Easter is coming and I’m so excited as this year E and V will enjoy it so much more than they did just the year before. They love searching for items and I can’t wait for them to experience decorating and finding Easter eggs (this is how we “found” eggs before). This year will look a little different when it comes to what they receive. We’ve been reading a lot about Victorian time period. The remainder of simplicity and how materialistic we’ve become has really had an impact on our household. Seeing what a Victorian would’ve received during the holidays compared to what my children receive now has me being more mindful of the long-term impact. So you’ll see the difference between last year’s Easter and the year prior.

In the past I haven’t made them anything for their baskets while I used to makes items for T regularly. I want to make them each a few items, like a baby or bunny and a chick. But my craftiness is a little rusty and I worry they won’t turn out as planned. Rest assured that if I actually succeed, fingers crossed, I’ll share.

My book-loving tots will receive this book from one of my favourite shops, Montessori in Color. I’d love to get them the Montessori shirt from there as well, but the girls prefer to wear clothing that their aunt and grand make. This book is another one that will find its way into their basket. (Reminder that we don’t buy duplicates unless stated. So E will receive one and V the other.)

E and V have shown a great interest in birds lately, so a memory game that allows them to match and name some of their favourites.

A bird puzzle that will allow us to go over the parts of the bird.

Both E and V have been assisting in helping me repot plants and showing interest in learning parts of the plants, so a tree puzzle. When we get fruits and vegetables they also enjoy going over terminology too, such as the seeds, flesh, etc. I’m considering this puzzle as well, but being that they aren’t normally too into puzzles, we’ll start with these two and see how they enjoy them.

E and V love the Buddha boards I made them some time ago, but I thought they’d enjoy something a little more traditional, especially as we will likely be taking to the RV for some time. So good old-fashioned chalkboards, one for each.

They have begun to realize there are changes that animals go through, like from an egg to chick. While they are starting to notice it, it’s not something they fully grasp yet (we plan on raising chickens with their great-grand, so that will help). But I want to start fostering through pairing it with their love of matching.

While the above is what I plan on gifting them, there are a few options that may make for great gifts and I will be adding them to our shelves.

Scavenger makes sense, as I mentioned, they love searching for items and will help encourage our outdoor adventures.

E and V love using tools and while we have two materials that allow them to practice their skills, one fails to be challenging enough and the other is too challenging at times. This will be the perfect level of challenge and it’s matching, they have such a love of matching.

Dolls. We can’t go wrong with my baby-loving tots. There were two types I am thinking of adding to their collection.

This set to help them develop dressing skills, perhaps there will be less naked dolls around the house, and another opportunity for us to go over emotions and empathy for others.

We have dressing frames, but they are frequently ignored. Not because there’s a lack of interest to practice their skills, but because they prefer more practical. For instance, they both love zipping each other up when they wear dresses that zip in the back. I thought by having dolls that isolate the same skills that the dressing frames do, but they are dressing and undressing dolls, it may be more interesting to them. I’m still wondering if I’ll be able to make something similar.

E and V love games and they seem ready for another.

We don’t have many bath toys, so when I came across these they seemed perfect! Admittedly I will try to use rubbing alcohol to see if I can remove the faces.

We have been reading the Little House series and have had more than a few parts we needed to skip (particularly the third book). I was reminded of the American Girl books and we will be getting a few series to add to our library, starting with this set.

I would like to add this to our shelves as the girls have shown interest in counting and they enjoy pegging materials (or this one). I’ll see if hubby can create something similar first.

Do you have any plans for Easter this year? Does it feel a bit more “normally” than the last two years?

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