Easter Discovery Bucket

I have been calling these seasonal boxes that I’ve been doing for the Bit lately “sensory boxes,” and I guess they are, because you certainly engage your sense to explore them, but this Easter-themed bucket strikes me more as a discovery bucket because you’re exploring the things that are inside the eggs.

This is a really easy, fun project that you can probably do mostly with found items in your house if you already have plastic Easter eggs and some sort of spring-themed bucket or basket to put them in. I didn’t have any such things, so I bought the eggs (which I think were a few bucks), the little chicks (four for $1) and the egg plate ($6)  at Big Lots and got Easter grass for $1 a bag at my grocery store. The bucket we already had from some previous Easter (thanks, mom!).

What You’ll Need

• Easter basket, bucket or some other vessel for containing the eggs
• Easter grass or shredded paper (optional)
• Plastic eggs (the large size is better here; they fit more stuff!)
• Little chicks (optional) and other fun stuff to put in the eggs
• Egg plate (optional) and any other cute Easter/spring themed stuff you have laying around

What You’ll Do

This is not a thing that needs step-by-step instructions. Gather some fun stuff to put in your eggs. I used:

• pom-poms of different textures (left over from the Valentine’s box)
• foam letter cutouts that spell the Bit’s name
• a jingle bell
• some pastel-colored beads
• a cool rock or two
• little chicks (clearly the stress relief chicken does not actually fit in an egg, but she watches over the proceedings)

So I filled eight eggs with the little chicks and six with other things. You could use entirely found objects, I just thought the chicks were irresistible. And I put them in eight eggs even though I had more because there are eight holes in the plate. So I’m thinking it’s possible she’ll sort those eggs onto the plate, but really she just puts whatever eggs she wants over there.

To make the bucket, I put in a layer of grass, then a layer of eggs and repeated that twice. Then I put a little Easter plushie we’ve had since before the Bit was born and her little wooden rabbit that was part of a collection from her auntie on top. And the chicken sits in the middle of the plate.

All of this is arrayed on the Bit’s table in her playroom. I just added the “discovery” element over the past couple of days and she hasn’t played with it like that yet (before she just had the chicks and the plate) but I think she’ll enjoy having new things to find. You could also set this up like an egg hunt in one or two rooms of the house, where your kids could hunt for and collect the eggs and then find the treasures inside. We will probably do that at some point, too, since she enjoyed her wocket hide and seek.

Do you have creative things to put in Easter eggs or baskets? I’d love to hear about them! If you’d like more ideas, check out this awesome post from Modern Parents Messy Kids, which I actually found after I did mine. It’s all about how to do an Easter basket that’s all creative play activities and no candy. I may well add the memory game to mine (and I was thinking about doing some pastel playdough, too. We’ll see if I get around to it before the holiday!).

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This post is linked to Busy Monday at A Pinch of Joy, the DIY Craft of the Month linkup at From Mrs. to Mama, Ta-Da Tuesday at Mommy by Day Crafter by Night, Tip Junkie’s Tip Me Tuesday, Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog and the Kids Get Crafty link party. Visit them for tons of great crafty ideas.