Easter Shopping!

so, i'm not sure how it works in your house, but in mine easter has never been a surprise. my kids have always known who the "easter bunny" is and what is in store for them. i'm not certain how that happened since we are big into holidays, and all the traditions that go with them. needless to say, easter meant candy-in-eggs for my family, and little else. until one of my excellent sister-in-laws had the fabulous idea of an "easter store". since, we have moved far and away from all of our family, i have tweaked her idea a bit to work with just our little family. first, each child has a predetermined egg color to ease the stress of everyone finding the same number of eggs. about 5-10 of each of their eggs are filled (lightly) with their favorite easter candy, almost always chocolate of some kind. then about 5-10 more of their eggs are filled with coins. pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters. those coins are used to go "shopping" at the "store". my husband sends 1 child in at a time to our office where i have set up a display of items geared specifically toward that child. books, dvd's, toys, craft supplies etc. no junk toys that will be breaking within the week. all the items i scour clearance and sale bins for, and save up to use at the store. each item is 1-4 coins. the child can choose to purchase all the items (they have enough coins in their eggs to do so) or they can choose to save their money and put in their piggy banks. my kids love this! they love the freedom of the choosing, and knowing that they can choose to keep all their money if they'd like. i love it, because my family eats way less candy, and they are using their brains to decide what they really want. i also love that we have removed buying silly little trinkets with little value or durability, in favor of things the kids really want and are super happy to receive. and, of course the true easter story is presented and discussed many times, and my sister liz has some fabulous ideas on that a little later on!