Whether you're hunting with toddlers, preschoolers or teens, these options are fun for the whole family.
The game is afoot — a rabbit's foot, to be precise! Whether you have a brood of toddlers embarking on their first great search or tweens or teens in need of more of a challenge, everyone can find some way to get into a great Easter egg hunt. But if you want to do something a little more than just sending them off in search of eggs or candy, you can try upping the game a little.
These are the best Easter egg hunt ideas for families who want to put in a little extra effort. Some involve additional rules, like finding eggs in a certain order, pattern or method. Others are ideas for ways to make the eggs a little more hidden, with camouflage or decoys. Some methods involve turning an egg hunt into a scavenger hunt or treasure hunt, where one clue leads to the next until they find their Easter basket. And others are simple ways to make things a little more fun, either with cute decorations, bigger prizes or fun activities. Choose the level of challenge your family needs the most, and happy hunting!
Looking for more great Easter ideas? Check out these Good Housekeeping guides:
Easter Egg Hunt Ideas for Adults | Indoor Easter Egg Hunt Ideas | The Best Easter Gifts for Kids | The Best Easter Toys
1
Easter Egg Hunt Checklist
Up the challenge of an Egg Hunt by adding elements of a scavenger hunt into the mix! This one asks kids to find eggs in five different colors, three backyard flowers, different kinds of outdoor creatures and more in addition to finding their eggs and basket. You can make your own, or go to the A Mom's Take and print out this checklist.
2
Egg Hunt Champion Shirt
After the hunt is over, make sure to bestow the Finder of the Most Eggs with garments fit for a champion. They can wear this shirt to next year's hunt before (possibly) passing it on to the next winner. (You can also do the nice thing and make one for every kid.)
3
Piñata Eggs
For this, the rules of the typical egg hunt don't change, but it feels a little more festive if the eggs are decorated to look like little piñatas. Kids will love cracking them open and watching the candy spill out.
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4
Carrot Treat Cones
They're so focused on finding their eggs, imagine how surprised and delighted they'll be if they find a few of these adorable carrot treat cones along with them. They're easy to make with just coffee filters, orange paper, double-stick tape, green craft paint, twine and a few other household items, and you can fill them with a child's favorite candies.
Get the tutorial »
5
Hoppin' Easter Egg Hunt
Part-egg hunt, part-party game, this hunting variation will have everyone laughing. Instead of candy, this activity fills plastic eggs with funny little instructions like "moo like a cow" or "jump on one leg." Kids have to complete the activity before moving on to the next egg and finding the next challenge. You can print out these instructions at Alice and Lois.
6
Balloon Landmarks
If there are toddlers or other very-little hunters in the mix, you can give them a not-so-subtle "hint" about the location of their eggs by tying helium balloons to them. According to Chris from Celebrations at Home, this method also means that parents don't have to work too hard to coax toddlers into looking for the eggs — they're naturally drawn to the balloons and will head right for them!
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7
Lego Eggs
This idea is for all the LEGO builders out there: Take a new LEGO set and divide all the pieces between different eggs. Afer they're done finding all the pieces, they can put their new set together (while you sit and drink coffee). You can choose any LEGO set you'd think they'd like, but the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 White Rabbit really fits the theme of the day.
8
Golden Ticket Egg
Coming on the heels of Wonka, who wouldn't be excited to fiind a little extra magic in one of the eggs? This year, make a special "golden ticket" and hide it in one of the eggs, and then let the lucky kid who finds it trade it in for a bigger Easter prize.
9
Ball Pit Challenge
If you don't want to set kids loose around the house or backyard, you can always give them a needle-in-a-haystack type of hunt if you have a ball pit or kiddie pool. They'll have a heck of a time trying to separate the regular ball-pit balls from the plastic easter eggs. Too much of a challenge? You can find ways to differentiate them by color, for example pairing pastel balls with metallic eggs.
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10
Fabric-Wrapped Eggs
Using fabric to cover the eggs makes for some beautiful-looking eggs, to be sure. But it also gives them a layer of camouflage. Put the gingham egg on a gingham table runner, for instance, or the floral against a floral pillow, and even the sharpest of egg-hunters will need to look twice before they find it.
Get the tutorial »
11
Easter Egg Hunt Riddles
Take their hunt to the next level by making them follow a series of clues to find their Easter basket. The Easter bunny can deliver the first clue, and then they have decipher it to find the next one — and so on until they get their big prize.
12
Egg Carton Bunnies
This is a make-ahead craft they can do if they need an activity in the run-up to Easter that can then be put to use during the big hunt. Kids can transform egg cartons into adorable bunnies, which can be filled with treats and either hidden like an egg or included in the Easter basket.
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13
Easter Egg Counting Hunt
Reinforce those early-math skills with this Easter-themed counting activity. When they're done finding all the eggs, kids can match the colors to this worksheet and count them to make sure they've gotten them all.
14
Puzzle Piece Egg Hunt
If you take a puzzle and hide the pieces in different eggs, you'll have a ready-made activity for when the hunt is over. You can give them a puzzle featuring their favorite characters, or buy a blank puzzle and write a fun Easter message — or a clue to where their basket is hidden.
15
Character Egg Hunt
Printable tattoo paper makes it easy to transfer over their favorite characters onto Easter eggs. Challenge kids to find a complete set of characters — all the Sing performers, or all the pups in the PAW Patrol for example — or you can even transfer over words and make a clue to where their basket can be found.
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16
Egg Hunt Bunny Markers
Sometimes, they need a little hint. These trail markers not only lead the way, they make for adorable decorations. You can make them by cutting egg, bunny and carrot shapes out of pastel card stock, writing the instructions on them, then attaching them to wooden dowels.
17
Paint Pen Eggs
For this simple yet creative idea, use paint pens to decorate your eggs. We share how to design flowers, leaves and swirls on the eggs below. Or, consider writing clues or drawing out hints to help players find the others.
Steps:
FLOWERS: Create flower patterns on the eggs, starting with dots. Expand on them to make more of a petal shape.
LEAVES: Make a vine pattern by drawing lines vertically from the top to the bottom of the egg. Add a leaf shape to the ‘vine.' Let everything dry completely.
SWIRLS: For the abstract swirl pattern, create a swirl and add dots in between and around it. Make sure everything is dry before displaying!
18
Bunny Garden Doors
These DIY bunny doors are the coolest hiding spots for a few eggs. Plus, imagine how amazed kids will be when they stumble upon the oval doors, made of wooden plaques, when hunting for eggs in the backyard.
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19
'90s Easter Egg Hunt
Get ready to have a '90s-themed Easter party. DIY your own throwback Easter eggs for a scavenger hunt to remember using acrylic paint.
20
Colorful Easter Treat Advent Calendar Hunt
Count down to Easter with these vibrant advent calendar Easter bags. Place your colorful eggs and candy in each bag and have your family search for their treats per day.
Marisa LaScala
Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.
Mariah Thomas
Assistant Editor
Mariah Thomas (she/her) is an assistant editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home and lifestyle content. Mariah has more than four years of editorial experience, having written for TLC, Apartment Therapy, Women's Health and Avocado Magazine. She received her master's degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and published her first book, Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts and Emotions, in 2019. She's also the founder of RTF Community a platform for creatives of color to connect, learn and showcase their work.
