Tried and Tested: Alternative Easter Gifts

Before having Adam I assumed that everyone liked chocolate. Easter meant Easter Eggs. However, Adam can’t stand most types of chocolate. As a result we have been looking at alternative Easter gifts for non chocolate lovers.

(This post contains affiliate links)

Eggspressions

Eggspressions from Hape are a set of 6 wooden eggs portraying different expressions. It is a wonderful resource to teach children about identifying and express their feelings.

Each egg has a different expression to show the emotions happy, sad, angry, excited, afraid and shy. The eggs are colour coded and comes with a coloured stand. Each egg is made with a commitment to sustainability, compliant with international safety and quality standards.

The set comes with a hard back book featuring the six different emotions. Humpty’s cousins are invited to a party but they need to get over the castle wall. By sharing their feelings and working together, they find a happy solution. There is also a black and white idea book.

Adam soon discovered that the eggs even stack on top of each other. Our Eggspressions eggs will no doubt feature in future play activities.

Pop-Up Monkey Track

This cute Pop-Up Monkey Track from Hape can be enjoyed from 18 months upwards.

The three cheecky monkeys are hiding in the jungle just waiting to catch that banana. As the banana train drives past the trees the monkeys jump out. The set can be used by itself with the two yellow attachments included.

The wooden track is the perfect accessory to liven up your current railway track. We added the Pop-Up Monkey Track to our Neon Train Track.

Adam has set himself the challenge of seeing how quickly he can get all three monkeys to jump out of the trees.

Word Has It!

Word Has It! from University Games challenges the family to build the tallest word.

You turn over a category card, spin the spinner and use the stacking tiles to create a word. You only have 40 seconds with the tension building electronic timer.

The way that the three sided stacking tiles are designed means you have no idea which word the other players are creating. The person with the tallest word wins that category card. The game is designed for 2-4 players. Although the game is geared towards children aged 7+, Adam thoroughly enjoyed playing it.

We adapted the game slightly with Adam and Daddy playing as a team. They decided their word together before the timer started and spent the 40 seconds locating the tiles. The game worked on Adam’s phonic knowledge, letter recognition and his fine motor stills whilst stacking the tiles. This is certainly a game that will be enjoyed for many years as his word knowledge develops.

Mega Bounce Ball

The Wicked Mega Bounce Ball is huge. It has a massive 2.51 meter circumference.

It also claims to be the world’s bounciest inflatable ball and it certainly delivers. It is able to bounce on almost any terrain including grass and sand. It bounces high too. The graphics on the side of the ball make it easy to catch the ball despite its size.

The Mega Ball has worked wonders on developing Adam’s gross motor skills. See the massive ball in action in our Easter Core Strengthening Activity.

Magformers

Our Magformers My First Set (54-Piece) is a construction toy that Adam plays with over and over again.

The set includes 54 magnetic pieces: 12 triangles, 24 squares, 6 diamonds, 6 trapezoids and 6 rectangles.

The different magnetic shapes are easy for little hands to use and create various 2D and 3D constructions. The pieces connect instantly the moment they touch. The pieces are certainly durable and are built to last. You can read more information within our Magformers: My First Set Review. 

Oregon Scientific Smart Globe

The Oregon Scientific Smart Globe is more than just a globe. It is an interactive learning tool that has so many options.

It is certainly a toy that will be used throughout the years as Adam grows. It is an up-to-date political map which has more than 250 countries to explore. At the base of the globe there are three activity panels. Through the Touch panel you are able to explore the population, capital cities, area of countries and continents to language, currency and much more. It gives you endless educational entertainment with amazing facts about planet Earth and provides hours of informative audio content. You can read more information within our Oregon Scientific SmartGlobe Review.

Disclaimer: All of the above items we have received to review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

Check out our other ways to play with: