We had our easter party in the evening due to all the other parties that needed attending (in-laws). So we actually didn't start until 6 p.m. Because of the time restraint, we had the egg hunt at the very beginning of the party. We had a small area with lots of hiding places, so we just hid all of the eggs for all the different age groups in that one area with some hard to find and some just out in the open. We had kids ranging from 2 to 12 or 13. We gave the 2 to 4 year olds a head start on the older kids so they can find the easy ones. Then we let the 5-7 year olds go, then 8-10, then all the others.
Instead of having real eggs and candy-filled plastic ones, we instead put coins, toys, and other things inside the eggs. We did have a few real ones, but mostly plastic. One thing I did differently this year was that I put jokes in some of the eggs that the kids got to read aloud at the end of the hunt (while I was preparing the next game). We had the kids count their eggs, then empty their plastic eggs into their basket and return them to me for the next game.
The second thing we did was an egg toss with the plastic eggs. I had tied one of the bigger baskets to the canopy pole so that it hangs down. The object of the game is to throw as many of the plastic eggs into the basket within a set time limit. The kids had a blast doing this and it was a lot of fun to watch.
We played a few other games like the egg relay with an obstacle course (around the tree, up a small hill, under the table, etc. They had fun with the freeze dance game (everyone dances and when the music stops, they freeze in whatever position they're in). We had an activity relay also. With this game, the kids are separated into two teams, and they are supposed to race to the pile of eggs, which have an action the kids are supposed to perform all the way back to their line. Actions can be waddle like a duck, skip, hop like a bunny, etc. We gave prizes for the golden/silver egg, most egg, and one for each winner of the game. We did the game winners by numbering the different prizes.
As each person won a game, they are to pick an egg and they get the prize that corresponds to the number in their egg. Other activities I wanted to do, but didn't have time for, but will DEFINITELY try next year: 1. Charades or pictionary. 2. Dare games (mainly for the older group). Some of the eggs were supposed to be filled with Dare game numbers. At the end of the hunt, like the prizes, the kids perform different dares to win prizes. Some require a partner, some require small groups, and some were team competitions.
