Easter basket

What It Means

An Easter basket is a basket of treats and small gifts that children find or are given on Easter morning, often with chocolate, candy and eggs. It grew out of a German custom in which children built nests for the Easter hare to lay its colored eggs in, and over time the nests became baskets. For a child under 3, what goes in the basket matters as much as the theme, because CPSC treats small parts, small balls, marbles and balloons as choking hazards for young children.

How People Say It

• "The Easter bunny left your basket by the stairs."
• "Keep the jelly beans out of the baby's basket."
• "Let's do one big basket for the three of them this year."

The Breakdown

How to put one together (Buhata's suggestion)

1. Set a budgetBudgetA plan for a set period, usually a month, that lists the money you expect to receive and how you'll spend or save it. See more per child before shopping, and count what's already in the gift closet.
2. Pick a small theme, such as outdoor play, books or art supplies, so the basket isn't only candy.
3. Check every item against the child's age. For under-3s, leave out anything with small parts, small balls, marbles and balloons, as CPSC advises.
4. If there are younger siblings, keep the older child's small toys in a separate, closed basket.
5. Decide where the baskets will be found and fill them the night before.

Short version to try today. Write each child's name, age and budget on one list, with two non-candy ideas each.

Example budget (example amounts)

Where It Comes From

Britannica traces the earliest record of the Easter hare, or Osterhase, to southwest Germany in 1678, in the writing of the medicine professor Georg Franck von Franckenau. The Library of Congress's folklife center notes that German children made nests for the hare to lay its eggs in, and the nests eventually became baskets. Immigrants from Germany who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s are credited with bringing the egg-laying hare to the United States.

Good to Know

CPSC's small parts rule (16 CFR Part 1501) bans toys and other articles intended for children under 3 that are or contain small parts, or that break into them. A small part is anything that fits completely into a test cylinder 2.25 inches long and 1.25 inches wide, about the size of a young child's expanded throat. Toys with small parts meant for children 3 to 6 must carry a warning not to buy them for children under 3. CPSC names balloons, small balls and marbles among the known hazards. If a child is choking, call 911.

Related Terms and Categories

• Holiday budget

  A spending plan for the holiday season that sets how much you'll spend on gifts, food, travel and decorations before the shopping starts.

• Gift budget

  A spending plan that sets how much you'll spend on gifts, person by person or occasion by occasion, for a season or a whole year.

• Choking vs gagging

  Gagging is a noisy, normal reflex that keeps food out of a baby's airway; choking is a blocked airway, often silent, that needs 911 and first aid.

• Goody bags

  Small bags of treats or toys a party host hands each child to take home, also called party favors or loot bags.

Holidays and celebrations