The biggest complaint about egg hunts for our kids is that they end too fast. Often, we hide eggs a few times. They don’t even care if the eggs are empty after the first time – the kids just want the experience to last longer. Last year we did 6 rounds of hiding and finding plastic eggs until they became tired.
Every year I organize an egg hunt for the kids in our family. It’s for our 3 girls and my 2 nephews. I fill about 75 plastic eggs with different candy like jelly beans, Hershey’s kisses, and Reese’s peanut butter cups. This year I decided to do a twist on the old-fashioned egg hunt.
I wanted to fill the plastic Easter eggs with puzzle pieces (and a few pieces of candy!). Once the kids were done collecting the eggs, they would assemble the puzzle together.
My intention was for the kids to have an activity which required them to implement problem-solving strategies while working together.
It required them to talk about:
* How they would collect their puzzle pieces from their eggs
* How they would organize the puzzle pieces
* How they would go about putting the puzzle pieces together (edges first or just in random order)
I went to Target and bought some plastic eggs, candy, and a Buffalo 300 piece puzzle. My nephews are 12 and 10 and the girls are 9, 7, and 5 right now. I didn’t want to get a puzzle with too many pieces because I didn’t want the activity to be more work than fun for them. When we filled the eggs, we added a minimum of 2 puzzle pieces to each plastic egg. Some eggs had candy, but some did not. (I should add that the girls filled the eggs themselves. They love to do it and it saves me a time-consuming step.)
What the kids actually had to decide:
* They decided where they’d put their puzzle pieces and candy when they emptied their eggs
* They decided who would flip all the pieces over
* They decided to start with all of the edges of the puzzle first
* They decided who would work on which section of the puzzle
While our girls work collaboratively often and my nephews work collaboratively often, the 5 of them don’t often have the opportunity to work together.
They loved doing this activity. They loved that it was a twist on an egg hunt and that it provided them with a fun activity when they were done. They especially loved that they were able to eat the candy when they had finished the puzzle. I think next year I’ll do a photo puzzle that has a photo of all 5 of them on it. I especially love this magnetic one that I can stick to my parents’ fridge when the kids are done.
Have you ever done a twist on an egg hunt before?
xoxo
–k
Take a look at our Simple Solution for keeping track of plastic eggs
It’s egg hunt season and this Simple Solution will help you keep track of all the plastic eggs to make sure the kids have found them all.
If you are looking for Easter basket ideas, here’s a great list.
Wondering what to use to fill your child’s Easter basket? Here’s a great list for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age kids, teens, and adults.
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