Baby's First Easter: Ideas, Photos & Traditions to Start
Make baby's first Easter special. Photo ideas, age-safe traditions, gift suggestions, and how to enjoy the holiday while managing baby's routine.
By TeachToddler Editorial Team · Updated April 11, 2026 · Seasonal
🥚 Age-Appropriate Easter Egg Hunts
An egg hunt is the highlight of Easter for little ones, but what works for a 3-year-old is completely wrong for a baby. Matching the hunt to your child's developmental stage keeps it fun instead of frustrating — and safe instead of hazardous.
- 6–12 months (crawlers): Place 5 to 8 brightly colored, large plastic eggs directly on a blanket or in short grass within arm's reach. Let baby crawl to them and explore — picking up, shaking, mouthing. Fill eggs with fabric scraps or large jingle bells (too big to swallow) so they rattle. This age group cares about the sensory experience, not the "hunt"
- 1–2 years (new walkers): Set 10 to 15 eggs in plainly visible spots — on top of a shoe, beside a flower pot, on a porch step. Don't hide them; toddlers this age get frustrated when they can't find things. Give them a small bucket or basket to collect into. The joy is in the walking, bending, and dropping eggs into the container
- 2–3 years (experienced walkers): Partially hide 15 to 20 eggs — peeking out from behind a bush, sitting in a planter, tucked under the edge of a chair. Give hints like "I see something blue near the tree!" This age group can handle mild challenge and loves the thrill of discovery
- 3+ years: Now you can fully hide eggs — behind cushions, inside boots, under buckets. Use 20 to 30 eggs and let them search independently. Add a "golden egg" with a special small prize inside for extra excitement
🧺 Safe Easter Basket Fillers by Age
The traditional Easter basket full of candy and plastic grass is a minefield for babies. Plastic grass strands are a documented choking and intestinal obstruction hazard — the CPSC issues warnings about them every spring. Here's how to build a basket that's actually safe and age-appropriate.
- Basket filler: Use shredded tissue paper, a cloth napkin, crinkle paper, or a small baby blanket instead of plastic grass. Looks just as festive, zero choking risk
- Under 12 months: Board books (touch-and-feel books are perfect), teething toys, a rubber duck, stacking cups, baby-safe crayons, a sippy cup, puffs or rice crackers, socks with fun prints, and a small stuffed bunny
- 1–2 years: Bubbles, sidewalk chalk, crayons and a small notebook, a bath toy, play dough, a small puzzle (3–5 pieces), animal figurines too large to choke on, and a few pieces of soft chocolate that melts in the mouth
- 2–3 years: Stickers, stamp sets, a magnifying glass, kinetic sand, a watering can for outdoor play, sunglasses, hair clips, and age-appropriate chocolate or marshmallow treats
Skip these in any baby/toddler Easter basket: Plastic Easter grass (choking/blockage hazard), jelly beans (choking hazard — round, slippery, and hard), small toy eggs with removable parts, candy with foil wrappers babies can tear off and swallow, chocolate coins (foil ingestion risk), and anything smaller than a toilet paper tube — if it fits through the tube, it's a choking hazard.
🎨 Easter Egg Dyeing With Babies and Toddlers
Dyeing eggs with a baby is messy, brief, and wonderful. The goal isn't Pinterest-perfect eggs — it's sensory exploration and a shared experience. Keep sessions under 15 minutes and embrace the chaos.
- Use edible food coloring only. Standard food-grade coloring (the kind you bake with) dissolved in water and a splash of white vinegar is safe if baby mouths the egg. Commercial egg dye kits contain chemicals not meant for ingestion
- Hard-boil eggs and cool completely before the activity. Room-temperature eggs are easier and safer for baby to handle
- One egg, one color at a time. Put a shallow amount of colored water in a bowl, hand baby the egg, and let them dunk and splash. Expect colored hands — it washes off
- High chair setup: Strap baby into a high chair, spread newspaper or a plastic tablecloth underneath, and strip them down to a diaper. Less cleanup, more freedom to explore
- For toddlers 2+: Try painting hard-boiled eggs with brushes dipped in food coloring, or use beeswax crayons to draw on eggs before dipping (the wax resists the dye, creating patterns)
- Supervise constantly. Hard-boiled eggs can break into shell pieces that are a choking risk. If baby bites through the shell, calmly take the egg away and offer a new one
🐰 Bunny Crafts for Little Hands
Handprint and footprint crafts are the perfect Easter activity for babies and toddlers — they're age-appropriate, produce keepsake art, and take less than 5 minutes before attention wanders.
- Footprint bunny: Press baby's foot in washable white paint onto colored cardstock. The heel becomes the bunny face, the toes become ears. Add googly eyes and a pom-pom nose with glue once dry. Date the back — you'll be amazed how small that foot was
- Handprint chick: Baby's yellow handprint on white paper, with an added orange beak triangle and googly eye. Works for ages 6 months and up with adult assistance
- Egg stamp art: Cut a potato in half, carve a simple egg shape, and let toddlers 18+ months stamp colored paint eggs onto paper. Add sticker decorations when dry
- Cotton ball bunny: Draw or print a large bunny outline. Let toddlers 18+ months glue cotton balls onto the body. Develops fine motor skills (the pincer grasp needed for gluing) while creating a cute result
- Frame it or mail it. Grandparents treasure handprint art. Do an extra set to send — it costs nothing and means everything
📸 Easter Outfit Photo Tips
That adorable Easter outfit deserves a great photo, but getting a good shot of a baby requires strategy, not luck. Most of the work happens before you pick up the camera.
- Schedule around the nap. The ideal window is 30 to 60 minutes after baby wakes from a nap — rested, fed, and in a good mood. Morning light between 9 and 10 AM gives the best soft, natural light for photos
- Put the outfit on right before shooting. Don't dress baby in the Easter outfit at 7 AM for a 10 AM photo — expect a blowout, spit-up, or drool situation in that window
- Keep sessions short: 10 to 15 minutes maximum. Babies lose patience fast. Take 50+ shots in rapid succession and pick the best one later
- Use props sparingly: A stuffed bunny, a small basket, or a spring flower creates a scene. Too many props distract baby and clutter the image
- Shoot at baby's level. Get on the floor or ground and photograph from their eye height. This perspective makes far more engaging photos than shooting down from above
- Have a backup outfit. If the primary outfit gets ruined before photos, a clean onesie with a bunny ear headband still makes a great shot
Managing Easter with baby's routine: Easter brunch, family gatherings, and egg hunts can stack up into a full day that wrecks your baby's nap schedule. Protect at least one nap — preferably the afternoon nap. Bring a portable sound machine and a familiar sleep sack to any gathering so baby can nap in a quiet room. A well-rested baby enjoys the holiday. An overtired baby makes it miserable for everyone.