Have the best Easter egg hunt ever!
Make this traditional treat egg-stra special by throwing in some Easter bunny craft activities and making sure every kid gets their fair share of prizes…
1 Make bunny invitations!
Get your kids to cut out invitations in the shape of Easter bunnies, using colorful construction paper; or, if you want to include the neighborhood kids, post flyers locally. If you want to keep the kids under a certain age and would prefer parents to stay, make it clear on the flyer – otherwise you could get hordes of teens turning up or be left to babysit a flock of pre-schoolers!
2 Gather your eggs
Buy brightly colored plastic eggs in bulk from your local dollar store or supermarket – you’ll need 6-8 eggs per child.
3 Easter baskets
Ask everyone to bring their own basket, but as a precaution stock up on some cheap ones in case anyone forgets.
4 Make Easter baggies!
Or what about having the kids make special egg bags? It’ll keep them entertained before you’re ready to start the hunt! Use paper lunch bags and get the kids to draw on bunny faces they can decorate with scraps of fabric and paper, sequins and glitter glue.
5 Bunny masks
If you want to extend the craft session before the egg hunt begins, what about getting the kids to make bunny masks? You’ll need plain white paper plates with a third cut out of the bottom so they fit the top of each child’s face. Cut out eye holes so they’ll be able to see the eggs, glue cotton balls onto the plates to form the bunny’s ‘fur’ and cut the remaining third of the paper plate in half to glue on as ears. Use elastic thread to attach the masks.
6 Easter bonnet parade
Ask the kids to make and bring their own Easter bonnet and hand out award certificates for the best efforts.
7 Eyes on the prize…
You can buy packs of kid-size candy to put in the eggs, or ring the changes (and avoid a bunch of sugar-high kids trashing your house and yard!) by filling them with healthier snacks like raisins and rice cakes, or party bag trinkets: stickers, kids’ tattoos, beads, key chains, plastic jewelry.
8 Keep age in mind
If you have the space, dividing the hunt into different areas according to the ages of the kids who’ll be there ( for example, one area for under-3s, one for 4-6 year olds and one for 7+). This should ensure that the bigger kids don’t mow down the younger ones and find all the eggs first! Clearly mark the boundaries or color-code the eggs for different ages – for example, red for under-3s and so on. Make the eggs for the younger kids easier to find too.
9 All’s fair…
To avoid sulking from kids who find fewer eggs, you could have a rule so each child needs to find only 5-6 eggs, or write each child’s name on a specific number of eggs.
10 Treasure trove
You can make the hunt more interesting for older kids by combining it with a treasure hunt. Instead of putting candy and trinkets in the plastic eggs, fill each one with clues that lead to a prize, or numbers – as soon as a child reaches a certain number he can claim a prize. Keep it fair by teaming kids into groups of two or three to search for a specific color egg. Each color set of eggs should contain a complete set clues that leads the kids to a prize.
11 Hopalong
Get the kids in character: as well as wearing their bunny masks, get them to hop from egg to egg! It’ll help to make the hunt last longer (you’d be surprised how quickly kids track down the eggs it took you hours to hide!).
12 Stay safe
Under-3s could choke on small candy and toys, so bear this in mind when you fill their eggs. And if you’re having several children, keep your first-aid kit handy just in case!