10 Tips for the Perfect Easter Egg Hunt

Easter is fast approaching… without a doubt, the highlight of my three year old’s year. As soon as the first day of Spring arrived my daughter started asking “Is it Easter yet?”, closely followed by “it’s taking a long time”, when I told her there were a few weeks to go! You may be forgiven for thinking its the thought of those chocolate eggs that has Erin on the countdown, but you’d be wrong! She is counting down to our annual Easter Egg hunt, something that her and my nephew absolutely love.

Last year we were really lucky with the weather. We are lucky to have a ginormous garden, with lots of nooks and crannies for hiding eggs. I hid the eggs in pairs – blue eggs for Nathan and pink eggs for Erin, all filled with a variety of edible and non edible gifts. They had such a fun time, running around in the fresh air, hunting high and low, and helping each other locate the eggs we had hidden before popping them into their Easter baskets.

Here are my tips to having a fun Easter Egg Hunt in your own home:

1. Hide multiple eggs in the same place or have a different colour egg for each child – this prevents arguments and stops older children from having an advantage and finding them all really fast. It also encourages team work. Last year with different coloured eggs for Erin and Nathan, and they worked really well together, sometimes finding each others eggs and leading each other to them excitedly!

2. Think outside the choc! Many supermarkets now sell Easter Egg Hunt packs of chocolate eggs which is great for a traditional Easter Egg Hunt, but it doesn’t all have to be edible – Erin in fact preferred the eggs that she had to open for a surprise… (Surely its not just my child that is obsessed with Kinder Egg Surprise Videos on YouTube!!!). We use plastic eggs – which you can open up and fill with small treats such as:

• Mashems / Fashems
• Lego Mini Figures
• Hair Slides / Clips
• Temporary Tattoos
• Stickers
• Hot Wheels type cars
• Plastic Jewellery
• Fluffy Easter Chicks
• Bouncy Balls
• Mini packets of Haribo

3. Make some harder to find than others – Some easy ones in the beginning creates a bit of a buzz and helps younger children understand what they are trying to achieve. Too easy, and the hunt will be over before it’s even started!!

4. Consider using arrows or clues to direct children to the next egg – this works particularly well with pre-schoolers or school age children who are better at following instructions.  BBC Good Food mag have some great printable clues which work brilliantly, as well as some ideas for some yummy Easter snacks.

5. This goes without saying, but if you are using chocolate eggs, ration how many the children can eat straight away. Make this clear before you start otherwise you could end up with some VERY hyperactive children on your hands!

6. Pro long the activity by asking children to design their own basket in advance – this is a really fun build up activity, and again increases the anticipation of the hunt itself. We didn’t do this last year but this is something we are adding in for 2017! 🙂 Erin and Nathan loved showing each other the baskets they had on the day. You may also want to consider other Easter activities to be involved in on the day. This year we are making Chocolate Bird Nests and having some Easter printables laid out for colouring in. The hunt alone can finish fairly quickly, and it is nice to make a day of it when you have the family together.

7. Have a back up plan in case it is raining. If you have used clues – have some options for around the house options in case you need to come indoors.

8. Tell the children how many eggs they have to find each – this also encourages them to keep counting what is inside their basket! Fun and educational! 🙂

9. Make a note of where you’ve hidden them all just in case you forget! 🙂 – Trust me, I learned this the hard way! The last thing you want is them hunting for that elusive last egg and you to have a moment of memory loss!

10. Consider a special prize for the GOLDEN EGG – this works better when there are more than two children taking part, as with just 2 you may have one ‘jib face’ for the one who doesn’t win. In a larger group this works really well and can be an extra treat.

Did you do an Easter Egg Hunt last year? What other tips would you provide?

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