result in a large bag of candy that somehow disappears when my kids are sleeping (maybe the Easter Bunny stole it!)
In the past, we’ve also hidden hard-boiled eggs for them to find (the dogs found the ones they missed!) or just had a family day outside that involved a lot of other activities. Last year, we did a treasure hunt with clues that led to a better prize (seeds for them to plant in their own little corners of the garden).
While I prefer the alternatives instead of an egg hunt, this year I’m letting the kids participate in the Easter egg hunt at church, eat a couple of pieces of the least offending candy, and then I’ll trash the rest after they go to bed.
Healthy Candy-free Easter Basket Ideas
I don’t have any problem with Easter being a time of joyful celebration and small gifts. As I mentioned before (probably too much!), it’s the plastic, candy-filled parts of this celebration I take issue with. That being said, I love baskets and store everything in them, so our kids get a (reusable) basket each year filled with (non-sugary) goodies.
Here are some ideas we’ve tried over the years that have been a hit!
Grow Your Own Grass
Using wheat, alfalfa, or clover seeds, grow grass in a small dish that will fit in the bottom of your basket. Use this instead of the plastic Easter grass that you find under the couch in September. Kids love the novelty of growing grass indoors, and as a bonus, grass is supposed to be great at cleaning indoor air. You can even plant it outside with the kids after Easter. If you aren’t up for growing your own grass, shred paper in a shredder and use it instead. Recyclable when done!
Instead of a Basket, Give Your Child a Flower Pot
In the pot, put a small pair of gloves, a pack of heirloom seeds, and a small shovel, and let your child grow their own container garden. There are even pre-made totes for this. Herbs are one easy option, and kids can use them in the kitchen! This is guaranteed to provide fun longer than plastic toys and pixie sticks.
Check Out Thrift Stores
We are on a budget, and doing Easter baskets for each kid sure adds up! Check out local thrift stores for some fun gifts for Easter baskets. For instance, one year each of our kids got a movie, a book, and some shoes, and I spent less than $10 total.
Adopt a Family Pet
If you are brave, consider a small pet. This reinforces the “new life” focus of Easter and will be a lot more exciting than candy and toys. Just be humane! Only adopt a pet if you plan to keep it and care for it, as many baby chickens, ducks, and rabbits are abandoned after Easter.
Give Healthy Foods Instead of Junk
If your kids are looking forward to edible treats, substitute some treats with ones that are healthy and fun. Consider beef jerky, fruit, nuts, or homemade energy bars. Really brave? Make some homemade “peeps” with my probiotic marshmallow recipe.
Check out this post for some other Easter basket ideas! Happy Easter!
What are your favorite ways to dye your Easter eggs? When it comes to candy, do you stick with healthy versions of the usual treats or just let the kids enjoy the unhealthy versions for a day? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks below!
My boys will be getting organic fruit leather, organic fruit purees in a pouch, bubbles, a yo-yo, a jump rope, and some plush bunny ears. I grew up with a basket stuffed full of candy every year, but I can’t bring myself to give my children the poison that fills the seasonal aisle at all the stores. The only candy I’m comfortable giving them is a box of Trader Joe’s jelly beans. And, carrying on the tradition from my own childhood, each basket will have a brand-new toothbrush in it. I’ll be using recycled paper “grass” that I’ve been saving from year to year in a Ziploc bag. The main focus of the day, though, will be on the amazing miracles that we’re celebrating: Jesus rising and the planet giving us another spring.
I am so glad I am not the only one who trashes my kids’ holiday candy!! I know it is the right thing to do, but somehow I always feel mean. And the thing is my kids don’t even care – they just accept it.
I bring candy to work instead of trashing. It’s a big company.
I will actually be using your gummy vitamin recipe for my kids this Easter. I will be putting them in a bunny candy mold to make it special. They will also each get an 18g bunny shaped, organic, fair trade, soy free, chocolate wrapped in foil. 🙂 We have many reasons to celebrate this time of year, we mark the equinox especially. We save the egg hunt for Easter Monday because that is closer to when others usually do it and it means we have a week or more to do special crafting, recipes, games, and dinners. Also, as a “holiday”, my husband is home and he can share in the fun. We do naturally dyed hard boiled eggs that we eat for breakfast while our oatmeal bakes. We also have some wooden and needle felted eggs that they find. Some open with a small treat or toy inside like a needle felted rabbit or small playsilk; even the occasional dollar coin!
My children are 2.5 and 5 right now. Soon we will incorporate a scavenger hunt into the day. We did that for my stepdaughter to draw attention away from the fact that she was not getting as much candy or plastic as she would have at home. It was great fun. We will definitely use gardening gifts a lot. It is the time of year after all! 🙂
I disagree with your advice to give animals for Easter. Too many of them end up in shelters, turned loose or neglected. I’m sure you do not but I’ve seen bunnies and chicks disgarded because they grew up.
I second this comment – let’s not encourage people into buying animals they will later discard (even if they originally have good intentions). Why not encourage people to donate or volunteer for an animal shelter/rescue instead? many will be over burdened this time of year dealing with pregnant cats (“new life”) and would likely really appreciate the extra money and help. And you’d be teaching your kids to treat vulnerable animals will love and respect.
I was thinking of harvesting some moss for the bottom of my son’s (4.5 yrs) Easter basket, but instead I used a soft lime-green blanket that I had from his baby days. He was surely expecting candy, so I got a natural chocolate bunny, organic chocolate eggs, organic jelly beans and organic fruit juice lollipops https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O8R9SS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001O8R9SS&linkCode=as2&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=WV7NOL5JX7PTUQHV
His father has turned him on to cadbury eggs, so he got two of those: one for him and one to share with Dad. Besides the candy, which will last him a long time (which is nice, because it means I he won’t be asking for other treats), he got some toys. A jump rope, a bug jar necklace, two hotwheels cars, a Rail Twirler, a styrofoam plane from Playmobil, a flower seed packet, and an assortment of crystals. It’s not all that natural, but it’s things that I know my son loves and will use the heck out of.
As far as egg hunts, we divide our dyed edible eggs and hide them around the house. Then we have tons of fun trying to find each other’s hidden eggs, giving clues and trying to remember where we hid them. We usually repeat this a few times!
I wrote up a list of ideas for Easter Basket gifts that are natural/handmade/useful. If anyone is interested I’ll copy it here.
please send your list of Easter basket ideas.
These are some great ideas. We have forgone Easter (or Ishtar) Sunday for celebrating Passover and Christ’s resurrection on First Fruits along with The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which the beginning of the Book outlines for us. It is a wonderful picture to show the kids what Yeshua HaMaschiach (Jesus the Messiah) has done for us. Anyway, we did Easter for many years and it was always difficult to stick to our dietary principles especially at church! Plus I never understood why EVERYONE including those outside the church celebrated it. Just my own convictions speaking here. I realize it is a joyous time for many families, a part of “church” tradition, and not everyone is thinking pagan fertility rite when they celebrate. I do appreciate the alternative food ideas. Thanks!
Great post with nice alternatives! I too have issues with a bunny for Easter, which I still don’t get, and all the sweet treat action that takes place during a holy time. This is our first Easter since being paleo and my mom was unsure what to get us since we don’t eat/allow sweets, etc. She ended up getting our daughter some books & clothes (which are always needed) and an edible arrangement for the whole family.
Another alternative for the lasagna is to use sliced eggplant instead of the noodles; it is delish!
Thought of you at Easter dinner. We hosted this year and had no-noodle lasagna (amazing!), spinach salad, roasted asparagus and chocolate covered strawberries. Everyone raved about the food and no one missed the rolls and candy, but what I did notice was missing was the horrible “just ate lead” feeling I usually have after a holiday dinner. My daughter also had her first solid food that day so everyone could be there for the fun. Everyone was surprised that I was giving her avocado and not cereal or fruit, but she loved it! Next up is egg yolk- we just happen to have a couple million hard boiled multicolored eggs laying around 🙂 Seriously, if you have not tried no-noodle lasagna, it is a MUST!
That dinner sounds amazing! I would love to try the no-noodle
lasagna. I’ve actually been meaning to experiment with that one for
the sake of my Italian husband, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
If you’d like to share the recipe, I’d love to try it (and also to
post to share with others if you don’t mind!)
It’s very easy! For a 9 x 13 pan: Mix 2 cups shredded zucchini or summer squash or riced cauliflower with 2 eggs and 2 cups shredded cheese. Then just use your favorite lasagna recipe, adding at least one egg to the ricotta mixture (I used 2) and in place of the noodles smoosh in a layer of the veggie/egg/cheese mixture. Cover loosely with foil. Bake at 325 until just set (not wobbly when you shake the pan). It takes about an hour or so. Because it takes so long, I’d recommend making your top layer sauce and adding shredded cheese towards the end of cooking, otherwise it will be very dark. It holds up beautifully, no slippery noodles to collapse and tastes amazing!
stickers, coins and other little things work great in an easter egg hunt.
When I was a child, my Mom came up with the coolest Easter Egg hunts. She would decide on a hard place to hide our baskets (like inside the van, on our neighbor’s porch, inside the washer and dryer, or in the garage’s attic) and then write a rhyming riddle on a piece of paper with clues to their location. She then cut the riddle up and put each piece in an egg. It was so fun putting the puzzle together and figuring out the clues! We also had a few metallic-colored plastic Easter eggs that she put coins in. One year she even put our baskets under the covers of our beds! The last year that we had the egg hunt, she wrote on both sides of the paper to make it even harder. This is obviously one of my favorite childhood memories. 🙂
My kids are only 2.5 years and 8 months old, so I am only hiding a 12 or so eggs for the toddler this year. A couple will have chocolate coconut clusters and the rest will have semi-sweet chocolate chips, though we did fruit loops last year before going grain-free. Their Easter baskets have a book and a toy.
I love this idea. My MIL hides all the kids (whole family including me (the DIL) real baskets.
My children get one gift, one choc cross, and some dyed eggs in their baskets. I’ve picked up and added silk flowers weaved into (my daughter) and mini sport things (glued on) (my son).