Fun Easter Ideas for Young Children and Older Kids

Easter is coming up and one of my family's favorite things to do that day is to hunt for the eggs that we dyed the night before. For millions of families across the nation, Easter egg hunts have become a yearly tradition, either within one's own home or at a local organized Easter egg hunt. Whether your family celebrates Easter alone, with relatives, or even with other families, the Easter egg hunt is often the highlight of the day for the children.

Coming up for unique ideas for your Easter egg hunt might be tough, so here are some of my tried and true techniques.

Young children:

When dealing with small children egg hunts can become more frustrating than fun if the eggs are hidden in hard to find places. For young children a good idea is to buy large plastic eggs that are brightly colored. You can buy several dozen very cheaply close to Easter Sunday at most drug and general stores. These large neon eggs are easier to spot, and can be filled with a prize such as candies, toys, or even a real egg that would be hard to find otherwise. Make sure when hiding these eggs to take the age of the children into account, and don't put toys that are too small into the Easter eggs to reduce a choking risk.

Good places to hide these eggs inside include on windowsills, in small drawers, in a clothesbasket, halfway hidden in couch and chair cushions and generally anywhere that isn't too high for the smallest child to reach. Outdoors you can make the eggs easier to find by hiding the bright eggs in contrasting colors. Put bright pink in the grass, blue by some flowers, and yellows near dirt piles, or other opposite colored places. If you can glance around and see a majority of the Easter eggs, you're set.

Older children:

I remember looking for eggs well into my early teens, and if it is done right it can be a very fun way to connect with older children. Prizes can go a long way for an older child, as long as it is age appropriate. Consider buying smaller, dull plastic eggs so you can put money or gift certificates in the egg. If you are going this route make sure you keep track of a diagram that has all money eggs listed on it, in the off chance that you are such an excellent egg hider that no one can remember where they are placed.

If you would rather go the dyed Easter egg route, consider drawing on the eggs with a white crayon before dying them. You can write a money amount ($1, $5, $20, etc.) or even a word that indicates a prize. The good thing is that these eggs can never be found and it won't set you back, so you won't have to keep a chart of the Easter egg locations.

Hiding eggs for older children can be both fun and a challenge. Of course you are going to want to place eggs in places where the colors almost camouflage them. Place a light pink egg in with light pink flowers or a bright green egg in a patch of overgrown grass. Try placing eggs in wood piles, in the branches of trees, under decks and piles of leaves, and even in gutter drains. Find places that provide a natural camouflage because of color and texture. If hiding inside you will have to be a little more creative and you may even have to set up obstacles for the kids. Place an egg so high that they have to find a step stool! Also place them in places kids don't normally go, like the washer and dryer or dishwasher!

Another fun thing to do is to take your children to a city sponsored Easter egg hunt. Often they will have regular eggs, plastic eggs with prizes inside and specialty eggs that can be redeemed for a larger prize. They also separate children into age groups so the younger kids can find the easier eggs without being overtaken by older children. It is also a great opportunity to bond with friends and meet new families.

If none of those ideas fit into your lifestyle, consider a treasure hunt. Starting with a map for young ones and adding in rhyming clues ("To find clue number two, look where mommy keeps her shoes!") that can be easily deciphered by children. Have each clue lead to a new clue and prize combo. At the end the prize can be something like a decked out Easter basket or a new toy. Follow the same pattern for older kids, but make the clues harder puzzles and at the end you can have new music, movies or something else age-appropriate for the prize.

No matter what you choose to do on Easter, remember it is a day to spend with your family. Whether going to church or staying home is your thing there are opportunities all day to make fun family traditions. Easter only comes around once a year, but the happy memories will last a lifetime.