Easter's on it's Way, and So are Darla's Top Picks!

Easter's on it's Way, and So are Darla's Top Picks! 

 

Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Easter's on its way.

Bringin' ev'ry girl and boy
A basketful of Easter joy
Things to make your Easter
Bright...LET’S PLAY!

(modified from “Here Comes Peter Cottontail”, lyrics by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, copyright 1950)

As the classic song goes, Easter is on its way, and before you know it will be time for the Easter Bunny to hop into your house with baskets full of treats. We know the Easter Bunny is busy, so we’ve made it a bit easier with these great Easter selections. Sure he could bring the traditional chocolates and candy, but these fun ideas will last the whole year through, and you won’t have to worry about tummy aches and sticky, chocolate covered faces either.

Sweet Treats that Will Stick Around, Not Stick to Your Teeth

Haba Wooden Lollipops ($3.99): Available in green, blue, yellow and red (sold separately), these 8.5 cm solid wood lollipops look good enough to eat, but won’t give you cavities or a tummy ache.

Haba Petite Rose Ice-Cream Cones (19.95): This set consists of two soft fabric ice cream cones, and two reversible soft fabric scoops of ice cream. Serve up vanilla swirl and creamy chocolate ice cream one day, and fruit sorbet and strawberry fudge ice cream the next. We’re sure your customers will be pleased!

Haba Gummi Bears ($9.99): Open up this tin measuring approximately 6.5 cms in diameter, and your child will find a variety of darling, colourful 2.5 cm long wooden gummy bears. Sized not too much larger than the real thing, they are a delightful, healthy, and long lasting alternative to the real thing, and can be used for sorting, counting and pretend play.(Note the size though, these gummi bears are definitely not for children under three).

Haba Petite Rose Petits Fours, set of 9 ($22.95): What would Easter be without chocolate? This set of soft, fabric petit fours are technically tea cakes, but we think they’d be perfect truffles too. Each exquisitely detailed cake measures approximately 4.4 cms by 3.8 cms by 3.2 cms, and sits in its own paper wrapper.

Celebrate Spring with Fresh Produce from the Garden

Haba Baby Vegetables Set ($19.99): Set your little one up for a lifetime of healthy eating by packing his Easter Basket with this soft fabric vegetable set consisting of a carrot and a tomato that rattle, and a head of lettuce that crunches. Suitable for children six months of age and older, these veggies can easily transform from baby toys to items in your preschooler’s play kitchen, providing for years of use and fun.

Haba Carrot ($3.99): Measuring approximately 8.5 cms long, these wooden carrots (sold separately), will allow your child to practice leaving carrots out for the Easter Buddy and Rudolph all year long. We’ve also heard rumours that they are great when you simmer them in a pot to make carrot soup, and can also be used to make a tasty carrot cake.

Plan Toys Wooden Fruit and Vegetables Food Kitchen Play Set ($20.95): Another great alternative to Easter sweets, this set includes a carrot, a pear, a tomato, a lemon, a mushroom, and a blunt wooden knife. Each fruit or veggie consists of two pieces held together by strips of velco. Young chefs will love “slicing” the produce with the knife, and then re attaching the pieces. Creative kids can even combine the fruits and veggies, serving up delicacies like tomato-lemons and carrot-pears.

What Would Easter Be Without Eggs?

Tomy Hide ‘n Squeak Eggs ($14.99): Not your standard carton of eggs, this little shape sorter will keep kids over one entertained (and learning) for hours. Each of the six eggs in the carton has a unique face, as well as a unique shape on the bottom that matches with one shape in the carton. Toddlers must match the correct egg to the space in the carton to make it close. Each egg can also be “cracked open”, and once the top of each shell is removed your little one will discover a chick inside. Press lightly on the chick’s head, and hear it squeak, or match the face on the egg shell to the corresponding face on the chick. Easter eggs have never been this fun!

Haba Half Dozen Eggs ($13.95): Eggs are synonymous with Easter, but with this set of six white wooden eggs can be played with regardless of the month on the calendar. Nestled in green tissue paper inside a 16.5 cm long cardboard carton, each egg measures approximately 4.5 cms high by 3.5 cms in diameter. You just need to decide how you like your eggs served. Haba Half Dozen Eggs are recommended for children three and older. These eggs are a great way to have a mess free egg and spoon race after your Easter Egg hunt.

Haba Fried Egg Pretend Play Fabric Food ($10.50): Your little trickster will get a kick out of “cracking” this metal egg to reveal the soft fabric fried egg inside, and young chefs will love to serve eggs sunny side up for breakfast. Opening and closing the egg is also a great way for little ones to work on their fine motor skills and pincer grip.

With The Kids off School, It’s Time to Try out New Toys and Games

Plan Toys Push Along Duck ($38.50): Designed for toddlers 18 months and older, the Plan Toys Push Along Duck is sure to delight and encourage your little walker as she develops her coordination, agility, and balance. Measuring approximately 58 cms high, when pushed it emits a squeaking noise, and the duck’s feet flap and swivel. An adorable Easter gift for your adorable tot!

Haba Ducky Duck Pull Along Toy ($35.95): Sized just right for little hands at approximately 15 cm long, Haba’s Ducky Duck Pull Along Toy is a whimsical and wonderful friend. Whether he’s pushed across the floor, or pulled along by his string, the soft clacking noise Ducky Duck’s feet make he moves is sure to get your tot moving too. Ducky Duck is recommended for children 12 months and older.

Melissa and Doug Farm 6 Cube Wooden Cube Puzzle ($10.99): The 16 solid wooden blocks in this puzzle depict a different image on each side. By rotating the cubes, your little one can put together a cow, a horse, a duck, a chicken, a pig and a lamb. Of course, your little lamb can have fun just stacking and knocking over the blocks too. We think it would be fun to hide the puzzle cubes as part of your Easter Egg hunt!

Selecta Giant Farmyard Floor Puzzle ($25.50): With 31 sturdy, wipe-clean cardboard pieces, this farmyard floor puzzle, which measures almost 2 feet by 2 feet is a wonderful next step for preschoolers who have mastered their two and four piece puzzles. The bright colours make the puzzle visually appealing, and the detailed illustration means that there is a lot for children to discover as they put the puzzle together. As an added bonus, each of the eight main characters shown in the puzzle is an individual puzzle piece, allowing them to also be used as stencils, or as characters for free play. With so much to offer, this is a puzzle that your preschools will want to play with over and over again.

Yellow Label Hand Crocheted Pink Teapot Set ($45.99): Easter entertaining and warmer weather call for tea parties in the garden, and with this soft, hand crocheted set, the young hostess in your life will be prepared to greet any visitor. The set comes with a tea pot, two tea cups, and two saucers, so all your little one needs to host her party is imagination!

Plan Toys Barn ($99.00): A perfect pick for a family Easter gift, this beautiful two-level Plan Toys Barn will provide hours of fun for children three and older. Complete with a removable wooden ladder, a grain sack, two hay bales, four adjustable fences, a tool set, and even a pail for feeding the horses. The Barn itself is filled with features too, including a pulley to lift your hay bales, and a peak through roof and sides.

Plan Toys Wooden Farm Animals Imaginative Play Set ($30.95): Whether paired with the Plan Toys Barn or given as a gift on its own, this set of six farmyard friends (a cow, a calf, two piglets, a sheepdog, and a sheep) are perfect playthings to put in an Easter basket. Crafted with fantastic details, including an udder on the cow, removable wool on the sheep, and poseable legs on the sheepdog, these animals are educational too.

Vilac Barapapa Wooden Yo-Yo ($12.95): Available in black, pink, orange, and yellow (sold separately), the silly faces and bright colours on these yo-yos makes them a stylish and fun addition to the Easter basket of any child five and over.

4M Enviro Battery Green Science Kit ($15.95): Easter and Earth Day are very close together this year, making this green science kit especially appropriate as an Easter gift for older children. Both kids and adults alike will be fascinated by how natural materials like mud, lemons and water can be used to power a light bulb, a watch, and activate a music chip. This environmentally friendly science kit will help you learn the science behind power, and include detailed instructions on how to create batteries with a variety of objects such as fruit juices, vegetables, coins, utensils. The kit contains enough supplies for at least four different experiments.

Bunnies to Cuddle All Year Long

Bullyland Bunny Natural Rabbit Soft Toy ($29.95): Nature loving children will be sure to appreciate this soft, realistic looking 20 cm bunny with movable front paws. Parents will appreciate that it is made of natural rubber, so it’s safe and easy to clean, safe for the bathtub, and even safe for children with asthma and allergies to dust, since there is no fur to keep clean.

Kathe Kruse Musical Toys (Starting at $50.50): Easter is exciting, but it can be overwhelming too. Pull the string on one of these sweet, 100% cotton musical toys, and the soothing sounds of a traditional German lullaby, will send your little one off to dreamland, even after the busiest day of Easter egg hunting.

Kathe Kruse Bunny Girl Soft Stuffed Animal Rabbit Toy ($65.50): Surprise a special little girl in your life with this gorgeous, hand-made bunny. Stuffed with wool to make her soft, and pellets to give her weight, this bunny girl is sure to become a favourite friend of your little girl.

Happy Easter from all of us here at Ape 2 Zebra! We hope that this season of celebration, renewal and rebirth will be filled with joy for you and your families.