Grammer and Junior High

Ideas More on the Traditional Side...

While many of these ideas are workable and fun,
we suggest reading through them in a
brainstorming mode to create
the best of the best of all hunts -- YOURS!

Grammar School
and/or
Junior High School
Aged Kids

Night Hunt
This is a game for older children and adult supervision is necessary.
During the day, hide the eggs or prizes.
When it is dark, provide each child a flashlight.
Variation:
Put reflective tape on the eggs or prizes
and hide them for the kids to find with flashlights.

Numbers Game
Write numbers on the eggs and children have to find them with the number they are given. They may only find the eggs with their number. This is a way to keep it fair so that the younger children can find as many treasures as the big kids.

Money Math
Put a coin inside plastic eggs and the child that finds eggs with money that adds up to $1.00 (or any amount you chose) is the big winner... a fun way to help children learn to count and add.

Words and Rewards
To help kids with their reading, start with a clue written out on pretty paper.
Kids follow the clues and this will lead them to the hidden surprises
and the final prize is their Easter Basket.
This is fun for the whole family and also helps young children with
their reading and thinking skills!!

'Pirate's Gold"
Paint the eggs GOLD.
Make tiny "treasure chests" for the kids instead of baskets. Create a "Pirate's Map" with clues, such as 'beneath the twigs some gold is buried' -or- 'the garden hose is coiled like a snake with gold in his tummy' -or- 'ten steps from the door and onto the lawn to find a bag of gold', etc. The child with the most "Pirate's Gold" wins a special prize. This idea is for older children.

Map It Out!
The best way is to go on a Treasure hunt to find the eggs is to map out all the locations and provide each child one. All the maps are different. Nothing extravagant, that way each child is guaranteed to get eggs and have more fun in the process.

Prize Bucket
Pick great (but no too hard) places to hide the eggs. Give the children a sticker
for each egg collected. The child with the most stickers is first to
chose a prize from the bucket. Child with the next highest
number of stickers, is the second to select a prize.
Continue until all children have had a turn and a prize.

Disguises
Hide the eggs or prizes inside other objects, such as a shoe,
coat pocket, pail, box, flower pot, tied to a rake, mailbox, etc.

'Find the Basket'
Hide a basket in the yard or in the house. Provide clues for the children to use their brain to figure out where the Easter Bunny (or Wizard or Cinderella or Thomas the Tank) hid the basket! Make the clues easy, medium and hard but ensure the game is prolonged so the hunt will be more fun for the kids. An easy way to do this is to write one clue per piece of paper, fold the papers and put in a big basket. Each child gets a clue and if the basket is not found where their clue takes them, they return for yet another clue, etc. Arrange it so that the clue to finding the basket is not drawn till later in the hunt. (Use white paper in the shape of a bunny foot print). When the basket is found, it is full of eggs, balls, toys, etc., each one with the name of a guest so everyone walks away with their own special prize.

Hidden Rabbits
Set out two or three plastic rabbits in good hiding places along with plastic eggs
filled with various things such as candy, gum and money.
For the children who find the rabbits they receive a prize of
their choice from a goodie bag.

Fairy Tale Hunt
Provide clues from children stories, such as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit,
Hansel and Gretel, Three Blind Mice, etc.). This takes creativity to make up clues
that fit the area where the hunt will be held.

For example, a piggy bank can be placed under a bush where eggs
or prizes are hidden -- the clue would be "Three Little Pigs".

In the Water?
Take a bunch of plastic easter eggs and fill them with coin change, small
plastic immersible toys, and anything else you can think of that won't get ruined
in the water. Seal the plastic eggs with duct tape to keep them from falling apart.
Toss all the plastic eggs in the pool.
Watch the kids faces when they realize they have to get their eggs or prizes
from the bottom of the pool!
Variation:
For smaller children, use a kiddie pool.
Variation: Hide on the lawn with the sprinklers running.
Toddlers love to cool off in hot weather this way.

Two Teams For Fun!
Split the children into two teams. Give each child several eggs to hide.
Team One will hide all the eggs in the frontyard while Team Two
hides all their eggs in the backyard. Provide adult supervision
to ensure the teams are not spying on each other.
When all the eggs are hidden, then Team One tries to find
the eggs hidden by Team Two and Team Two tries to find
the eggs hidden by Team One.
First team to find all the eggs is the winner.
(Reminder to count the eggs before they are hidden)
The kids will hide the eggs better than you can believe...
and they will have a fabulous time trying to fool their friends on th other team!

Beaching It...
Rope off the peramiters of where the hunt will be held and toss a lot of
beach props on the sand to hide stuff. Make some of the prizes hard
to find by hiding them in the sand and covering it up with a shell or ball, etc.

Swings and Slides...
A playground or your own backyard has so many possibilities to hide
eggs or prizes... and the kids will have an even greater time with the
"Hot/Cold" game instructions. When a child gets close to where
an egg is hidden, everyone yells out hot or warm or cold to the kids.
Cold means they are not anywhere near the egg or prize,
warm means they are close, hot means they are very, very near.