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The Easter season is here! Hiding those plastic eggs with small candy inside both indoors and out, is such a nostalgic past time. Though these days not everyone wants to give their children unnecessary candy, or “break the bank” hiding money inside either, and as kids get older there are different ways to customize the fun.

Here are some different Easter Egg Hunt Game Ideas and tips for kids of all ages to make the fun last longer then 5 minutes.

1. Easter Matching Game by Wonder Forge

These themed, Disney game cards include 72 picture cards that feature characters such as Donald Duck, Tiana, Mater, Lightning McQueen, Belle, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Goofy, Pooh Bear, Mickey Mouse, TinkerBell, and Thumper posing with Easter eggs and baskets. My son has loved playing with these cards by himself literally lining them up, matching them and sorting them in different ways.

Aside from playing the traditional Matching game according to the instructions with the cards flipped over taking turns finding a match, just like the classic Memory game, we have had a lot of fun sorting the cards in pairs and playing hide and seek. We keep one set in a central location and the other person hides them around the living room.  The seeker picks a character and looks around the room for the match. I’ve been amazed at his ability to work on his memory a completely different way, as he remembers where certain characters have been placed.

Tying this into an Easter egg hunt could be the perfect way to make the fun last longer, especially if you have multiple children.  Since there are so many cards, you could literally set up one large game, or at least 3 smaller individual memory games at the table, and when the child makes a match, they can run and search for an egg as a reward.

Or, use the cards as part of your scavenger hunt as a key. Jonny searches for eggs next to Buzz, Mater, and Mickey, while Sarah looks for eggs hidden with Belle, Tiana and Minnie Mouse.

2. I only have one child, and within seconds he’s usually found most of the eggs.  Many friends with multiple children have shared the secret of color coding eggs, where 1 child finds all the yellow, and another looks for all the blue to eliminate any unfair advantages and fighting.

3. Inside the eggs, there’s always the go-to candy, money or these days it could even be glitter tattoos. Why not include little slips of paper that have kids complete motor actions like yoga poses, jumping jacks, push-ups, or completing animal actions like hopping like a bunny, quacking like a duck, or flying like a bird to do once they are finished.  Inside there could be various questions answered like completing Easter themed math problems, writing simple words, saying something nice or answering trivia questions.

4. Practice ahead of time. Little kids need practice and repetition. Handing them a basket the day of can be completely overwhelming for some, especially amongst the chaos of unfamiliar surroundings and people. Weeks before Easter, start practicing by hiding eggs around the house and finding them.  Given the type of winter we’ve had leading up to Easter this year, we’ve had plenty of snowy days and afternoons looking for inexpensive fun, and hide and seek play with plastic eggs never seems to get old.

What are some of your tips for Easter egg hunt games?

Here are some additional articles of interest:

Easter Basket Ideas Without the Chocolate or Candy

Easter Basket Toy Ideas

More Easter Basket Toy Ideas

Coolibar SPF Swimwear – A Great Easter Gift

Wonder Forge provided Easter Matching game free to facilitate a review. Any opinions are my own.