Having an Easter Egg hunt is simple, right? You hide the eggs and then let the kids find them. Easy, right?
If you’re wanting to take this year’s hunt to the next level, here’s 11 clever tricks to take it up a notch!
Ditch what you’ve done before and before and aim for something bigger, better and more exciting this Easter!
1. Setup a Bunny Print Trail
Imagine waking up and following the bunny clues around the house and into the garden. Especially good for toddlers who could follow rabbit footprints egg to egg this is an adorable way to add some egg-stra fun to your hunt. There’s free printables here to get you started or the good old talcum powder and template idea is always a winner! If you want something more elaborate Stuck on You have personalised ones (or you could make your own!)
2. Have a night before hunt with a torch (or lit by glow sticks)
Better for older kids but adding to some real pre-Easter excitement is the night before hunt by torch light. Even better use glow sticks to light the path to the eggs for a truly magical experience. Set the mood after bath time with some cute kids torches and buckets and tell them it’s time to venture out into the yard… surprise!
3. Have a colour coded egg hunt to avoid fights
Got one child that always seems to have six-tonne of eggs and another who finds three? It generally ends with tears right? This year allocate each child an egg colour and then the chocolate will be distributed more evenly. You can then hide the older (or better hunters) eggs in more tricky spots to make for fairer play. Cheers to a tears free egg hunt!
4. Have your hunt indoors – it can be just as much fun!
If the weather’s wet or you’ve got local animals or pets that might ruin the fun an indoors hunt can be as fun as an outdoor one! Hide the eggs all through the home and enjoy the better sleep that comes with not getting up at 3am to hide the eggs through the freezing cold garden. Dry slippers are a bonus!
5. Host a scavenger hunt with clever clues
If you kids are older and can tear around the yard in 3 minutes and the hunt is over before it even began, its time to give them a challenge and make it a little bit more complex. Write clues they have to follow from location to location, watch them become enthusiastic detectives as they solve the clues. Here’s a great example.
6. End your hunt with an surprise Easter piñata
Once the trail is followed instead of the traditional egg basket or giant chocolate rabbit finale why not end on Easter piñata? Leave the sticks ready and the blindfold in waiting, kids will be excited to discover just as they think the fun is over, there’s a whole new activity to enjoy! Wondering how to make one Oh Happy Day has a great tutorial.
7. Have a mummy egg count for sanity and pets
This might seem strange but its actually good to know how many eggs you’ve hidden. Firstly you’ll be able to count off and tell the kids there’s “Five eggs still not found..” and if you’ve a dog (for whom chocolate can be lethal) you’ll know that all the sweets are safe from little paws. If you’ve hidden eggs in the house this can also be a life-saver, nobody wants to discover that last chocky two weeks after Easter when a trail of ants highlight its undiscovered location!
8. Create an egg map for extra egg-citement
Older kids will love the idea of a treasure hunt style experience with a map to guide their exploration! If you’ve a larger yard or can hunt in a park, a map is a great way to add some pirate-style intrigue to your egg hunt and make it a little more engaging for the bigger children. This map template is a cool, free printable.
9. Hide the eggs in less expected locations
Children expect the eggs to be scattered along the ground, in pot plants and at eye level. If you’re kids are little bit older don’t be afraid to make it trickier. Think things like inside shoes that might be near the back door, balanced in the fork of branchy shrubs, in the clothesline peg basket, balanced on window sills and more. There’s no limit to how hard you can make it. If you’re feeling crafty hollow eggs can also be pierced with a needle and cotton and hung from trees. They look gorgeous and are sure to delight!
10. Make your Easter egg hunt bigger than ever!
If you’re feeling in the spirit a whole street or neighbourhood egg hunt is a fabulous idea. More kids is more fun when it comes to hunting! Just like the Christmas street party a neighbour egg hunt could be a new tradition. It’s a great way to bring the community together.
11. Use gorgeous details to add the whimsy (it makes for great pics!)
This is a total bonus for mums who love to photograph their family experiences but if you’re going to document your egg hunt here’s a few tips to make your photos all the more lovely! Dress the kids in their cute (and clean) pyjamas the night before, buy some adorable Easter baskets and use some printable free signs! Don’t forget to shoot adorable detail shots that are filler for your album pages as well as shots of little hands filled with eggs and little mouths filled with chocolate! We love these from Lia Griffith.
Whatever hunt you have at your house, enjoy every minute mum! These are the moments that memories are made of, soak it all in and feel the joy of Easter through your children’s eyes! Hop to it!
