Everyone is stuck indoors this holiday season, staying alert against a world pandemic. But that is no reason not to get into the spirit of the Easter Bunny. Here are a few interesting ways to make the season extra special to your children — unconventional Easter egg hunt ideas for toddlers — notwithstanding the lack of opportunities to head outside.
The world has shut down due to the spread of the deadly coronavirus, bringing life and holidays, as we know it to a complete standstill. This year’s Easter holidays look set to be one of a kind, with social distancing, stay-at-home and quarantines in effect to contain the pandemic. Getting energetic toddlers to understand and abide by the new rules is a daily struggle (not that we adults find it easier!)
Many of your hyper kiddos will be wondering about the traditional Easter egg hunt and may even be bugging you about it. Before you gear up for a grand showdown, put up your ‘tough-cop’ face and tell your kids to ‘understand and adjust’ (which are alien concepts for kids, and sometimes for adults as well), here are a few out-of-the-box Easter egg hunt ideas for toddlers to liven up the holidays. Designate a couple of rooms for the egg hunt (or let the kids lo0se on the entire house!) and hide away the eggs in out-of-the-way places. Join the entire family in a not-so-conventional Easter egg hunt. And the bonus? You get to reconnect with your inner child (and sometimes with your cranky pre-teens too) and get into the spirit of Easter.
10 Unique Easter Egg Hunt Ideas for Toddlers
1. Reverse-role Egg Hunt
Here’s an egg-cellent idea! Reverse the roles for the traditional Easter egg hunt. Let your children be the Easter bunny and hide the eggs while adults seek out the hidden treasures. You can add a further twist to this Easter egg hunt idea for toddlers by writing out chores usually carried out by the kids on paper and hiding them inside the eggs. Any eggs not found by the adults are chores the kids do not have to do.
2. The 'Truth or Dare' Hunt
Let’s spice up the Easter egg hunt. Fill up the Easter eggs with funny family-friendly ‘Truth or Dare’ questions. Once the hunt is complete, gather up your clan for a fun-filled ‘Truth or Dare’ session. In the midst of laughter, you might even learn a few new things about your children (and sometimes, about yourself).
3. Treasure Hunt
Are your tiny tots aspiring pirates? Then this will be an excellent Easter egg hunt idea for them. Hide away the eggs around the house and construct a treasure map that shows the location. You can even turn the egg hunt into a proper pirate adventure by decorating your house like the inside of a pirate ship. Get your children to help with the décor and let their imagination take to the skies!
4. Piñata Egg Hunt
This Easter egg hunt idea is perfectly suited for older children. Hang up the Easter eggs, wrapped in colourful paper, from the tree in your yard and let your children enjoy an egg hunt, piñata-style. You can use plastic eggs filled with candy, the whole wrapped up in colourful paper, hung with streamers and string. Let the kids pull, pop and collect candies as they go on the hunt, adding a little bang into the traditional Easter egg hunt.
5. Hop, Skip and Hunt
This Easter egg hunt idea is the perfect choice for energetic toddlers. Construct your Easter eggs with must-do activities like ‘hop like a bunny’ or ‘jump like a frog’ (the sillier the better) which the children must do as they continue to search for other eggs. Along with chaos and hearty laughs, the kids can also burn off all the excess energy they have been accumulating while staying inside the house all the time.
6. The Scramble Hunt
Are your tiny tots learning their ABCs? Then, this Easter egg hunt idea is perfect for them. Mark each Easter egg with a letter (stenciled or drawn with a marker) and hide them throughout the house. Hand out lists of words to your children and ask them to collect all the eggs that would form the words on their list. The kid with the most number of completed words can win a special prize to add extra incentive to the hunt.
7. The Colour Hunt
This Easter egg hunt idea is especially suited for toddlers learning their colours. Dye your Easter eggs in different colours like yellow, purple or red. Divide up the entire family on the basis of these colours and ask them to collect the eggs of their team’s colour. To further spice up the hunt, you can also set a time limit to the hunt and fill up the eggs with sweet treats the same colour as the eggs.
For an extra precautionary measure, do put an apron over your little ones if you don't want their outfit to be ruined. You can find kids' Doraemon and Hello Kitty apron and sleeves set here.
8. The Jelly-Bean Trail Hunt
Grab a bunch of colourful paper cups and fill them up with matching coloured jelly beans. Leave the cups all around the house as a kind of trail which your children can follow, to search out the Easter eggs. Let them nibble up the trail all over the house, scoring yummy treats and Easter eggs along the way.
9. Glow-in-the-Dark Hunt
Buy some glow-in-the-dark eggs, or make some of your own by stuffing plastic eggs with little LED lights. Hide the eggs in out-of-the-way corners and let the kids enjoy hunting up glowing eggs. You can even put these eggs in jars, decorated. Ideally, this Easter egg hunt idea for toddlers is perfect for the evenings. But, if you want to conduct the hunt during daytime, make sure to close all the windows with heavy drapes so that no light comes in.
10. The Golden Egg Hunt
Step up the excitement for your Easter egg hunt by constructing a few golden eggs (you can either paint them gold or wrap them up in golden paper). Hide the golden eggs along with other Easter eggs and let your kid go on the hunt. Encourage the kids to find all the golden eggs before the timer runs out, and enjoy the extra special treats hidden in them.
Brush up on your Easter mythology to further liven up the holidays, and incorporate unconventional twists to bring back that sparkle in your tot’s eyes.
Also read:
Rice Cooker Meal Recipes To Dish Out During This #StayHome Period
How To Make Your Child’s Birthday Party Magical Even At Home
Homeschool Mums Share Helpful Activities to Get You Through Isolation