CANDY! CANDY! CANDY! 

A few years ago, my Sister-in-law and I decided that we needed to provide our children with at least one Easter Egg Hunt that didn’t involve teeth rotting goodies.  We didn’t want to fill the eggs with party favor trinkets that would break in two seconds, but wanted to also keep the cost down. Depending on the year, we have six to twelve cousins, ages 2 to 15, that participate in the hunt. 

Here’s how we make this candy-less egg hunt happen:

• To reduce stress, we assign a different color egg to each child. We fashion a necklace out of an egg of their color for the younger children who need help remembering that detail.  
• We buy the small, under $4.00, Lego sets, puzzles or other toys with multiple parts. We use toys with larger pieces for the younger children.
• A few parts are placed in each egg, and the eggs are taped or hot glued to secure.  

• After the eggs are collected, each child has a separate area to organize their items. Here, they play or complete their project.

Voila!  A way to have an hour or two of inexpensive Easter Egg Hunt fun without the sugar rush!  

Another fun twist on the egg hunt:

This year, we hosted an early hunt during the first weekend of April. Since we had a couple of children who had to be inside due to asthma, we turned the festivities into a scavenger hunt.  We provided clues in the eggs such as “if you’re in a hungry mood, go here to find some food.” After traveling through the house via the eggs, the prize was still a Lego set or a puzzle.

As the kids get older, I can see just putting money in the eggs! It’s simple no matter what we choose to use!

Finally…a scavenger hunt:

The second hunt we will be doing is for my fourth-grade son and roughly 12 of his friends.  It will be a neighborhood scavenger hunt. Each team of 3 or 4 kids will receive a map and their first clue at our home.  This clue will lead them to the next home, and the next clue in a plastic egg. They will repeat this process until they wind up at the home that contains their bag of prizes. Their prizes include things bubbles, chalk, and loose change.

Don’t worry!  The kids still get plenty of candy at other hunts and activities during the season.  This year we are even adding a “Blind Peeps Taste Challenge” to our family fun.

This is a fun, new tradition that everyone in the family seems to enjoy!