5 Unique Easter Egg Hunt Egg Fillers
I love a good Easter egg hunt, but my conscience screams as I fill the eggs with candy. It is not because I am opposed to my kids having candy. I think it is because we are at the end of a string of holidays that all involve candy.
The onslaught begins in October with Halloween, continues through Christmas and Valentine’s Day and now Easter. I look at our candy jar and see the unwanted, long forgotten Halloween candy melting at the bottom, the cheap chocolate no one likes from Christmas, the unidentified lollipops from the classroom Valentine’s Day cards all jumbled together and think, I really need to empty this out! So, the prospect of spending $7-$15 dollars on another bag of candy to fill eggs just makes me stop in my tracks. So, I have come up with some alternatives to candy to use as filler for those little plastic eggs.
Let me share with you some wisdom I have learned along the way.
Having conducted egg hunts with my five children over the course of 20+ years. This is the most simple and brilliant organizational tip ever- Assign each child their own color egg(s) to hunt for! The days of the oldest child walking away with 25 eggs and the youngest having 5 (most of which you had to pick up yourself and place on the ground right in front of the youngest so they had the slightest chance of getting any eggs at all) will vanish. The days of jealous tantrums when all the fun is over and they open up the eggs to find that their sibling has gotten all of the red jellybeans and they got none, over! Or screaming fits because big brother got $1.25 in coins and little brother only got $1.00 (true story)- over! If you assign them each their own colors, you can ensure everything is “even steven” before the “fun” begins.
Ok, now onto the alternative fillers:
1. Small Games
Here is another idea of something small enough to fit in the eggs – dice games. There are many to choose from! The classic game Yahtzee comes to mind but there are only a few dice and the score pad and shaker cup are too big for your average egg. But the game Tenzie has 40 dice. Now we are talking! Put a few dice in each egg and put the directions in a separate one. Ready, Set, Roll by Chuckle and Roar includes 40 dice, a storage bag and direction for 10 different games! All pieces would fit into eggs. A new game by the people who make Banangrams, called Furglars, may partially work as well. This game contains dice and bullion pieces that would fit in the eggs. Other pieces would go in the Easter basket. For that matter, Banangrams tiles would fit in the egg, as would the directions. The zipper bag could probably get stuffed into a larger egg if you have one. Other games that could work with some pieces in the eggs and others placed into the basket are Rummikub, chess, checkers or Skippity. Candyland could be a possibility for the younger crowd. The cards and player tokens would fit in the eggs and the board could go in the basket. If you like the idea of having the game in it’s entirety in the eggs you may consider old favorites like jacks, marbles, dominoes and Pass the Pigs.
2. Words
Another option, perhaps the best if you’re in a pinch, are words. Strips of paper with ideas written on them. Perhaps they are motivational phrases– “Some bunny loves you” or “You are stronger than you know”. Perhaps they are promises “this coupon entitles you to choose the movie for family movie night”. Perhaps they are jokes, riddles, word puzzles or mazes. You could make a treasure map and rip it up and put the different pieces in the eggs. The map then needs to be reassembled and followed to find a big treasure! You could Google bad fortune cookie fortunes or a month’s worth of horoscopes.
3. Coins, Collectible Coins
Remember the state quarters the US Treasury came out with years ago? They also now have a series of National Park quarters. Fill the eggs with different state coins. Then, to compliment this, put a collectors folio in the Easter basket for the coins to be displayed in. I understand the Easter bunny stole this idea from the Tooth Fairy.
4. Lego Kits
I don’t know of many kids who do not love Lego! Lego has so many options from their basic City collection to superheroes, Star Wars, Narturo and Lego friends, there is something for everyone! Choose one with a theme your child will enjoy. The kits on the smaller side would be a good choice. Place the pieces in your plastic eggs. Be sure to include the instruction booklet in the child’s Easter basket!
5. Jigsaw Puzzle
This one might be a little trickier. You need to find a 100 piece (or less) puzzle that has individual pieces sized small enough to fit in the eggs. I have seen some that fit this description at the dollar store. Despite being cheap, we have assembled quite a few dollar store puzzles and they all worked out just fine. Another thought, if you have the time to plan ahead, is to get a personalized puzzle made with a photo of your choice on it. But how will they know what the picture is to be. Three options- One, put the empty box in the Easter basket. Depending in the order of the day, an empty puzzle box could be quite the surprise! Two, make a copy of the puzzle photo and fold it up and put it in one of the eggs. Or three, for a real challenge- don’t give them the picture at all!
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