Photo from Unsplash
Originally Posted On: https://www.freshbuck.com/save-money/easter-basket-stuffers-what-parents-are-spending/
Easter Basket Spending in 2025: How Much Are Parents Spending?
The Easter Bunny is spending more than ever on Easter
Easter spending in 2025 is expected to hit record highs, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). With Easter falling on April 20, 2025, this year’s late calendar date means more time for consumers to shop, which could drive up spending on candy, gifts, decorations, and travel.
Retailers are banking on bigger sales this year, but inflation, high egg prices, and tariffs may make Easter shopping more expensive than ever.
As Easter approaches, many parents find themselves pondering how much they should spend on Easter baskets. Some “Easter Bunnies” are limited by tight budgets and limited disposal income; others, only by sheer discipline and practiced fiscal restraint.
How much does the Easter Bunny spend on Easter baskets?
There are two average spend figures from two different sources: Budget-conscious families shell out roughly $37 per basket, while the national average is closer to $68.
Of course, what everybunny else is spending doesn’t need to dictate your own budget. But when it comes to the Tooth Fairy, Saint Nick, and other milestone mascots, parents do like taking their cues from other parents.
No one wants to be the Grinch who gives Henrik a nickel for their first lost tooth when the classroom average is $5. And while holiday celebrations like Easter are family-specific, parents don’t want their child to miss out on current revelry norms.
$37 spenders vs. $68 spenders
There are parents who love to do the holidays up big, and will gift their children bathtub-size baskets full of games, toys, and sporting gear.
According to NewsNation, in 2023 consumers spent an average of $61.83 per Easter basket. Adjusted for inflation, that comes to $67.56 today.
Budget-focused, frugal-living families spend about half as much. Data from Low Dough Family shows average spend per Easter basket at $37.07 (when adjusted for inflation from 2022 data).
Stocking stuffers: Easter as Mini-Christmas
The Easter Bunny, I’d wager, is an excellent spinner of white lies. Parents who splurge may be underreporting their actual spend.
And memories are foggy; I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning, so I couldn’t possibly recall last year’s per-basket spending. Twenty dollars? Forty dollars? I spent whatever you think the “right amount” is: Enough so you don’t judge me for my extravagance — or joyless tightfistedness.
In talking to friends and family in my circle, “stocking stuffer” is a commonly uttered term.
While they’re not filling actual stockings, parents are taking inspiration from Christmas stocking type gifts such as candy, cookies, dried fruit, salty snacks, small toys, socks, water bottles, chapsticks, and health & beauty products.
For Bunnies building for their adult-age kids, Easter Basket stuffers include dish cloths, wooden spoons, kitchen utensils, gardening tools, and seeds.
And some lucky kiddos may even have actual Easter stockings that the bunny hops by to fill. Perhaps you hang them outside on the garden shed?
The vibe is very Christmas morning. And for disappointed children, with underwhelming baskets or stockings, it could be that the Easter Bunny never got their letter.
Want to eat chocolate Jesus?
My atheist husband is a bit skeptical of religious holidays that (seem to) command gifts.
“Is that why Jesus Christ died on the cross? So the world could have chocolate bunnies and jelly beans?”
How long, we’ve mused, until you can buy a chocolate Christ on the Cross to infuse Easter baskets with religious meaning?
Turns out, however, you can “eat” a candied Jesus. It’s sold by IslandGirlGourmet on Etsy, chocolate salvation for $3.99 a pop.
With thousands of sales, and over 4,100 reviews, it’s clearly a hit. One recent review praises the Jesus confection as “beautiful and tasty.”
Anatomy of an Easter basket
Crafting the “best basket ever” is a matter of personal taste and budget. We’ve got a list of budget-friendly ideas for common and uncommon Easter basket stuffers.
Popular Easter basket stuffers for kids
- Chocolate bunnies
- Jelly beans
- Plastic eggs
- Marshmallow Peeps
- Bubbles
- Stickers
- Sunglasses
- Sandals
- Erasers
- Pencils
- Chalk
- Temporary tattoos
- Mini notepads
- Fun socks
- Bouncy balls
- Small notepads
- Books
- Plush toys
- Arts & crafts
- Color books
- Crayons
- Garden gloves
- Garden hand tools
- Jumprope
- Play-doh
- Hair accessories
- Dollar Store toys
Unique Easter basket stuffer ideas
- Kites
- Swimsuits
- Crocs or sandals
- Wooden peg dolls
- Cars
- Hatchable dinosaur eggs
- Puzzles
- Board games
- Chocolate Jesus on a cross
- Ramen noodles
- Baby carrots
- Mugs
- T-shirts
- Gift cards
- Cash
- Event tickets
- Apron
- Personalized (puzzles, crayon, chalk)
- Wooden peg dolls
- Viewfinder
- Viewfinder reels
- Chia Pet
- Umbrella
- Silly putty (with newspaper)
- Binoculars
- Bike bell
- Bike basket
- Lemonade mix
- Starter plants
What the Easter Bunny is Spending at My House This Year
I’ll ‘fess up and openly admit my opulence — or stinginess. Here’s what the Easter Bunny is spending this year for my two kids (ages 4 and 6):
- Umbrella: $7.50 (Target Cat and Jack): x 2
- Plush stuffed animal: $9.99 x 2
- Crayola Silly Putty Variety Pack: $4.99 x 1
- Kanoodle Brain-Teasing Puzzle: $9.99 x 1
- Plus Plus 3D Dinosaur Figure Building Block Set Stegosaurus Maker Tube: $7.99 x 1
- 200-piece puzzle: $5.85 x 1
- Chunky 1980s style plastic charm necklace: $12.99 x 1
- Triazzle brainteaser puzzle: $7.50 x 1
- How to Draw Magical Things sketchbook: $9.25 x 1
- Tube of 36 colored pencils: $7.99 x 1
- Peep marshmallow 4-pack: $1.19 x 2
- 2.75 oz. chocolate bunny: $2.25 x 2
- Dinosaurs hunting Easter eggs stickers: $2.49 x 1
- Little Blue Truck’s Springtime: $8.42 x 1
That’s a grand total of $102.83 or $51.42 per basket.
Does this include tax? No. But these Easter purchases also include a lot of items I would have purchased anyway for my kids, although at intervals a bit more spaced out. Art supplies, umbrellas, fidget toys, and a one-buck treat from Target are fairly normal, non-holiday specific purchases.
And really, I could gift them underpants and socks and they’d be thrilled — as long as they came wrapped in garish colors and an Easter bow.
Hitting the Jellybean Jackpot
Easter baskets have come a long way from simple woven nests filled with dyed eggs and an oversized chocolate rabbit. Today, they’re a full-blown seasonal industry that’s creeping toward Christmas-level spending.
For better or worse, Easter basket inflation is here. Maybe it’s a reflection of parents, armed with Instagram, able to create the kind of childhood magic they missed out on. Or just a natural outgrowth from our love of family gatherings and causes for celebration.
Whatever the driver, today’s Easter Bunny is running an elaborate, high-cost operation delivering millions of bespoke baskets all around the globe.
Whether you’re spending $5 or $500 (yes, some parents cross the $500 mark), the Easter Bunny is what you make it. Children are thrilled with the enchantment of a Bunny leaving them a present of any kind. Whether it’s gourmet chocolate truffles and designer toys or dollar-store candy and coloring books, your kids will feel like they’re hitting the jellybean jackpot. And if you do come up short, there’s always half-price candy for Easter Monday.
