This #DisneyEaster shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
I totally had my heart set on creating a FROZEN-themed Easter basket, perfect for the dainty, little girl (AKA my 5-year old daughter, Lydia). I searched Pinterest endlessly for ways to make the cutest, sparkliest, girliest Easter basket, covered with bows, glitter, and a touch of almost nauseatingly sweet princess power.
And then I paused. Let me explain.
As I wrote above, my 5-year old daughter Lydia is the girliest of girls. She loves her tutus and baby dolls and pink everything. And my 3-year old son Bryce embodies all that is a rough-and-tumble little boy. He wants to play in the mud and race cars and do pretend karate moves.
But last week I was on a play date with one of my girlfriends. She has a beautiful 3-year old daughter who looks like a little princess, with gorgeous blue eyes, porcelain skin, and long blonde hair. Unlike most girls her age, she isn’t so interested in princesses and fairies and the color pink. She prefers superheroes and ninjas! So much so, she requested a ‘boy’-themed birthday party. Her mom suggested more stereotypically girly themes, but she rejected them all. My friend asked what I thought of this. Can a little girl really have a ninja-themed birthday party? My thoughts? Absolutely!
On to my shopping trip.
I went to Walmart, still dreaming about creating this fantastical, fairytale Easter basket, but something just didn’t feel right. Why was I so concerned about making this basket align with my myopic views regarding gender? So I thought about what my friend’s sweet little daughter would love. And I decided to challenge my own pre-conceived ideas about what makes a perfect Easter basket for girls. How about a Superhero Easter Basket for girls? YES!
Time to pause again.
In analyzing my own ideas regarding toys and gender, I had to think not just about what I believed to be a ‘girl’ toy and a ‘boy’ toy, but also why I hold these beliefs. Where did they come from? Did my Marvel superhero basket need to include Spiderman covered in pink bows and glitter? Would that be challenging the sterotypes or just buying into them? And this was my dilemma.
I started to assemble my Superhero Basket for Girls. I purchased all kinds of fun items that I thought any little superheroes would love: Spiderman mask, stuffed Ironman toy, Spiderman magnet set, Captain America doll (okay, action figure), Spiderman tattoos, Captain America stickers, Spiderman and Ironman plastic eggs, and more! Then I added a feminine touch that went with this theme, some All-American hair bows, complete with red, white, and blue.
I wanted to purchase a gender-neutral basket, but the only simple baskets I could find were pink, purple, or light blue. Instead, I purchased a plain wicker basket and spray-painted it red. To me, red is a true superhero color. To really personalize the basket, I added a mini banner with my daughter’s name.
To make the banner, I found these fun star-shaped foam stickers. I added one letter of her name to each sticker. I used a needle and thread to sew the banner together. I then tied the two ends of the thread to the basket to decorate the front of it. See? Girls can be superheroes, too!
While making a stereotypically ‘boy’ basket for a girl, I also decided to make a ‘girl’ basket for my son featuring FROZEN. I know this movie is very well-loved by girls, but boys love it, too. This basket was much easier to make because there’s a lot of Olaf merchandise (who just happens to be my son’s favorite character from the movie).
I found so many fun toys and candies to place in this basket, including a plush Olaf, bobble-head Olaf, Olaf cup, t-shirt, FROZEN Play Pack, ‘icy’ blue glitter eggs, and some sunglasses for spring! I even found this Olaf Easter card that says “Son – Warm Hugs, Cool Fun.”
How to Create a Super-Fun Easter Egg Hunt
So after making myself a little crazy analyzing my own beliefs regarding toys and gender, I decided I would share my husband’s family’s Easter tradition. Quick backstory: My husband has five siblings. He was raised with one brother (who happened to love dressing up as female superheroes as a child). The other four siblings were from his father’s previous marriage, and he rarely saw them as a child. About 3 years ago, we reconnected with his sister and three other brothers, and we had an instant family, with cousins, aunts, and uncles for my children. They have a really special Easter tradition! Each year, they fill plastic Easter eggs with coins and little messages. Adults and children find an equal number of eggs hiding in the backyard, place them in their Easter baskets, and bring them inside the house. Everyone takes turns opening their eggs, collecting the coins, and reading the messages. The messages say things like “Give the person to the left of you a hug” or “Stand up and do the ‘Chicken Dance’.” The best eggs of all contain messages that say ‘Pick a Prize’. The prizes fill two tables (one for adults, one for children) and have all sorts of things, like stuffed animals, small toys, hair clips, bath products, and more.
Walmart is your one-stop shop for Disney Princess, Disney Jr., Marvel, Star Wars, and FROZEN Easter basket items. It doesn’t matter who you are shopping for – boy or girl – because there’s something for everyone!
How does your family celebrate Easter? Do you make baskets? Hunt for eggs? Share your family’s stories!
I love these baskets Carrie. My boys Love Frozen and have Olaf-everything!! I also love the Easter tradition you shared? Mind if I borrow the idea for my Easter party this year?
Thanks! I would LOVE if you borrowed the idea. It’s so much fun!! 🙂
Were we on a play date? Minus the blonde hair you 100% described my Megan. I struggled a bit in the beginning with her “boy toy” preferences. I always wondered if it was Sams influence, was I doing the right thing, will people make fun of her (I still deal with this one) etc. etc. You name it – I worried about it AT LEAST ONCE and sometimes still do. Thank you for gender bending your Easter basket essentials this year – I find comfort in it.
I will also being doing superhero baskets and some array of Frozen stuff this year too for both my daughters. We also go to a local helicopter egg drop. Some of the eggs contain cash – last year both my daughters made $40.00 bucks combined from 3 eggs. They loved it!
I’m so glad you liked this post! It saddens me to think kids are teased because they prefer one type of toy over another. Shouldn’t kids just have fun?? My son REALLY liked some of these FROZEN toys (which, of course, I had to give him now because they are in the house). I wish all parents embraced who their children were instead of trying to force them to conform to some ideal ‘boy’ image and ‘girl’ image.
My 5 year old Ellie just had a superhero birthday party last month! But also loves princesses. I love it when kids see all toys as fun. These are so cute!
These are such great ideas! I picked up a Minnie mouse basket for my son because he likes mickey mouse clubhouse, and I’ve gotten a ton of slack for it. Your blog post was just what I needed
Great idea! I love that you went with superheroes for your daughter! My girls (having an older brother) go both ways. They may be in dress-up gown, but they’re usually playing with his cars, trucks and transformers! Or they have the superhero cape over the princess gown…it’s too funny sometimes 🙂
Why not wonder woman, or one of the other great super women of the comics?
I absolutely LOVE the egg comment idea! how cute is that?! Your Easter baskets are fantastical too, thanks for putting two together that break any sort of barrier. Though i do have to say, I think madilyn would be more than a little put out if she got an Avengers basket and Grady got a FROZEN basket. 🙂