Best Easter Basket Ideas Without Candy

If your preschooler is learning the alphabet or starting to read, create an Alphabet Easter Basket inspired by Confetti Sunshine. Encourage your little one's progress by including a favorite storybook, an alphabet learning book, block letters, letter cookie cutters and Play-Doh, and other age-appropriate writing utensils. And add bubbles -- just because they're so much fun!

Kiddos can play with absolutely everything in this Easter basket from Modern Parents Messy Kids -- including the bucket itself. This sand pail is loaded with green yarn pom-poms instead of plastic grass and topped with activity goodies that include sidewalk-chalk eggs, a DIY bunny puppet, a printable memory game, an orange Silly Putty "carrot," and plastic eggs filled with letter stickers.

Welcome warm weather with a bucket your little one can play with all summer long. Take a cue from My Mommy Style and make your Easter basket extra-fun by filling it with outdoor toys like a kite, a water squirter, a jump rope, and a Frisbee. Don't forget to add bubbles, outdoor playclothes, and sunglasses. You can even tuck in water balloons and bouncy balls.

Foster your budding Picasso's talent with a basket overflowing with art supplies, like this one from Cool Progeny. Spark imagination and unleash creativity with a variety of materials like construction paper, crayons and washable markers, modeling clay, nontoxic paint, and Play-Doh.

Does your toddler love cars, trucks, and anything with wheels? Create a transportation-themed Easter basket like this one from My Life of Travels and Adventures. Fill a basket to the brim with search-and-find books, puzzles, and toy fire trucks and construction vehicles. Doing an Easter egg hunt? Fill large plastic eggs with matchbox cars. Or add your own touches by adding DVDs of Disney's Cars and Planes.

Let springtime be your inspiration, as it is in this earth-friendly Easter basket idea shown on Design Mom. Pack a little wooden crate with everything your youngster will need to plant his own mini garden: seed packets, veggie and fruit plant starters, kid-size gardening tools, garden-themed children's books, and even a sweet homemade stuffed bunny.

If your green thumb is ready to get to work, design an Easter basket like the one put together by The Elephant of Surprise. Get your mini-me to join you on gardening duty with kid-size garden tools and gloves, a magnifying glass, a watering can, packets of seeds or a plant grow kit, and themed board books. Don't forget to add some garden-grown edibles like apples and tomatoes, or plastic eggs filled with juicy berries.

What's more precious than snuggling up with your little one over a good book, whether for fun or for bedtime? Tuck a variety of books, finger puppets or felt board sets, and other storytelling accessories into a basket. Then wrap everything thing in a tutu, like the one created by Mother's Niche, to make storytime special all year long.

Beatrix Potter's classic stories are the inspiration for this aww-inducing Easter basket from Live Like You Are Rich. Collect an assortment of pastel-colored books with rabbit or duck, tuck in a couple of cuddly stuffed friends, and finish arranging the basket with a few white eggs adorned with a simple bunny stamp.

Remind your child of the holiday's religious meaning with an Easter basket that focuses on Jesus, like this one from Happy Home Fairy. Fill a basket to the brim with religious activity books, Easter books and crafts, and inspirational stickers. Add finishing touches with a Veggie Tales DVD and a kids' worship CD.

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