The entire Fort Worth Moms Blog team — and a few of our friends and family — shared our favorite egg hunt traditions, and a few new fun ideas to try this year. We hope these suggestions foster lasting memories, heaps of laughter, and some good ol’ familial competition. Happy hunting!
The “Big People” Hunt
Every year, the same thing happens. Easter comes and we have a big potluck dinner after church, then the little people get to participate in our family egg hunt.
The “fun” for us as adults and older kids is this: Buy plastic eggs, stuff eggs, hide eggs, and then sneak the best candies from the those eggs. The little people don’t really appreciate all that goodness, do they?
When my teenage son said, “Mom, we do this egg hunt every year for the little ones. What about us? Can’t we have a hunt too?” So, that was it. I had to make it fun for the big ones as well as the little ones!
That day, we invented the “Big People” Easter egg hunt! The rules are simple so everyone gets in on the fun. We have our hunt immediately after the little ones have theirs. The little people hide our eggs and the oldest of them make sure that none of the eggs get swiped.
The best laughter of the season is when adults of all sizes and ages bound through the yard, nearly falling over to grab eggs off of the ground or wrestle them from each other! When children tell adults to stop fighting over a golden egg, you know everyone is having fun!
All of the “Big People” participants have to buy at least $6.00 in lottery tickets to fill six eggs. They also have to fill at least 18 more eggs with other special things. Through the years, our “Big People” egg fillings have consisted of everything from tickets, to white elephant gifts that have been hanging around houses waiting to get new homes. Gift cards, cookie mixes from Christmas, Valentine’s Day candies, movie posters, yard signs, wine, new socks, unopened games, slippers, scarves, coins, jewelry, you name it. Tag it, and put that tag number in an egg! Someone will appreciate it, or they can do a “swap it” later. (Whatever you didn’t want from the hunt goes on the table and you can “swap it” once, and only once, for a different gift.) This “new” old tradition has become fun for all, both old and young, resulting in many laughs, and always a memorable time.
The Glow-in-the Dark Hunt
Turn out all the lights and have some night time fun. Stuff each plastic egg with a mini glow stick, as well as a small prize, and watch the yard glow . . . and the kids scatter as they try and grab every last egg. Another option would be to put small, battery powered candles in the eggs (a little birdy told us you can see them better). Be sure to put a glow in the dark bracelet and/or necklace on your little ones so you know where they are!
To make it harder for the adults, hide the eggs in the dark and make them use flashlights to find them. If you do this one, though, we recommend you use brightly colored eggs as the adorable pastel ones can make it harder to find in the dark. Be sure to have some “special” prize eggs stuffed with maybe a gift card, or some nice chocolate as an even bigger incentive. If this becomes too easy for your group of adults, you could even combine it with a color coordinated egg hunt.
Color Coordinated Hunt
Everyone has a favorite color right? And for the little ones, this should take some of the potentially nasty competition right out of the picture. Get, or make, lots of different colored eggs. Be sure to count how many of each color you have before hiding them. Before you send the little rascals out to search for their prizes, assign each one a color and tell them that they can ONLY pick up eggs of the color they have been assigned. If they find a different colored egg, leave it for someone else.
If you want to put the competition back in it for the older ones, or even an adult group, give each person a color AND let them know how many of each egg there is. The first one to find all their eggs and get back to a designated spot gets a little extra prize. You may have to set some extra ground rules, like no hiding another person’s color, but this is sure to get everyone out, moving, and excited.
Money, Money Bunny
Show me the money, Bunny! Something sure to amp up everyone, young and old, is the prospect of money. For the little ones, fill each egg with a penny. Any money is still money, right? They are sure to get excited just at the rattling the penny makes inside the plastic egg. For even bigger prizes, you can put pennies in all but three eggs. In those put a $5, $10, and $20. Its sure to be a big shock when they pick up an egg and don’t hear a rattle, but the payoff is even bigger!
For older groups, you can choose the amount you want. One option would be to split up about $100 in different size bills, and even coins, and watch as the adults scramble to try and get the most money. Get the kids involved and have them hide the eggs for their parents.
The Treasure Map Hunt
Okay, there are a lot of ways to do this one. One option is the “treasure map” route. You can tear up pieces of a treasure map, then the kiddos will have to find all of the pieces to the map, and put it together, in order to find their way to the big Easter basket filled with all kinds of goodies. You could also do this with pieces of a custom puzzle depicting either a treasure map, or even where the basket is located.
Another option is one that could last years and years. Rhymes. Stay with me here. One way to do it is that you could write up little rhymes on index cards, each indicating where an egg could be found, and post them around the house. Another option would be to stuff each egg with a rhyme, each saying where the next egg could be found. This could even be used as a map to find a bigger Easter treat. You could up the ante with harder and harder riddles each year as your kids get older.
One last option would be to create a map for each kid telling him or her where each egg is located, indicated by an “x” on the map. The challenge would be to find the egg before someone else has the chance to nab it!
The Balloon Hunt
Perfect for toddlers, or even as an accessible option for disabled children, one option would be to tie a helium balloon around each egg you plan to hide. The balloon not only makes the eggs easier to find, but also easier to grab onto. Bonus: You will never have to worry about eggs not being found!
Cajun Knockin’ Eggs
New and different traditions can sometimes be the best ones. Our New Orleans sister site shared a post about “Knockin’ Eggs.” This game is a test of strength . . . egg strength that is. After eggs are boiled and dyed, each family member claims an egg to be their champion. Players face off and knock the pointy ends of their eggs together until one cracks. The uncracked one moves on and challenges another family member until only one uncracked egg remains. The winner could simply get bragging rights, or your family can decide on a prize, the choice is up to you! Our sister site also includes a recipe for egg salad to go with your Easter dinner. Wouldn’t want those eggs to go to waste, now would we?
Cascarones
Take inspiration from Mexican tradition and make cascarones, or confetti eggs. Essentially egg shells stuffed with confetti and sealed off with tissue paper, this egg hunt will end with everyone running around breaking the eggs above other’s heads and letting the confetti fly. For the little ones, you could even fill the eggs with little toys for them to find. And, sure, it may be messy, but imagine how pretty, and fun, it would be to have some filled with glitter!
Egg Your Neighbor
Looking for something a little topsy-turvy? Why not try egging your neighbors! No, I don’t mean the messy, gross, Halloween kind of egging, rather the kind, Easter, service type of egging. Get plastic eggs and fill them with treats, then take your kids and drive around your neighborhood. Have them hide eggs around a neighbor’s yard, post up a sign (you can use this free printable), and have them ding-dong-ditch the house. Your kids will have so much fun running around, trying to be quiet, but you will also teach them how to do something for others. Imagine the joy on the neighbor kid’s faces when they realize someone left them surprise Easter eggs to hunt!
For some creative ways to decorate your Easter eggs, and even a short tutorial on how to make cascarones, take a look at our “How Many Ways to Dye an Easter Egg?” post!
Many thanks for sharing these great ideas and advises. Happy Easters…