This post was originally published 4 years ago. How can that be(e)?! We’re republishing it this year because it’s such a great collection of bug treats for your little ones.
I’m so excited about this post! It may leave some of you squirming in your seats, but this sort of themed gift with unexpected items makes me so happy.
If you’ve been following us for a little while, you know that the boys in my house are really into bugs (and any animal, really). They like looking at them, holding them, talking, and reading about them. Our boys are 2 and 4, so I geared this basket theme for that age, but I do think this basket could easily be scaled up or down depending upon the books you choose.
Edible Insects
The basket above looks innocent enough, right? Look closer, and you’ll see the edible insects! I included cheddar mealworms and chocolate coated crickets. You can get both in this little variety pack. Amazon also carries the ant and cricket pops.
When I saw packs edible of insects at our local nature center, I was so excited to pick up a few boxes for the boys! And since Easter’s right around the corner, I realized that they would make perfect crazy treats for their baskets.
And if you really want to get into the edible bug world, this website is amazing! These pins would be a cute addition to the baskets. Chocolate covered scorpions, anyone?
I love the idea of introducing them to edible insects at this age because they are adventurous eaters… they already think that they’re eating worms when they eat long pieces of pork in the fried rice from our local restaurant. (We’re either awesome or horrible parents.) Anyway, I’m hoping these edible insects will be well-received and lead to conversations about eating bugs and how people in different parts of the world eat bugs every day. And, it’ll also give me a good excuse to show them some of Sarah’s photos from the Thai markets!
From there, I thought about ways that I could turn their baskets into a bug theme. We really like to keep our Easter baskets simple, and here’s the formula I use : a few treats, a couple of books, and one or two toys.
Puppets & Books
In our house, puppets are huge. Early on with Alex, I realized that it would be more fun to pick up and play with a stuffed puppet instead of just a stuffed animal, but with the same cuddle factor. So we have puppet animals of every sort, and our poor babysitter spends hours doing puppet shows for the boys at their request.
Anyway, there are plenty of cute bug puppets out there. For this basket, I included a bee, a butterfly, and a praying mantis. The bee pairs perfectly with The Life and Times of the Honeybee. And below, I put the butterfly with the Bugs Galore book.
The Bee book is full of scientific information that may go over the heads of some younger kids, but will be great as they grow. The Bugs Galore book is not scientific in any way – the illustrations aren’t representative of real bugs! But it has a nice rhyming rhythm and I like that it would get little kids excited about bugs and thinking about the variety of insects that are in the world.
The next book (When Green Becomes Tomatoes) isn’t bug-related, but I just loved it so much that I wanted to recommend it (and I can’t wait to start reading it with our guys). The book’s poems are titled by date, for example, there’s a July 10th (my birthday!) or an October 31st. There isn’t a poem for every date, just a selection of dates that takes you throughout the year from January to December. They are beautiful poems and perfect for reading to kids that will eventually be able to read them as they grow. I love reading poetry to the boys, so this is right up our alley.
Live Insect Larvae
And if you’d like something more realistic than the puppets, why not get some real bugs?! You can order butterfly or ladybug larvae, raise them to adults, and then release them!
The great thing about those insect kits is that you’ll have everything to raise an insect this year, and then in following years you can re-order the live larvae without have to purchase a new kit.
Finally, if you want a “clean” bug treat – add one of our roach soaps to your basket! 😉
So, that’s our bug-themed basket! What do you think? Do you do themes for your baskets?