Easter Traditions to Start with Your Baby

Once you have a baby, holidays take on a whole new meaning. Suddenly you’ve got a reason to go a bit overboard with the decorations, the outfits and the little rituals that make a day feel special. Easter is a lovely one to start with, because even a very young baby can be part of it in some small way, even if that just means watching from your arms while everyone else hunts for eggs.

It doesn’t matter if your baby is six weeks old or eleven months old this Easter. They won’t remember it, but you will, and the traditions you start now are the ones that tend to stick around for years. Here are some ideas worth trying, along with a few practical notes on keeping things safe and age appropriate.

Easter Egg Hunt

An egg hunt is the obvious place to start, and you can scale it to whatever your baby can actually do. For a young baby who isn’t mobile yet, this might just mean sitting on a blanket while older siblings or cousins hunt around them, or handing them a soft fabric egg to hold and shake. For a new crawler or walker, a simple indoor hunt with four or five eggs left in plain sight is plenty. You don’t need to hide anything cleverly this year. The novelty of a shiny plastic egg is enough.

A few practical points worth thinking about:

• Plastic eggs and their contents are a choking hazard for babies and young toddlers, so keep hunts supervised and check what’s inside each egg before your baby gets hold of it. Avoid small items like jelly beans, mini chocolates or tiny toys if your baby is still mouthing things.
• Fill eggs with things that are safe if a baby gets one open: soft fabric scraps, a folded piece of paper, a teething toy, or a small board book. Save the sweets for older siblings.
• Real dyed eggs left out for a hunt can spoil if they sit at room temperature for more than a couple of hours, so if you’re using boiled eggs rather than plastic ones, keep the hunt short.

Dyeing and Decorating Eggs

This one is genuinely tricky with a baby in the mix, and that’s fine. You’re not aiming for a Pinterest-worthy result this year. Babies love new textures, colours and the sensation of getting a bit messy, so even dipping a finger in a bit of dye or pressing a sticker onto an egg counts as taking part.

If you do want to involve your baby directly, a few things are worth knowing. Standard food-safe egg dye kits (the ones with vinegar and food colouring tablets) are non-toxic in small amounts, but you still don’t want a baby drinking dyed water or putting a dye tablet in their mouth, so keep a close eye on hands and faces and wash up straight away. If your baby is still at the stage of putting everything in their mouth, stickers, washable paint dabbed on with a sponge, or simply letting them hold a hard-boiled egg while you decorate the rest is a much easier and safer option. Save the vinegar and dye tablets for when they’re a bit older and can follow “don’t drink it” instructions.

Easter Brunch

A family breakfast or brunch is an easy tradition to start because it doesn’t require much beyond a bit of extra effort in the kitchen. Waffles, eggs done a few different ways, bacon, sausages, toast, fruit and pancakes all work well for a table that mixes adults and older children.

Your baby probably won’t eat much of it this year, and that’s completely normal. If they’ve started solids, small amounts of soft foods like mashed banana, well-cooked scrambled egg (once egg has been introduced safely, so check with your health visitor or GP if you haven’t started it yet) or soft toast fingers can let them join in at the table without you worrying about choking risks. If they’re still exclusively on milk, just having them in their highchair or on your lap while everyone eats together is enough to make it a tradition. The point isn’t what they eat, it’s that they’re there.

Easter Photo

A yearly Easter photo, taken in the same spot each year if you can manage it, is one of the simplest traditions and one of the most rewarding to look back on. Somewhere in your garden, in front of a tree, or on the same armchair inside all work fine. You don’t need the mall Easter Bunny for this to be special, though that’s a fun option too if your baby is happy being held by someone in a costume (some babies love it, some are terrified, so don’t force it).

If you’re taking outdoor photos, keep sun exposure in mind. Babies under six months shouldn’t be in direct sun for any length of time, and sunscreen generally isn’t recommended for babies under six months either, so use shade, a hat and light clothing rather than relying on sunscreen. For babies over six months, a small amount of baby-safe sunscreen on exposed skin is fine, but your GP or health visitor can advise if you’re unsure.

Easter Basket or Gifts

This is probably the most personal tradition on this list, because you get to decide what goes in it. For a first Easter basket, think soft and simple rather than sweet and small. A muslin blanket, a teething toy, a soft-cover or cloth book, a rattle or a small stuffed animal are all lovely, age-appropriate first gifts.

Skip anything with small parts, ribbon that could pose a strangulation risk, or plastic grass, which is a genuine choking hazard and surprisingly easy for a baby to get a fistful of. If older siblings are getting chocolate and sweets in their baskets, it’s worth keeping your baby’s basket in a separate spot, since it only takes a moment for a curious younger sibling to get hold of something they shouldn’t. As your baby grows into a toddler and beyond, you can build on this tradition and make the basket more personal each year, but that first one is a nice thing to keep a photo of.

Plant an Easter Garden or Tree

Planting something living on your baby’s first Easter is a lovely, low-cost tradition that grows alongside your child. A small tree gives you a natural spot for that yearly photo and something tangible to point to as they get older (“we planted this the year you were born”). A bed of flowers or bulbs works just as well if you don’t have space or time for a tree, and ties in nicely with the “new beginnings” feel of spring.

If your baby is old enough to be out on the grass, this is also a nice excuse for some outdoor time. Just check your garden for anything obviously unsafe before letting a crawling baby loose, things like slug pellets, certain bulbs and some common garden plants aren’t safe if a baby puts them in their mouth, so it’s worth doing a quick check or asking your local garden centre if you’re planting something new.

Making It Your Own

You don’t need to do all of these in one year, and you definitely don’t need to do them perfectly. Pick the two or three that feel most like “you” as a family and build from there. Your baby won’t remember their first Easter egg hunt or that slightly wonky first photo, but you will, and that’s really the point of starting these traditions early.

Happy Easter!

Read our other articles on Easter:

Baby Easter Bonnet Ideas: An Adorable Easter Accessory

More ideas for baby’s first Easter Basket