To have a really great Easter egg hunt, one the kids will talk about for at least a day, you need to do some planning. Start with a lot of baskets and candy-filled eggs.
Of course you can always ask the kids to bring their own baskets...but don't ask them to bring their own eggs! Fill the plastic eggs with candy (we had 150 candy-filled eggs) and if you want your hunt to be more exciting, fill one larger egg with more candy and/or cash. (You can find large plastic gold-colored eggs for the special egg or you can just write on one of the eggs with a Sharpie to set it apart from the others - finding the special egg is always exciting!)
Before your egg-hunters arrive, set out real (hard-boiled) eggs for them to decorate (these will be used for the egg roll). It's always nice to give your egg-hunters a few treats...bunny ears, a chocolate bunny and a story about why we really celebrate Easter...also for the egg roll the kids will need a stick so I gave everyone a large colored stick. You've all seen the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House on TV, right? The president, first lady and the Easter bunny all greet the kids and they smile and wave as the kids use sticks to roll their eggs down a gentle, well-manicured sloped lawn. We didn't have the president or the first lady or the Easter bunny and we didn't have a gently sloped well-manicured lawn...but other than that it was egg-actly the same!
The girls wrote their names on the eggs and decorated them beautifully - this took about 15 minutes. Instead of dying the eggs, use Sharpies, it's much easier and less messy. Next it was time for the egg hunt! The kids were given their baskets and they put their real hard-boiled and decorated eggs in the baskets and we headed outside.
Each girl was allowed to find a dozen eggs. Since we had different aged girls, when the older girl's baskets were full they helped the younger ones find eggs. It's important to have a defined area for the search - mainly so the girls don't run off and get lost! Egg hunts go fast - and there is much excitement, especially when the kids realize there is candy inside those eggs! After our egg hunt we had the girls line up for the egg roll...and for this you really need a bit of a hill...
This is where those colored sticks come in...the eggs need a bit of a push to get them going down the hill (well you don 't really need the sticks, they can use their hands, but it's much more fun to have an egg stick!) Once the kids got the eggs going with a little push, they started to roll...if they got stuck on a pinecone or twig or some other debris, they gave them another push and eventually all of the eggs took off rolling down the hill! The object is to be the first one to get the egg down the hill without it being broken...and some actually made it! Since each girl decorated 3 eggs, we did this 3 times...and each time those eggs took off rolling faster than we thought - most of them cracked at the bottom of the hill - which only made it more fun because the faces the girls drew on the eggs now looked entirely different!
We didn't tell the girls we were going to do an egg throw...when the hunt and the rolls were over, they thought they were done...when we pulled out a basket of real uncooked eggs and told them they were going to throw them at a tree, some of the girls actually started jumping up and down! You can see some of the eggs that hit the tree - which the squirrels enjoyed later on that day. We gave each girl two real eggs and told them to heave-ho! About half of the eggs missed the tree and landed far past it - going splat when they hit the ground to much laughter and squeals of delight! When an egg hit the tree the girls all cheered - it was very, very fun and I think they'll remember the egg throw for at least a week!
Easter egg hunts, rolls and throws bring a lot of happiness to kids - and eggs are cheap so I hope you'll have one for your little ones - even if you have to "import" some like I did! You can also have a egg hunt indoors - just make sure you find all of the eggs so your house doesn't smell a week later! You can do an egg roll indoors, too...on carpet, using the special egg sticks, you can set up an egg course with cups or tunnels (made from shoe boxes) - get creative! And lastly, you can still do an egg throw indoors...if you're crazy! Have kids toss the eggs into a bucket or throw them into the fireplace or take the kids into the bathroom and have them throw the eggs in to the shower stall...or not...crazy is as crazy does! Whatever you do, I hope you have a very happy Easter!
For a list of the very best Easter recipes, the ones we use every year, check out this post: The Best of Pots and Pins Easter Recipes.