It’s that time of year again for Easter egg hunts! Scouting for brightly colored eggs filled with jellybeans is fun, but did you know it can also be educational? Children of all ages can learn important skills from participating in an egg hunt. Whether you’re planning to go to an egg hunt hosted by your community center or church, or you’re hosting your own, check out these creative ideas to keep your child’s body and mind healthy and active!
Easter egg hunts for toddlers
Toddlers can learn colors. Before letting your toddler loose to find as many plastic eggs as possible, tell your toddler only to collect a specific color of egg. This will help your toddler distinguish between different colors and make the game more challenging!
Toddlers can learn shapes. If you’re creating your own egg hunt, fill plastic eggs with differently shaped objects. After the eggs are all found, reward your child for naming each of the shapes in his or her eggs.
Toddlers can learn songs. We all know that the little ones love to sing familiar songs. Fill each egg with a picture that will help your child associate to a familiar song. Some suggestions are: a small picture of a farm animal – you both can sing “Farmer in the Dell”; a small picture of a spider – you can both sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”; a small picture of a shark – you can both sing “Baby Shark”, etc.
Easter egg hunts for preschoolers
Preschoolers can learn numbers. If you’re creating your own egg hunt, use a permanent marker to number the plastic eggs before hiding them. Challenge your children to find the eggs in order from 1 to 20, or 1 to 100 if you’re that ambitious!
Preschoolers can learn words. Fill plastic eggs with pieces of paper with words your child is learning to recognize. After the eggs are all found, reward your child for being able to read all the words in his or her eggs.
Preschoolers can learn teamwork. Fill plastic eggs with puzzle pieces. After all the eggs are collected, have the children work together to build the puzzle. Reward children for their team work!
While some of these ideas work better for toddlers or preschoolers, all children can learn healthy competition from participating in an Easter egg hunt. Before your children participate in an egg hunt, remind them to be kind and respectful to other children participating. Have fun!