This is basically a Part 2 to my Not Junky Easter Baskets post. Go here if you didn’t already read Part 1. This post focuses more on thrifting than buying new stuff for baskets. This post shows what I would be putting in Easter baskets if all my kiddos still lived at home.

It’s not too late to get some non-junky items on the cheap for Easter basket gifts. The best way I know to do this is to go thrifting! You have two days left. You can also find inexpensive, non-junky stuff at Five Below, Hobby Lobby, and Dollar Tree, if you are discerning.

For example, the basket shown above, which would be perfect for an especially bookish teen girl, cost me $15.50 total because I found all the items thrifting! I put some some of the items in front of the basket so you can see it all, but for presentation it would all go inside. I bought everything at Deseret Industries, which is a thrift store. The five softcover books were $1 each. The Disney figures are on a T-shirt, which was $3. Then the umbrella was $2, the Kanoodle puzzle was $1.50, and the Jane Austen puzzle was $2. Amazing right? (I’m not counting the basket, or the bunny figurine. I reuse the same baskets every year, so I wouldn’t be buying a new basket, and the paper lilies and the bunny are decorations.)

You’ll notice I don’t show candy, because everybody knows you can put candy in an Easter basket, and you don’t find candy at thrift stores. I’m showing stuff you may not have thought that you can find at a thrift store. Filling Easter baskets doesn’t have to cost tens or hundreds of dollars, which I do see moms doing in YouTube. It’s rather astounding. Is this because of increased consumerism and materialism, or is it really part of the movement of making Easter a bigger festival than Christmas? I suspect it’s more of the former than the latter. I’m all for giving gifts but when the baskets have stuff that costs over $100 I almost choke on my own tongue! I so appreciate the moms who show how to thrift to fill Easter baskets with inexpensive, yet beautiful, useful, and thoughtful items.

I’m also frugal and minimalistic, so if you are into doing frugal Easter baskets as well, read on. I’m showing examples of items that I have found at thrift stores that cost $6 at the most for each item to give you ideas of the amazing things you can find.

I’d do a similar basket as the one shown above for a teen boy. I’d swap out the Jane Austen puzzle for a different puzzle, like this one above, which I found thrifting for $2 and gave to my husband for his birthday last month. I’d take out the pretty green Words of Jesus book and replace it with the Action Bible shown below. I got it at a Savers for $5. That’s pricey but it is a thick hardcover book and currently $14 on amazon so totally worth it. Then I’d maybe get a different T-shirt, depending on my boy’s personality. I have 5 boys and I can see maybe one of my sons liking it for sure, the rest of them, I’m not sure they would like it. They would probably all wear the gray Mickey Mouse T-shirt I found thrifting last August for $3.

If I were doing an Easter basket for younger children, I’d find some kind of faith-in-God/Jesus-promoting/Easter picture book, or some other classic picture book that shows a Hero Quest. All the books below I have found thrifting for 50 cents to $2.

Or a spring-time themed book, like Peter Rabbit. Or something nature-themed. Little Golden Books are often at thrift stores, and they usually cost me 50 cents to $1. The ones below are more particularly spring/Jesus/God/Hero Quest-themed.

I see this Jesus Storybook Bible below frequently at thrift stores. I picked up a copy years ago, then when I saw it again when thrifting with my married daughter I urged her to buy a copy. I don’t love the illustrations but the way Sally Lloyd-Jones writes the stories is so splendid. She just has such a sweet, deep, poetic way of explaining God’s love! I don’t agree completely with all of her Biblical worldview/ theology but that just lends to more discussion with my children/grandchildren.

Then I’d do some clothing item (shirt, dress, pants, or necktie), and some kind of small toy or game. I’d give myself bonus points if any of it is Jesus or Easter/spring-related. Below are more items I’ve found through the years that would work for Easter baskets. You’ll notice a preponderance of books and puzzles.

I gradually acquired all the Narnia books in softcover from thrift stores though the years. You can see they have been well loved and used. Because of their Christian symbolism, they make perfect Easter basket gifts. Harry Potter and Hunger Games books also have Christian symbolism so they would be great too.

This book would be fun for any child who loves gardening.

Then a puzzle for camping lovers.

I picked this magnetic set from HABA for $2 at a thrift store last month. You take the magnetic letters and make words that go with the pictures. It would be a fun Easter gift for an emergent reader/speller. (HABA is a German company so the words shown on the lid are German but you can definitely spell English words with this set as well.) I’m excited to play with it with my grandsons the next time they come over!

The flowery top would be fun to give to a daughter who likes to wear flowers. One of mine does and one doesn’t. The Star Cube was pricey, $6, but it was brand new in the box at Savers and I knew it would be a hit and it was. Everything else in these photos was $5 or less.

If I could rewind the clock I would give the polka dotted skirt shown above to my oldest daughter when she was a teen and the BYU puzzle to my oldest who followed BYU football. The Robert McCloskey book was $4 not $7.98 like the sticker says. I’d put it in a family Easter basket, more on that below. Just because it contains the classic duckling story.

There are the star cubes again, below. My grandsons love playing with them! They are great for keeping by the table for after Sunday dinner, when they finish eating before the rest of us. Spot it! is great for that too. So is Swish.

Those are just some ideas, not meant to be comprehensive for all personality types I get it that children come in a wide range of preferences and energies, as mine do, but you get the idea. Some children aren’t nerdy enough to be thrilled to get an ACT in a Box set of cards as a gift but some are.

After finding just the right book, clothing item, spring/Easter related thing, and small toy for each child, I’d get some digital, printable bookmarks that fit my child’s reading personality, like the ones below.

Aren’t these Narnia bookmarks above and below gorgeous?

The set below is on sale as a digital printable for only $1.80 until April 12! See the links in the captions to buy. I’m not an affiliate, I’m promoting them anyway because they are beautiful!

For your Tolkien book lovers, etsy has these bookmarks. I’ve heard in the Christian homeschooling podcasting world that some families read the whole Lord of the Ring series between Lent and Easter. That sounds so magical. (Maybe someday my brain will be able to remember all the names in the Tolkien books so I can keep track of all the characters so I can enjoy the books.)

Family Easter Basket Gifts Found Thrifting

If I were doing a family Easter basket, and my kiddos were all still at home, I would put in these CDs. I gave the set to my children as a family Christmas gift but it would be so fun for Easter too! It’s all the Narnia books on CD. I found it thrifting at a Phoenix Goodwill for only $7, still in the shrink wrap! I’d also look for any Narnia DVDs when thrifting.

I found Gardening Scrabble at the Provo DI for less than $5! Amazing! This one would definitely be more for me or my older daughter, LOL. I don’t know if any of the other kiddos would have loved it. It’s sooooo cute!!!! So much better than ordinary Scrabble too! The seed packets give you special powers.

I’ve seen Catan when thrifting! We already have it but if I didn’t I would definitely pick it up. It’s a classic! It would definitely make a great family Easter basket gift, if you have older than age 8 children, although my two grandsons, ages 5 and 7 have been digging it lately. Last time I visited it was on the coffee table in the living room. My daughter said the boys play it every day.

All of these games below I’ve found when thrifting for $5 or less.

At $5 or less per game, these games could be individual Easter gifts too, they just wouldn’t fit into the individual Easter baskets I have. I do have a huge basket I found when thrifting that I’d use for a family Easter basket that could fit all of these games together. Anyway, I hope this gives you all some great ideas of Easter gifts that don’t break the bank. Thank you for all indulging me as I rewrite my story as to how I could have been a better Easter basket filler for when all of my children lived at home. :-). It’s like my inner child is parenting my outer parent, LOL.

Happy Easter, He is Risen indeed!

Want more Easter resources?

Go here for free printable Easter Christ-centered sheet music.

Go here, here, and here for simple traditions. So much to choose from! Don’t get overwhelmed, just pick one or two to add in.