Easter Egg Hunt Ideas For Children

Easter in the UK used to be all about chocolate and church and not much else, but in recent years all this has changed and it’s now a much bigger event than it once was.

 

That’s a great thing for the kids as it means they now have something to look forward to in the springtime, and it’s a great thing for parents and carers too because it means you can create some wonderful family traditions that can go on for generations. But how? Is it as easy as hiding a few choccy eggs around the house and hoping the dog doesn’t find them before the kids do?

 

Not if you want to make those special memories!

 

Here are some egg-cellent ideas on how to create fantatically fun Easter egg hunts for children; some require patience, some require planning, but all will give you some fabulous Easter fun.

 

 

Decorate The Baskets

When your little ones go out on their Easter egg hunt they will need somewhere to place the eggs when they find them. Traditionally this has always been a wicker basket, but you can use a paper bag if you prefer. You can use any kind of container really, but the point of this exercise is that your children can decorate their containers before the day of the hunt, making them unique and special, and using up some of that excited energy in the process.

 

Use felt tips for colour and cut out foam or paper shapes to stick on. Add some glitter, some sparkles, some stickers – whatever you want.

 

If you’re really into arts and crafts you might choose to make your own baskets out of papier mache. Simply place the newspaper/wallpaper paste combo over one half of a blown up balloon and allow to dry. Burst the balloon you’ll be left with a basket that you can decorate any way you wish.

 

 

What Are The Rules?

In order to make things as fun and fair as possible, you’re going to need to set out some rules at the beginning. ‘Fun’ and ‘rules’ don’t always go together, but in a case like this it’s necessary. You don’t want some children finding all of the eggs and others finding nothing; that’s not going to go down too well. So one rule that you can make is that once a child has found a certain number of eggs, they need to come back to base until everyone has done the same. Then, assuming there are any eggs left, they can go off hunting again. It means everyone gets the same number of eggs.

 

You might want to have the kids working in pairs, with one older child and one younger child working together. Or you can split the garden into half, with the little ones on one side and the older ones on the other (and their eggs will be harder to find).

 

 

Add Activities

Instead of a simple hunt for chocolate eggs, why not add some enjoyment to the whole thing by setting up some activity stations? Each child will need to complete some kind of activity, make something, do something (it’s your choice) before they can start searching for the eggs in that area, for example. It will certainly make the game last for longer, and it’s a lot of fun too. Imagine the giggles that will ensue when they start working out what they’re meant to do!

 

 

Include A Golden Egg

You can have an equal amount of smaller eggs for everyone, but you might also want to hide one larger egg – ideally wrapped in golden foil – somewhere much harder to find. This will be the ultimate prize and should only be searched for when all the other eggs have been collected. Another similar idea is hiding a golden ticket somewhere along the hunt. The person who finds it can claim a bigger prize. You can choose what it is, or they can pick something they really want (within reason, of course!).  

 

 

Write Clues

An Easter egg hunt is fun all on its own, but with clues it’s even better. This is probably better suited to slightly older kids – the ones who can read the clues by themselves and therefore won’t need to much help to work out the puzzles as they hunt for the eggs. Making a treasure hunt out of an Easter egg game makes it last a lot longer, and puts some brain power behind each find. For younger children (or older ones who don’t like working out Easter egg hunt clues) a simple treasure map might be a better option. They’ll just need to follow it to find all the eggs.

 

 

Easter Cracker

Just like the jokes in a Christmas cracker, you can add little slips of paper where the eggs are with Easter jokes on them. They don’t have to be clever, just silly; the kids will crack up (get it?) when they read them. You can find plenty of examples of these kinds of jokes online.

 

 

Go Indoors

If the weather isn’t conducive to enjoying your Easter egg hunt outdoors, don’t worry; indoors can be just as fun. In fact, there might be even more spaces inside than there are outside, especially if you are writing clues. Whatever the weather you should be able to organise the perfect Easter egg hunt for your children, making this time of year extra special.

 

 

More Than Eggs

Easter eggs are clearly the main attraction – who doesn’t love a bite of creamy chocolate? – but that doesn’t mean eggs are the only thing you can hide. To break up the chocolate trail and make sure that the kids don’t eat too much that isn’t good for them you could swap eggs for little toys in some cases. You could even write promises on a piece of paper for them to find. This is a lovely idea as prizes can include being able to stay up for an extra 15 minutes or getting to choose their favourite dinner or even going for a day out of their choosing. Don’t forget the eggs as well though!

 

 

Whatever you choose to do with your children over Easter make it a good one; this is a time for fun and family, for chocolate and, if you want to, church. It’s a special time of year when the spring has finally sprung and winter has been vanquished, so don’t let it pass by without some kind of celebration, will you? Enjoy!