Between a basket full of candy and the traditional treat-filled eggs involved in a typical egg hunt, Easter is far from healthy. Egg hunts are such fun for children and adults alike, but can be much healthier if you fill plastic or paper eggs with non-food prizes. Just follow the steps below for an event to remember.
Steps for a Planning a Successful (and Healthy!) Easter Egg Hunt
- Choose the date and location for your "Healthy Hunt".
- Determine your guest list and invite guests.
- Share your Healthy Hunt plan with participants.
- Collect eggs in advance and have a happy Healthy Hunt!
Choose the Date and Location for Your Healthy Hunt.
Favorite locales for Easter egg hunts include grassy backyards or local parks. Church grounds are another great location. Make sure and get permission if you need it, as is the case if you will be holding it at a church. Have an indoor location set up in case of rainy or cold weather.
Choose a date and time that work for the majority of participants. For example, if most of the children attending are quite young, you might opt for a daytime event. Avoid naptimes for a better turnout. If more school-aged children will attend, choose a weekend day or after school time slot.
Determine Your Guest List and Invite Guests.
You can invite your guests in person or via telephone, or you can send or pass out paper invitations. Quicker and easier, though, is using an online service like Evite to create email invitations. Guest responses are kept track of for you and you can follow up with messages later if you have new information to share. Send invitations out at least one to two weeks in advance.
Share Your Healthy Hunt Plan with Participants.
For your healthy hunt to be successful, the parents will need to know this is not a typical Easter egg hunt. They will want to discuss with their children beforehand that they will be hunting for eggs filled with prizes, not candy. You can handle the egg-filling duties two ways. Either you provide eggs for everyone, which can be quite expensive and labor-intensive, or you can have your participants bring eggs.
Decide how many eggs each child will collect at your hunt. Then, for each participating child, the parent brings that number of eggs. Say you limit each child to gathering 10 eggs. Then a mom with three kids at the hunt will bring 30 eggs with her to share with others; her children will leave with 30 different eggs. You may decide to have different rules for young babies; you may suggest bringing just 2 eggs per baby, for example, and babies would then only “gather” (with help from a parent or sibling) 2 eggs.
On your invitation, then, you will ask the parents to bring 10 eggs (or whatever number you decide) per child attending the egg hunt. Specify that this is a Healthy Hunt and the eggs can be filled with any non-food prizes or treats. Be certain and warn parents with babies to be especially vigilant for choking hazards on hunt day; many of the prizes will likely not be safe for babies.
Ideas for Healthy Egg Hunt Prizes
- Small bottles of bubbles
- Stickers (Easter-themed or not)
- Wooden or plastic kids’ rings or other jewelry
- Pirate eye patches
- Small colorful erasers
- Short colored pencils or crayons tied with a bow
- Silly putty
- Small containers of play dough (homemade or otherwise)
Encourage parents to be creative! For larger items, buy bigger eggs.
Collect Eggs in Advance and Have a Happy Healthy Hunt!
Ask parents to drop their eggs off in the days before the event, or meet early on the hunt day to allow for time to gather and hide eggs. You may want to have a handful of helpers for hiding. Older kids can help hide as well. Before the hunt begins, remind children of their limit and that once they gather 10 eggs, or whatever your personal limit, they stop hunting.
If you wish, you can choose to provide healthy snacks for the attendees. Carrot sticks can be labeled as "Bunny Nibbles". Homemade muffins made with whole-wheat flour, flax seed, and raisins or blueberries are another crowd-pleaser. A platter of fresh fruit is both beautiful and healthful.
With a bit of forethought and planning, you can host a healthy Easter egg hunt that will please kids and parents alike. Happy Hunting!
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