This is a terrifically fun way for families to celebrate the season!  An Easter egg hunt is an event that lends itself to family, neighbors, friends, or all of the above!  In the course of my research on this topic, I’ve found that there aren’t too many variations on the egg hunt theme, but I think I’ve simplified the approach!

Planning

Saturday or Sunday?

• Should you host your party on Easter Sunday or the day before?  This totally depends upon who you are inviting to your egg hunt!
• If your party is for family, I’d choose Sunday.
• If it’s for neighbors or friends, I’d choose Saturday.
• You should probably have a rainy day plan or a rain date as well.

Eggs

• You will need A LOT of colored plastic eggs!  Plan to fill at least 10 eggs for each child participating in the hunt.
• Luckily, these eggs can be found inexpensively at your local dollar store or discount stores like Target, Michaels or Walmart.  The earlier you get your hands on these eggs, the sooner you can fill them!
• For filling, consider stickers, small toys, or change as alternatives to candy.  Check out Oriental Trading for a huge assortment of items to fill your eggs!  Keep in mind the ages and needs of your guests;  do you need to consider “choking hazards” or food allergies?

Menu

• Plan to serve brunch either before or after the hunt.
• Decide which time works best for your crowd.  This may depend upon the ages of your guests.
• Check An Easter Egg Hunt Brunch for a suggested menu.

The Big Hunt

• If the children are diverse ages, create two separate areas for hunting.  Consider the front yard for big kids and the back yard for the little ones.
• Pair helpful teenagers with toddlers.
• Hide the eggs according to the age of the hunters – easy spots for the younger set and trickier locations for the more experienced hunters!
• Limit the number of eggs that each child can find so that all the children end up with a similar number of prizes.  As mentioned above, 10 eggs is a reasonable number.
• Ask your guests to BYOB or bring their own basket!  Or provide each child with a plain, white gift bag and have them decorate it when they arrive at the party.  The children can then fill the bag with eggs during the hunt.

Final Thoughts

Will your egg hunt be an annual event or a one time only event?

• If you’d like to host the hunt again, I recommend collecting the plastic eggs after the children have emptied the contents into their bags or baskets.
• If it’s a one time only event, let the eggs go home with the kids!

The Golden Egg

• This is an idea where one or two golden eggs are hidden along with the plain plastic eggs.  The finders of the golden eggs receive a special, larger prize.
• DON’T do this!  As the parent of 2 crying children at last year’s hunt, one of whom was knocked over by a more aggressive hunter, the golden egg is not worth it’s weight in gold!

Have a wonderful celebration!  And watch out for that leftover candy!

You may also enjoy:

• Theme Your Kids’ Easter Baskets
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Tags: easter egg hunt, how to host an easter egg hunt, fabulous, fun, easter egg hunt for children, easter family fun, ideas, menu, recipes 

Here are a few photos from my home!  I can’t resist fun decorations, especially if there’s glitter or a touch of nostalgia involved!

Some helpful hints:

• When I arrange my decorations, I try to use containers and urns that I already have, just filled with holiday items, like cranberries, Christmas ornaments or faux snow with greenery.
• Grouping decorations together on a stack of books or a tray creates more impact and makes for a more interesting look.
• Don’t forget to photograph your decorations at the end of the holiday season – you’ll be able to recreate the looks you love with ease next year!

I recently read about a family, who in addition to celebrating Christmas on December 25th, extends the fun by adding Boxing Day to their holiday line up!  Boxing Day takes place on December 26th and its origins date back to mid 19th century England, when the upper class would “box” gifts of food and money for the lower classes.

Host a Boxing Party!

What really intrigued me about Boxing Day is how it could be a terrific problem solver in today’s world when families live far apart or there are too many houses to visit on the 25th.  Instead of getting together on the “day after Christmas,” it sounds so much more festive to host a Boxing Day Party!

Whether you want the wonderful spirit of Christmas Day to last for just one more day or you need an extra day to accommodate everyone in your family, Boxing Day might be just what you need!  You can keep the menu simple and relaxed, with a few nods to its British roots!

• Make sandwiches with Christmas day leftovers, serve an English Trifle (like this one from Allrecipes.com, English Triffle Recipe)
• And for the perfect finishing touch, party crackers for all!

Don those paper crowns and enjoy another day of holiday fun!  (For Crackers, try Shindigz, Amazon,  Blue Ribbon General Store, or Miles Kimball)

Does hosting a Boxing Day celebration solve an entertaining dilemma for you? We’d love to hear about it!

So many of my Christmas memories are rooted in annual family trips to Philadelphia to window shop, enjoy the lights and walk through animated displays like the Dickens Village (still at Macy’s!) and the Enchanted Colonial Village (formerly at Lit Brothers, now restored and on display at The Please Touch Museum!)

Given my own history, I was excited to find the book Holidays on Display!  This book, by William L. Bird, Jr., traces the evolution of holiday decorations as they moved from shop windows to the outsides of buildings and ultimately to the street in the form of parade floats!

In this fascinating and colorful history, you’ll learn about turn-of-the-century ‘trimmers’ hired by merchants to create product displays and see the fascinating advances in lighting, animation, and miniaturization. Packed with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, Holidays on Display makes it easy to see why we have such lasting emotional attachments to animated Christmas windows, passing parades and the glow of holiday lights!

This book is definitely on my Christmas wish list! (Holidays on Display, $16.47)

Host a Terrific Girl Friends’ Get Together and Get a Job Done!

Spending quality time with your girl friends may seem like impossibility during the crazy holiday season, but I have some fun ideas for combining work and play!

• Card Writing Party – Invite friends over to tackle the task of writing and addressing holiday cards.  You’ll supply the wine and cheese, a bunch of pens and the guests will bring the rest!  Imagine how quickly those cards will get written as you chat and eat!

• It ‘s a Wrap – This gathering is intended to get those presents wrapped and ribboned!  You may not be able to invite as many ladies as at the Card Writing Party, but it’s still fun and effective!  Have guests arrive with unwrapped gifts, as well as their own ribbon, boxes and wrap.  Have extra scissors and rolls of tape on hand.   Terrific snacks are essential!

• Shopping Send Off - Host an early morning Open House, offering hard working shoppers some gourmet fortitude!  A simple buffet of bagels, donuts, fresh fruit and coffee (with “to go” cups) will have your friends energized for a hard day at the mall.  Encourage guests to bring unneeded coupons for a coupon exchange.  A reusable shopping bag would be a terrific party favor!

It’s nice to know that you aren’t the only one struggling to accomplish the holiday to do list and your friends will welcome the chance to work, chat, share and complain with you!

You may also enjoy:

• New Christmas Traditions
• Host a Retro Holiday Cocktail Party
• Host a Chocolate Tasting Party
• Personalized Holiday Cards with Style