Mix it up for this year’s egg hunt with some of these fun, unique ideas.

By: Amanda Formaro

Children already bubble with excitement at the prospect of finding hidden eggs with tiny treasures inside Why not mix things up a little this year and try something a little different?

(Note: Always make note of where you have hidden all the eggs so that they are all accounted for at the end of the hunt.)

Here are some creative ways to host your egg hunt this year!

“Follow the Clues” Hunt
Hand children a written clue for where the first egg is hidden. Once they find it, they'll receive another clue to help them find the next egg. Use up to a dozen eggs for each child, depending on their age and attention span. Write the clues on small pieces of paper and place them inside plastic eggs or taped or rubber banded to real eggs. The final egg will lead to a basket of treats or other treasures.

“Twilight” Hunt
If you don't think your kids will want to wait until the evening of the holiday, plan a twilight hunt for the night before. At dusk, hand children flashlights and head outside for a fun evening filled with laughter. If you're really feeling creative, wrap small glow sticks or glow bracelets in rubber bands to hold their shape and close inside plastic eggs.

“Color Coded Egg” Hunt
This idea works particularly well for families with more than one child and can be done for varying age ranges. Assign each child his or her own color. If a child finds an egg that is not their color, they are to leave it where they find it. Optionally, you can add a bit of friendly competition to the hunt by choosing a "bonus" color. This bonus color has only one egg hidden, and the child who finds it wins a special prize or even a title (i.e. King of the Egg Hunt, Princess Egg Hunter, etc).

“Puzzle” Egg Hunt
Write a message to your children or draw a picture on a piece of paper. Cut the paper into puzzle pieces. Hide the puzzle pieces in some of your eggs. Have children piece together the pieces that they find. They can trade puzzle pieces for a small trinket.

Once the puzzle is complete, it will reveal a message or picture showing the grand prize (treat basket, trip to the park, cuddle time, etc.) or simply a message of love.

“List of Eggs” Hunt
Create a list of eggs for each child to find (i.e. two pink, three yellow, one blue, etc.). Use shorter lists for younger children and longer lists for older children. Have them collect the eggs on their list, checking them off as they go. The child who checks everything off their list first wins a prize.

Evens, Odds, Vowels, Consonants
This fun alternative to the traditional hunt uses numbers and letters to determine who finds what. Write odd or even numbers, or vowels or consonants on each egg. Assign each child to hunt for one of the types (odd, even, vowel, consonant).

“Find Your Name” Egg Hunt
Before the hunt, write each child’s name on an egg. The child that finds the egg with their name on it first wins a prize.

“Prize Number” Egg Hunt
In your hunt, use mostly plastic eggs but add in a few real eggs with numbers written on them. Only one numbered egg is allowed per child. The numbered eggs can be redeemed for the prize with the corresponding numbered.

Prizes could be anything from a small stuffed animal, book, travel game, play sunglasses, dollar-store jewelry or anything you can think of!

Amanda is a mother of four, craft designer and recipe developer who also runs several sites, including Crafts by Amanda, Cooking with Amanda and the Secret Recipe Club. Her work has appeared on SheKnows.com and Family.com as well as in Parents, Redbook and Mixing Bowl magazines among others.