With Easter fast approaching, it’s time to start planning for the holiday break – the highlight of which is undoubtedly the traditional backyard Easter egg hunt. Follow our tips and tricks to ensure your hunt is a success for all the kids, without being a stress on the adults.
You don’t need to spend months planning the details, but a little forward thinking will ensure your hunt goes as smoothly as possible. If you’re planning on inviting friends and neighbours, bear in mind that lots of people will be going away, so opting to have your hunt either side of Easter might be the best bet for maximum attendance – especially if you don’t get those invites out early.
Mornings or late afternoons are usually the best times for a hunt, as the midday sun has a tendency to make a melty, chocolaty mess in your garden.
Age can also have an impact on the types and quantities of treats you pick for your kids, though in general, everyone loves a traditional chocolate egg (even the adults).
Don’t forget to:
If your Easter egg hunt involves children from a wide range of age groups, then you might want to consider running the hunt in heats – starting with the younger children. Letting the younger kids go first means they won’t be beaten to every egg by their older siblings and friends. This ensures everyone has a good time and gets an opportunity to enjoy the hunt and some delicious chocolate.
It’s easy enough to ask everyone to bring their own baskets, but there’s always one kid who forgets! Having baskets prepared is easy, and you can even let your creativity shine with a quick coat of paint and some stickers to get in the Easter spirit. If you don’t feel like purchasing buckets and baskets, why not borrow from friends? Upturned hats and kitchen bowls are great in a pinch, too!
Count your chocolate eggs before you hide them. Knowing how many eggs are out there in the wild before they start hunting will help you bring the hunt to a close once it’s done.
It’s also important to ensure chocolate isn’t left lying in the garden. Chocolate is severely toxic for dogs, so cleaning up leftover eggs is important if you or your neighbours have dogs. Also, sweets can attract ants and other pests if left for too long, not to mention leaving litter and mess through your garden.
Depending on where the egg hunt is taking place, you’ll want to ensure there are no obvious areas where children can get themselves into trouble. If the hunt happens indoors, move hard furnishings or add temporary protection. Clean up the backyard and make sure there’s no garden equipment lying around. Similarly, make sure there’s no wet areas and keep an eye on steep driveways or footpaths. Kids get excited during a hunt, and can easily make mistakes if you’re not prepared.
While you want the egg hunt to be a challenge, the idea isn’t to make the chocolates unfindable. Think about how the kids are likely to search, and consider the eyeline of the average kid. They are probably shorter than you and with less reach, so hiding eggs up too high or in hard to reach places is probably not a good idea.
Try to meet their expectations and make the hiding spots fun but findable. That’s part of what brings delight for children on an egg hunt.
That garden gnome? Probably a great place to hide an egg. Got lots of small, brightly coloured eggs? Dot them across the lawn. You can even camouflage them in furniture or decorations, like along a row of backyard ornaments. You want the egg hunt to be fast, fun and exciting, so if in doubt, err on the side of hiding them in easy to spot places. That way, you’ll ensure your Easter egg hunt is a tremendous success (…and that the kids aren’t still searching for eggs past nightfall).
