Spring will have officially sprung when Easter arrives this year. Even so, you may want to be prepared for an Easter egg hunt that can be done indoors, if necessary. Kids absolutely love the idea of a hunt for some sort of treasure. While you may do the traditional egg-dyeing, you may want to have some other ‘loot’ to put into the plastic eggs, including some edible goodies.
Here are some fresh, new ideas for planning this year's Easter egg hunt for the kids:
Secret message hunt. Use plastic eggs. Print out short messages for each egg that asks the kids to do a task, such as ‘quack like a duck’ or ‘hop like a bunny.’ When they have found 10 eggs and have done all 10 tasks, they’re eligible to hunt for their basket. Hand them a message, which is the clue they need to find their Easter basket.
Team hunt for a large group of kids. Divide your kids into two teams. Put mismatched plastic egg halves together. Allow a given amount of time for everyone to find as many mismatched eggs as they can, then allow the teams to gather so they can put the correct colors together. Each egg will have a number inside indicating how many pieces of candy each team member receives (think jelly beans or small candy eggs). The team with the most color-correct whole eggs is the winner and earns an additional treat (maybe a small Easter toy, such as a toy chick or bunny or a larger candy treat).
Indoor hunt with clues. This works well if you find your family indoors on Easter morning. Write out clues that take the kids to various places in your home where they’ll find their next clue. Use at least five clues and let the kids find their baskets at the end of the hunt.
Easter bunny track hunt. For younger kids, create ‘bunny tracks’ out of pink paper and leave them where the little ones can follow to find a series of treats.
The golden egg hunt. Do your usual favorite hunt but add an additional treasure. Purchase a large gold egg and fill it with something special. It could contain a treasure for the finder only, or a treat for the whole family, like breakfast out at your family's favorite restaurant, etc.
Easter egg piñata. Buy or make an Easter piñata and provide masks and a stick to open it. You can make a piñata by using an inflated balloon and Paper Mache or decorate a white bag to simulate an egg. Kids enjoy the building anticipation as the piñata begins to crack and shower them with candy.
Glow in the dark hunt. Use glow sticks and larger plastic eggs to create an indoor ‘in the dark’ hunt. You may choose to have the kids find a certain number of glowing eggs to ‘buy’ their basket.
A puzzling hunt. Buy a blank puzzle at your local craft store. Draw a Happy Easter message for the kids, giving them the information they need to find their Easter basket. Place puzzle pieces in plastic eggs and let the fun begin! When the puzzle is assembled, they follow the clue to their Easter goodies.
Make it a relay hunt. With a larger group of children, divide into teams and have one person from each team hunt for a given amount of time, return to tag the next player, and continue until all the kids have had a turn. Provide some sort of extra treat for the winning team. (Be sure all the kids get a fair number of treats after the hunt.)
The more than candy hunt - Have some of the plastic eggs contain small toys or tickets to receive the toys after the hunt. Toys might include balls, tiny toy bunnies or chicks, finger puppets, stickers, etc.
Easter egg hunts are just another way to create healthy family fun. Make sure the younger members of the family get a fair chance to find the treasures. Older kids can pair up with younger ones to help make this happen. Whichever hunt you choose will be a highlight of your Easter celebration this year. Enjoy!
Jan Pierce, M.Ed., is a retired teacher and the author of Homegrown Readers and Homegrown Family Fun. Find her at janpierce.net.
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