As everyone knows, when covid struck last year, everything was different. All of our plans had to change and it was sometimes hard to cope. One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. I was bummed when it wasn’t safe for kids to go trick or treating last year. But, so that we could still celebrate, I heard about a new idea from some friends of mine. What if we made Halloween baskets similar to what we do for Easter? I absolutely loved this idea and now it’s something I plan to continue every year! So in this post, I’ll tell you all about creating your own and why we plan to continue this new covid tradition.
Like Easter Baskets… But Spookier
They really are that simple. Usually for Easter baskets, we’ll buy our son things he needs for summer and a couple fun toys, a book, etc. Here you can view my post on Easter baskets for toddlers. Well, here we basically put a spin on an Easter basket, but instead of summer essentials, we buy him winter essentials. Other items we include are toys, books, toiletries, sometimes clothes, and one candy bar. Lastly, we get a family-friendly Halloween movie we can all watch during the day before trick or treating. We love seeing our kiddo’s face when he opens his gifts when he wakes up in the morning! I’ll talk more about the gifts themselves in a bit, but this at least gives you an idea of what we’re going for. But for now, let’s get into why we’re still doing something that we started because of covid.
Why Are We Continuing to Make Halloween Baskets?
As I mentioned, we use the basket as a way to give our son some of the warm winter necessities that he’ll need to have before the end of the year. For us, there aren’t really any good opportunities to do this which leads to unexpected costs when we forget that he needs x, y, and z. If we can anticipate winter events coming up before Halloween, we can budget for the items he needs for winter and buy them before they’re all sold out.
Another nice thing about creating Halloween baskets is that kids can use the basket later that day for trick or treating. The basket can be used year after year, which is really nice! Also, since little man is still so young, he gets tired easily. With young kids, making them a gift basket can be nice to make them feel more included if they’re cranky after only a couple houses.
Lastly, the movie we include in the gift leads to more family time spent together. It’s also adds to the fun and excitement of the holiday. And, while I don’t know many kids that aren’t excited for candy, I think it gives kids more to look forward to than loading up on sweets. (Plus, it’s a great alternative for kiddos who have food allergies!) Now that we’ve talked about the basics and why we feel this tradition is here to stay, let’s talk about what we buy for these Halloween baskets.
Basket Stuffers for Toddlers
While I’ve talked about which items we buy in general, here I’ll talk about which items specifically we’ve bought at both 1 and 2 years old. As stated above, we typically buy winter essentials, toys or educational activities, books, toiletries, and a movie. Here are the specific ones we’ve gotten him for his Halloween baskets!
Winter Essentials:
For winter essentials, we usually buy a nice pair of winter boots or fleece booties, gloves, a hat and a jacket. The jacket we bought him last year still fits, so this year we bought him a hat and glove set and nice winter boots. You can’t see the boots in this year’s basket because they’re actually on the bottom. Here are the items I recommend though:
- Hudson Baby Cozy Fleece Booties – These come in sizes 0-6 months all the way up to 4T and are super cozy.
- Miccina Cable Knit Cashmere Lined Jacket – This jacket is incredibly thick and warm. My kiddo wore it last year when we went to Wild Lanterns at the Woodland Park Zoo as is shown above.
- Columbia Fleece Jacket – This is the jacket we’ve been using most frequently for short trips out of the house since it’s more lightweight, but for colder outdoor events, I definitely recommend the thick jacket above. (Remember thick jackets are NOT safe to use in a car seat though!)
- Fleece Velcro Winter Hat and Gloves – I love that this hat is velcro because will my son NOT keep a hat on otherwise.
- Bebarfer Fur Lined Hiking Boots – These are the winter boots we got. They were reasonably priced and feel really cozy!
Another item to consider would be cozy lined or fleece lined jeans. My favorite ones are the fleece lined jeans from Old Navy or Gap.
Toys for Halloween Baskets:
Most “toys” for Halloween I find are really cheaply made, too small, and aren’t exactly safe for toddlers. So for the toys we get for our son, usually it’s just some regular toys or educational activities that are toddler safe. For example, last year, we bought a set of flashcards and a Halloween themed nesting doll set! Both can teach valuable skills. This year, our kiddo is getting a ghost flashlight, a stuffed Boo from Mario, and a fidget sensory popper toy. Little man is a sensory seeker. These are all safe toys that he’ll be excited to play with and that will meet his sensory needs. Another great idea is craft supplies for upcoming Thanksgiving or winter crafts! Here is where to find them:
- Light Up Ball Wand – Unfortunately the ghost flashlight is not available on Michaels’ website. I bought in person at Michaels, but this light up spinning orb would be a great substitute!
- Super Mario All Stars Boo Plush – This is just a soft ghost stuffed animal from the Super Mario video game series.
- Halloween Fidget Sensory Popper – This is an awesome sensory toy that even keeps ME occupied, haha!
- My First Words Touch and Feel Flash Cards – These flash cards are so cool! They have different textures on each card and prompts for questions to ask your child on the back.
- Halloween Nesting Dolls – These are great for older toddlers in terms of fostering their problem solving skills.
- Arts and Crafts Supplies Kit – This set comes with pom pom balls, popsicle sticks, construction paper, feathers, etc.
- Felt Create a Snowman Kit – This set comes with a large felt snowman and accessories for your kids to create their own snowman!
Books for Halloween Baskets:
Our son absolutely loves to read. He’s constantly looking through his books. His favorite book though is the Halloween ABC book we got him for his Halloween basket last year. He seriously has it memorized and LOVES talking about all of the Halloween stuff. So books are an absolute must for his Halloween baskets. Here are some of the books that we’ve gotten or that are on his wishlist.
- Halloween ABC by Nosy Crow and Jannie Ho – Like I mentioned, this is our kiddo’s ABSOLUTE favorite Halloween book.
- The Poky Little Puppy and the Pumpkin Patch by Diane Muldrow – This is MY favorite Halloween book that we’ve gotten. The story is adorable and talks about all of the things I love about fall.
- Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex – This parody of Goodnight Moon puts such a fun spin on the classic book!
- If You’re Spooky and You Know It by Aly Fronis – Little man has a LOT of fun trying to act out each verse of this book as we read it. It’s definitely a cute one.
- Eek! Halloween! by Sandra Boynton – This book is one that I’ve only flipped through once, but Sandra Boynton books are some of our favorites in general.
- One, Two… Boo! by Kristen Depkin – This is another one that’s in the Halloween basket for this year, so we haven’t read through it, but it gets great reviews!
- Llama Llama Trick or Treat by Anna Dewdney – We don’t have this one yet, but the Llama Llama books are one of our favorite series.
- The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone – This is another one we don’t have but, our son is starting to really enjoy Sesame Street. This book will be perfect for him!
Toiletries
The Halloween baskets provide a great time to give your kids things they actually need. Similar to a Christmas stocking, I buy things like soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. In this year’s goodies, I included a new Brite Brush toothbrush. These toothbrushes are SO cool. We have the baby shark one currently and it sings songs, plays games, and rates how well kids brush their teeth. They also come with a replacement head, but the replacements themselves are really cheap for a three pack! We love it. Here are our preferred brands:
- Brite Brush Toothbrush – Baby Shark
- Brite Brush Replacement Heads
- Honest Brand Sweet Orange Vanilla Shampoo and Body Wash – This scent smells AMAZING. It seriously smells like an orange creamsicle. We use this only for our son’s hair though. Kiddo has a condition called keratosis pilaris and traditional soaps and body washes can make it worse.
- Honest Brand Sweet Orange Vanilla Conditioner
- Mustela Stelatopia Cleansing Oil – This soap free wash is what we use for KP, but it’s great for any kiddos with sensitive skin!
- Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream – This lotion is great for sensitive kiddos. We used it before finding out our son had K.P. thinking it was eczema.
- Green Sprouts Baby Brush and Comb Set
- Tanner’s Tasty Paste – This fluoride toothbrush was invented by a pediatric dentist, gets great reviews and is safe to use for kiddos under the age of two.
Movies
Lastly, we include a new family-friendly Halloween movie every year in the Halloween basket. I think this adds more family time to the holiday than getting into costumes and getting candy. Either before heading out, or after everyone’s tired from trick or treating, it’s nice to cozy up and watch something fun together! Here are some of my favorite kids’ Halloween movies that we either have bought for our family or that are on our wishlist:
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
- Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost
- Casper
- Mickey’s House of Villains – The DVD is out of stock right now, but this can still be purchased digitally!
- Beetlejuice
I actually made a post about this a few weeks ago regarding my Top 31+ kids’ Halloween Movies! Feel free to check it out for more ideas.
In Conclusion
This is such a fun, new family tradition that we’ll continue to do for years to come. It can be really helpful too to have an excuse to buy some of the things our kiddos need, like winter gear or toiletries. Or, if you don’t feel like heading out to trick or treat, or if your kids have food allergies, this is a really great alternative to still be able to participate in the holiday!
What are some traditions that your family has for Halloween? What new traditions started because of covid for your family, if any? Leave a comment below and let me know! If you enjoyed this post and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe for weekly updates. You can also check out my fun and more page or any of the posts below. Thanks everyone!
Fall Activities for Toddlers: 30+ Fun Ideas
Top 31+ Halloween Movies for Kids
