How to Have an Easter Egg Hunt (from Hiding Eggs to Eating Chocolate)

There are two sides to every awesome Easter Egg hunt – the hiders and the hunters. While most of us start out as egg hunters, we’ve transitioned to egg hiders as newer, younger hunters have come into our lives. (They’re lower to the ground, so it makes egg hunting that much easier.) 😉

I’ve embraced my role as an Easter egg hider and have just as much fun hiding the eggs as I imagine the egg hunters have finding the eggs.

Here are a few tips for how to prepare for and have an amazing Easter egg hunt.

Choose the Right Eggs

There are a couple of options for Easter Egg Hunt eggs – hard-boiled or plastic. You do not want to use uncooked eggs for an Easter Egg hunt.

With hard-boiled eggs, you can have a little bit of pre-hunt fun by dying the eggs fun colors or putting stickers on them. With plastic eggs, you can fill the eggs with some of your favorite candy or fun (but cheap) loot (think dollar store plastic rings, toys, etc.)

I’ve always preferred plastic eggs since 1) they won’t start to smell if someone doesn’t find it and 2) I love putting the goodies inside each egg. I usually fill the plastic eggs with 1 or 2 pieces of small candy. Hershey’s has some great options for filling plastic eggs, such as their CADBURY Mini Eggs or HERSHEY’S Cookies ‘n’ Creme Eggs.

Have an Easter Basket

Or an old bucket. We’re looking for something that the hunters can use to put their eggs in. I recommend a basket that is light weight and has a long handle. The longer handle makes it easier for the hunters to put the eggs in their baskets. Line the bottom of the basket with some plastic “grass” or crumpled paper so the eggs don’t break or split apart as they go in the basket. Egg hunters don’t always handle their egg-finds delicately.

Hiding the Eggs

Before you hide the eggs, make sure the hunters are inside and away from windows so curious eyes can’t watch you hide the eggs. You can hide the eggs just before the hunt or pre-plan and hide the eggs that morning before anyone arrives. Take a quick egg count so you know how many eggs you’ll be hiding and so you know when they’ve all been found.

Tall grass is great for hiding eggs…and is an excuse to not mow the lawn the week before.

There’s a strategy for hiding Easter eggs. Hide the eggs in proportion to the age and height of the children who will be hunting for the eggs. If you have very young kids, you want the eggs somewhat “obviously” hidden and lower to the ground, for example in the grass or in a flower pot. Using brightly colored eggs will make it easier for the young hunters to find them.

For older and taller kids, you can make the hiding places a little more difficult. If you scope out the area you’ll be hiding the eggs, you can tell what rocks, bushes, etc. are easily spotted and which ones aren’t so obvious. For the more advanced hunters, you can put eggs in bushes, behind rocks, behind pillows of patio furniture, etc.

Finding the Eggs

This is the easiest part and the part I have the most fun. Open the doors and let the egg hunters do their thing. As an egg hider, it’s so much fun for me to see which eggs are found first, and admittedly I have a bit of smugness when one of the more advanced hunters runs by a well-hidden egg.

Younger hunters might need a little bit of help either holding the baskets or finding the eggs. If you have both young and older kids participating in the hunt, consider letting the younger ones go hunting first so they can get some eggs before the older egg hunters start running around. It doesn’t hurt to have a few extra eggs on hand so you can add eggs to baskets that need them. 🙂

If it seems like there are some eggs that you hid a little bit TOO well, you can turn the hunt into a game of hot/cold to help the hunters find their way. Let them know if they’re getting hotter to the egg as they get closer, or colder as they move away. Encourage the kids to keep looking as long as there are eggs.

After the Hunt

Virtually ever hunt I’ve been to or participated in has ended the same way. All the kids sitting on the ground, their baskets in front of them, counting how many eggs they got, seeing what’s inside, and sampling any candy that was found.

This is also when I really enjoy the perks of being an egg hider – I’ve got dibs on all the extra candy that doesn’t make it into the eggs. Since the kiddos have their eggs, the adults can enjoy some of the extra goodies left behind. This year, we received an amazing basket for Hershey’s that is being much appreciated. 🙂

The chocolate bunny is still in one piece ….for now.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. Your experiences may be different. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive a free product from the manufacturer or their representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.