Build a Better Easter Basket With GIANT Food Stores + Giveaway!

This post is in partnership with GIANT Food Stores. The opinions in this post are 100% mine.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Spring is FINALLY here and Easter is just around the corner, April 16. I feel like we’re still getting through the Valentine’s Day candy and boom, Easter candy. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a Cadbury egg, but as the weather warms up, I’m thinking more about STOPPING the junk food train for both me and my kids.

I’ve partnered with GIANT Food Stores to share some tips and ideas on how to build a better Easter basket this year. And I have to tell you, I had SO much fun doing this and was so excited about the items I found to tuck inside my basket. So much so that the Easter Bunny might just be bringing me a basket this year, too!

Finding Easter Goodies in GIANT Food Stores

You’ll find all the traditional Easter candies at GIANT. Cadbury Creme Eggs and PEEPS are sort of a must for us. But that’s where we I stopped in that aisle. Let me show you the best places in the store to look for some creative goodies your kids will love! 

If you don’t already have an Easter basket, you can find these near all that traditional Easter candy I mentioned above. The thing I like about some of these is that even when Easter is over, I think they could serve as a bin for toys. Double duty!

I started my Easter basket shopping in the natural foods aisles. There are some really tasty and unique goodies in this section! My kids LOVE these Vermont meat sticks.

You’ll also find candy here, but what I like is that instead of an entire bag of chocolate, you can grab one bar or one stick. It’s a treat without going overboard.

A ‘filler’ item is a good idea to build the basket around. My kids love the dried green beans so I used that, but trail mix is another great choice. We love the Nature’s Promise products at Giant. There’s tons of variety and it’s just food I feel better about giving my kids.

Grab a couple of bars to fill in the gaps. My kids like fruit bars, so I got a box of the Nature’s Promise fruit twists. Granola bars are a great option, too.

If you’ve got more than one basket to fill, a box of goodies might be more economical. You can open it and throw a couple in each basket. The Annie’s Really Peelys are yummy!

Finally, consider some non-food items. My daughter is at the age where she loves bath and body products. Etos brand is my go-to at GIANT, and you can find some really neat products in the natural products aisle, too. Toothbrushes, hair bowls, even fun Band-Aids are all unique ideas.

I threw in some sidewalk chalk because who doesn’t like that in the summertime? Check the seasonal items for a couple of toys to include.

And if the kids love their stuffed animals, you can likely find that at GIANT too! How cute are these bunnies?

Build a Better Easter Basket

Now it’s time to put it all together. This is the fun part, like an craft project for Mom!

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to put together an Easter basket. I literally dumped all my goodies out onto the kitchen table, stuck the larger items in first, and tucked the little things in around it. Done!

I put this basket together specifically for this blog post, but the kids were HOVERING the entire time. “Can we eat the basket yet?” They were thrilled with everything inside and I just felt so much better about handing it over!

This year, you can totally build a better Easter basket! It’s honestly so much fun to shop for these goodies and the kids reacted WAY more excitedly than they do when they see the usual chocolate bunny. A win all the way around!

(Also, you need these Justin’s Peanut Butter Cups. That’s kind of an aside but kind of me doing you a favor if you’ve never tried them. You’re welcome.)

Get some ideas for your Easter celebrations this year by following GIANT Food Stores’ Facebook and Twitter pages!

The Giveaway

The generous folks at GIANT Food Stores are offering my readers a chance to win a $25 GIANT gift card so you can get creative this year with your kids’ Easter baskets, too! This giveaway is open to US residents (please make sure you are in proximity to a GIANT so you can use the prize!) ages 18+ and will end at 11:59pm ET on March 30, 2017.