What to Put in Plastic Easter Egg for 1 Year Old

Updated on March 30, 2009
J.S. asks from Covina, CA
55 answers

My granny loves to do an egg hunt for Easter. She uses the plastic eggs and even though she's in the hospital right now (we're hoping she is out in time) we'd still like to carry on her tradition. This would be our son's first Easter as well. We are going to put "piggy food" which is coins in to a few of them. Don't worry he doesn't put them in his mouth, he's very well "trained" as to where piggy food goes and he'll walk right over and put it in his bank. We don't want candy and most of the toys we see are for 3+. Any ideas?

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So What Happened?

OK great! A lot of you gave me some great ideas. I think I will go with his favorite snack items and maybe a special toy if i can find one that is for under 3 that will fit in her eggs. She has the smaller variety already and I just don't want to make more clutter! I've been spending the last 3 weeks UNcluttering her house! The things that don't fit in these eggs, but that are great ideas I will use for maybe a summer time treasure hunt when he is a bit older. Thank you again! :)

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N.H.

answers from San Luis Obispo on

Hi! I'm late in responding and don't have time to read all the posts so please forgive me if I repeat something. One of my favorite things is to buy fun children's socks (Batman or Spiderman for boys; florals for girls) and put them in eggs (one sock per egg). It's fun when the kids actually find a pair! Also, the mini bubbles from the dollar store fit nicely in the larger eggs. (Bubbles make great bathtime fun!) Happy Easter!

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D.W.

answers from Los Angeles on

stickers! :) Seems like ALL toys say 3 plus. If you trust him with coins you can probably trust him supervised with some of those toys too. Maybe you can find some molded plastic animals that are all one piece and not too big for the eggs? We like the Schleich brand here and some of the baby ones might fit. Have fun!

OH and DO NOT put in the small bouncy balls- HUGE choking hazard that is impossible to dislodge. Larger ones that don't fit in his mouth should be fine.

1 mom found this helpful

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

My mom made rice crispie treats inside the eggs. Lined them with a bit of plastic wrap first and crammed it in. She even used the glutten free brand we buy!
We all shared them so it wasn't just the boys who ate them and we spaced them out over several days. The other favorite thing my mom hides is those individual boxes of cereal or goldfish and things.

1 mom found this helpful

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C.W.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter at that age didnt care if there was anything inside. She just enjoyed toddling around to find them. However, stickers are always good. You can also put whatever snacks he has (cheerios, puffs....) I think we put teddy grahams and that was a big hit. I hope granny is out in time. These events are more for the adults than the kids at this age. Have fun and happy hunting.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

We have put mini marshmallows, little dinosaurs or zoo animals, butter cookies and money. Just a couple of hints.

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T.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

How great that you are continuing your granny's tradition. Hope she is able to join you!

Here are some thoughts for "egg surprises":

stickers
tattoos
Cheerios (for a sweet treat, Fruity Cheerios)
Cotton balls
Sand
Raisins (for a sweet treat, yogurt or chocolate raisins)
confetti

Kids this age are very tactile and he'll really have no clue about what's going on - he'll just have fun opening the eggs and discovered the different textures and/or tastes. Of course he could still choke on some of these items, but since you'll be watching him closely anyway because of the coins, I'm sure he'll be fine.

Good luck and have fun!

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K.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

we put goldfish and little dinosaurs and cars - get the big eggs for the cars and dinos

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C.O.

answers from San Diego on

If you can't figure out what to put, put nothing! He is 1 year old...mommy and daddy encouraging him to go find bright stuff in the yard is going to be plenty of excitement all on its own :) Last year was DD's first Easter, we put some bath toys in her Easter basket and the learning singing doggy (none of which had anything to do with Easter, but she sure didn't care in the least)

Hope that helps you ease your mind. Just go with it!

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K.R.

answers from San Diego on

I think I'm going to leave them empty for my 19 mo old and just let enjoy the hunt and collecting eggs in her basket. But maybe goldfish crackers or cheerios would be good inside (just one or two in each egg).

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K.M.

answers from Reno on

J. S.

One year I made an Easter basket our of plastic Easter eggs and toys. I put hair clips(for girls), and toys (for both boys and girls). She loved it as my daughter said not to give her lots of candy. So I didn't, I put hair clips in each egg, socks, rings, bracelets, and the like. For boys I would recommend toys that are for the age of the child, like matchbox cars (the minis), or just make a basket with toys the child likes. This would minimize the candy content, you can put small sugar free candies to keep the holiday theme. However keeping the candy to about a half a handful is more than enough. As I said, fill the eggs with things you know the child will like to play with. Candy is not important, as long as the plastic egg's have something the child likes, he/she will not care about the candy. You might try replacing candy with fresh veggies, or fruit, this would be fun too, at least you know your child is not eating the wrong foods.

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L.Y.

answers from Los Angeles on

Teddy grahams....cherrios...cheezits fit too :0) happy egg hiding

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H.O.

answers from Las Vegas on

YOGURT MELTS!!!!!!!!! They are sweet easy to eat adn only 4grams of sugar in a 1/4 cup. Also try gluing some of them shut and putting things in them to make noise.

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H.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Last year for my son we put little tykes toys in them (cars and such). You could do pretzels, marshmallows, fishie crackers. Another idea is bath toys, bubbles, socks, or at 1 just put a couple of beans or rice in it to make a shaker.

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E.T.

answers from San Diego on

You can do goldfish, teddy grahams or little crackers like that.

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B.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Target has Easter colored playdough in little eggs this year. Of course a one yoer old will need supervision with that. I also found some eggs there that say "healthy treats", I am guessing there are fruit chews of some kind inside. I don't want to give my two year old candy this year either, so I have the same problem. There are some rather large eggs with "keychain" figures in them, like Lilo and Stitch, "Cars" figures. Don't know if they are too small for her until I see them, if they are they will just disappear shortly after she opens them. A little pot of flowers he can water and a child sized watering can and rake and shovel. Be careful, the cutest one I saw (metal) was rather sharp, but there was a plastic one too. Check it out, there were lots of cute little toys. We always emphazize toys and get a limited amount of candy because all my children have dietary restrictions. To be truthful, though, a lot of the toys are never used. One year I put a video in each basket, one year I put books, and this year I am putting some kind of art set in each one. They are a little big for the baskets, but that's OK. Good luck, if you find anythng good, let us know!

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T.M.

answers from San Diego on

I put stickers, gerber fruit snacks, dollar bills and coins. Also has our family tradition we hide a gift basket to find too. I put bubbles, playdoh the no mess coloring books and some balls. Just a bunch of cute little fun things. I also found some cute little things at dollar store last year... A carrot bat with a lettuce ball!!!! Good luck!!
Ps u could even use the gerber melt aways.

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T.R.

answers from San Diego on

When my son was that little I actually put those Gerber puffs and cheerios in the eggs for him. He thought it was funny!

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D.E.

answers from San Diego on

Those Easter-themed rubber duckies are great for small children (Oriental Trading Company sells them). Stickers are great too. My son just liked the eggs themselves at that age, but he also liked to shake them with something inside. Plastic animals are great, too. They sell quality ones at Target and Michaels.

You can always get the larger plastic eggs so that slightly bigger, more age-appropriate toys will fit.

:-) D.

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S.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

Goldfish (or any other small cracker he likes). I did this for my little one for a long time. Until she got smart and knew it should be candy! Have fun...

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C.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

You could also make homemade play dough. There's a recipe on weelicious.com that's super easy!

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L.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Maybe little packs of fruit snacks will fit in there or mini granola bars. Smartplus sells big boxes of the fruit snacks and you can get the Welche's or other brand that is all natural.

Hope this helps.

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J.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Last year, I put Fischer Price Little Easter people in the plastic eggs for my son. I think I bought them at Target. I also bought a soft/plush truck for the eggs, which can be reusable the next year.

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R.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi J.,

I don't celebrate Easter, but I think I've seen jumbo-sized plastic eggs in stores. If you get some of those, you can put in bigger things that are less of a choking hazard. One thought I had was to get a large wood board puzzle (the chunky kind with knobs on the pieces), or the plastic puzzle ball that has multiple shaped pieces and place one piece in each egg. After your son collects all the eggs, he can also have fun placing the pieces in the puzzle. Or, you can have the board out and ready, he can place the pieces as he finds each egg. You'll both know that all of the eggs have been found when all of the puzzle pieces have been placed!

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F.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Fruit loops, goldfish crackers, etc.

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V.C.

answers from San Diego on

Stickers, buy them in sheets & cut them up & roll into the eggs, also buy a box of "counting bears"--one per egg or little dinosausars....They are for "older" kids, but as anyone when more than 1 kid knows, the younger ones want to play with these toys & can be taught (& watched like a hawk) to play with these little toys. They also make bigger plastic eggs that you might be able to get "Hot Wheels" into.

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D.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hey try gummie bears, soft candie too! you can also put confettei so that when he opens it comes out on the floor or you can show him to pop it open on someone too! good luck and enjoy this years.

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C.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

We put nothing in our plastic eggs. My oldest is 8 and we never have. the kids like the hunt. I put a little candy in their baskets. Usually a chocolate bunny, and they split a bag of jelly beans. I love jelly beans, so they don't usually end up w/ much.

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J.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

how about baby carrots, apple slices or other fruits & veggies :) you can also try chex snack mix or trail mix. Dried banana slices or raisons. Have a great Easter!!

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M.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

Try stickers (big ones he can manage well) and Cheerios!

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I.Y.

answers from Los Angeles on

At that age my kids had not been introduced to candy yet so we put colored goldfish, cars, yogurt colored cranberries - which is worse than candy according to our dentist :( and pretzels. They loved it. As another mom said, they were so excited to just find the eggs!! good luck.

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G.E.

answers from Los Angeles on

Cheerios or puffs is what we did when my DD was that age.
Good luck

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T.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Like the others, I say Cheerios Goldfish and Puffs. I also add checking the Gerber snack aisle at the store. They have fruit snacks for babies and a lot of new "little" snacks and treats for this age. You definitely do not want to put any toys in the eggs since most toys that would fit in a standard plastic egg would be considered a choking hazard. In the Easter aisles of Target the have the larger eggs and also mini soft plastic Tonka trucks.

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R.T.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi J., we put stickers, hot wheel cars, trail mix wrapped in little plastic pouches and put into the eggs, same thing but with raisins (we call it bunny poop), necklaces, plastic bracelets (they look like big rubberbands). Walk down the party favor aisle of your favorite store for inspiration.

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J.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

when my daughter was just a year old we put more eggs inside the eggs. Got all diferent sizes and would seat 3-4 eggs within the one large egg. She loved it. The next year (when she was 2) we put stickers inside as well (but really she likes the puzzle of the eggs within eggs best so we do that every year.

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L.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

When my kids were 1 I put puffs, cheerios and colored goldfish in the eggs. I also gave them sugar free lollipops, but you may not want that. Have fun!

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

We put snacks in ours. We don't give the kids sugar or any sugar substitutes. We've used goldfish crackers, etc. Leaving some of them empty is a great idea, since at 1 year old, they aren't probably going to want to open all of them. Filling a few will give him the idea.

As far as granny goes...you may want to "hide" in plain site plastic eggs for her, so when she wakes, they are already there. Maybe ask one of the nurses to help you pull it off while she is sleeping? Make sure you put healthy snakc in them as well!

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi J., I think it's great that you want to carry on Granny's traditions, I know my gradmother's Holiday traditions meant a lot to me as well, here's a couple ideas, if you don't want candy, animal cookies, cherrios, the fun for him a one will be hunting for the eggs, more so than what is in the eggs. My children are grown also bi-racial, but I do the egg hunt with my daycare children. J. L.

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K.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

When my oldest was that age we put Cherrios, Goldfish, Puffs - anything snacky like that!

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S.Z.

answers from Reno on

Stickers could be good. Snacks that you normally give him - Cheerios, fish crackers, that sort of thing - are fun to put in eggs. For a sweet treat, Easter shaped marshmallows have less sugar than candy, but still feel like a big indulgence.

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A.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

I was at Target and found plastic eggs filled with non-toxic play-dough and am putting some of those in my 18-mo-old's first easter basket this year. They say for 2 yrs and up but since the play-dough is non-toxic and you will be supervising...they come in small packs of 4 eggs and also in larger packs, or you could just buy some non-toxic play-dough in a larger can and put it into the eggs that you already have.

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T.

answers from Las Vegas on

J.,

I use goldfish crackers, gerber fruit snacks, the little cereal puffs, that type of thing.

Now that my kids are older, I use small toys too but I did not do that when they were younger because of the choking hazard.

They do get a bit of candy but not much - maybe a few pieces each.

T.

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P.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

put thinks like the fruit snacks, little gold fish crackers, animal crackers. And etc. If you want him to have a toy for his age. Then just get him something & put it in his basket for after the hunt or. make a biger game of the hunt & make a game of hunting a bigger prize. If you want it to look like an egg wrap it so it will look like 1.

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D.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

stickers are great fun for little ones under two!

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M.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

You could always do more healthy foods like raisins, or goldfish.

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K.Y.

answers from Los Angeles on

We don't do an egg hunt, but here are a few ideas...my son loves those organic "crunchin' block" cookies by Earth's Best. He also loves the organic cinnamon bunnies by Annie's. There's also the freeze-dried fruit from Trader Joes that's the perfect size for eggs. Recently I got him a "Sesame Street Pal" from Target...it's a little larger than a golf ball and they have the various characters. I got him Elmo for a long car trip and it's just the right size for teething on the eyes and feet. Good luck and have fun!

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M.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Cheerios and goldfish?

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T.J.

answers from Honolulu on

why not put some raisins and other healthy snacks in the plastic eggs.

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M.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

we don't do candy at our house either -- when my daughter was 1, honestly, she just wanted to play with the eggs, she didn't even think of opening them. But when she was 2 and 3 we put in little animal crackers... she enjoyed opening them to see which animal she'd get and they are reasonably healthy (found some good ones at Trader Joes)

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L.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

stickers, cheerios, animal crackers

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A.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi J.,
When mine were that little, we put the little snacks they liked to eat. Goldfish, teddy grahms, and especially those Gerber puffs. They were just excited about finidng the eggs, but they were happy their fave treats were inside.

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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

how about stickers or fake tatoos? they would fold up nicely in a little plastic egg...

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D.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

How about Gerber graduates snack items
Just a thought!

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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Since your child is able to keep coins out of his mouth, magnetic letters might be an appropriate choice. If he wants to play with them, instead of "mouthing" them, they can be used on the refrigerator, or another metal surface (cookie tray, etc.). Try showing him a few, and see what he does. If he seems interested, put them away until Easter, and let him find them in the plastic eggs. Playing with magnetic letters is fun, since they "stick"! Children love to take them off, and put them back, over and over! And, exposing them to the shape of the letters can be a beginning to learning the names of the letters, so helpful in developing early literacy skills. Hope this helps!

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S.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

just go to the store and look - small finger puppets, mini stuffed animals, mini books, hot wheel size cars, etc. look in the party section where you'll find little stuff for pinatas, etc. You're sure to find lots of fun things. My dad always, and still to this day, puts a gold dollar in one, so the hunt is on to find the GOLDEN egg!

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M.C.

answers from Honolulu on

Yup, it is hard. Candy, Candy everywhere... I put inside stickers, those little rubber stretchy animals, Jewelry (oops, he is a boy), bouncy balls, little plastic animals (if you can fit them in the eggs), and those little rubber bracelets - the kind that Lance Armstrong made popular. Since he is so small, I wouldn't worry too much about variety. He is not expecting much, and anything inside is really a surprise! You could even get some of those little glitter cutout sprinkle pieces in Easter shapes and put them inside. (more to clean up!) When he gets older, you will have to get more creative if you want to avoid the candy thing. I'm putting puzzle pieces into my kids eggs (they are 7 and 4) and hopefully they will find them all!

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