20 Alternatives to Putting Traditional Easter Grass in Your Baskets

Traditional Easter grass can be a messy hassle. Next to loose tinsel on the tree, it is my least favorite thing to try to vacuum off my carpets. It is also a petroleum-based product, so it's not very eco-friendly. Furthermore, the humane society warns that pets can become dangerously ill from mistakenly eating Easter grass.

With a little creativity you can come up with a good alternative to traditional Easter Grass and even compliment the theme (like sports) you may be trying to work around. Aside from the usual shredded paper, raffia suggestions here are several alternatives to traditional Easter grass to consider:

1) Building blocks such as Legos - Just make sure to get an age appropriate sized piece so small kids wont be putting the tiny ones in their mouth

2) Gift bows - Have some green ones left over from Christmas? Pile them into the bottom of the basket - or stick them with the adhesive tab if you are worried they wont stay put!

3) Sports balls - Have a sports enthusiast in your house? Make a sports themed basket! Fill the bottom with baseballs, golf balls and tees, or even tennis balls!

4) Balled up (new!) socks - Colorful peds, or ankle socks for Spring are a favorite of little girls everywhere. Ball some up in little colorful puffs and line the basket with them!

5) Sprouted wheat grass - For a realistic look sprout wheat grass in a container that fits snugly in the bottom of the basket. It will look just as realistic as an outdoor Easter egg hunt - and you can juice it afterwards!

6) Pompons - My son loves to make crafts from pompons. We have filled his basket with a colorful assortment of various sized pompons and he loved it!

7) Felt - a thick layer of felt will accent a basket while leaving a lot of room for putting chunkier toys in. Felt can also be used as a craft supply to make something special after Easter.