The Easter Egg Hunt

I believe Easter is one my favorite holidays to decorate for since I adore the pastel colors. An Easter theme party or egg hunt is so easy to plan since the amount of items available to use for a party is overwhelming. Soft blues, lilacs, mint greens, baby pink, and daffodil yellow are the most popular colors to use.

The egg hunt is simple to plan. Send out an invitation inviting those children you want to attend requesting them to bring an Easter basket to collect the eggs. The eggs can be real if you are hiding them inside or in a perfectly clean and groomed lawn. If these cannot be guaranteed, use wrapped eggs, plastic eggs etc. Don't forget to count how many are hidden since you want them all to be found, especially if they are real and hard cooked. It is no laughing matter to discover one you missed three months later.

When guest arrive, give instructions as to what each egg is worth. You may give only prizes to those finding the most or a special one, but if each color or type of egg has a little prize, it is more exciting. Traditionally, the eggs are traded for prizes of candy, sometimes coins, or other suitable Easter prizes. There is no end to types of prizes that contain bunnies, chicks, Easter eggs etc.

Follow through on pastel colors if a lunch or snack is desired. Your Easter theme can be included in a decorated cake or cupcake. The coconut covered Easter bunny cake is popular. Use egg shaped M&M's to decorate cupcakes iced in soft colors. Many Jell-O salads and desserts look pastel- colored when prepared. You can also whip Jell-O for that result. Ice cream can also be decorated to look more Easter like with sprinkles or candy or just one marshmallow chick perched on top. Keep meals light, sliced deli ham rolled up and even potato salad could be served. Bunny food like celery and carrot sticks keep little ones healthy, but everything must be in tune with what age and what your little guests will eat.

Add activities if you like. One good activity for Easter is to create an Easter bonnet. They can arrive with them on so parents can help them at home or you can do it during the party. If they create them at the party, you should have all types of craft stuff available. Since moms usually come to these parties with their children, they of course will help. You can have various old hats to start with or use cardboard cut out and covered with colored paper, fabric etc. Lots of ribbons, veils, flowers, and bows should be added. Anything to make their bonnet special. Following this activity or shortly after they arrived have a parade to show off the bonnets and of course a judging and a prize. Keep prizes tiny and make sure every participant gets one for a different category if small children.

A game for the active age should be a type of contest between teams or individuals, which includes hopping with your basket from one location to the other to get the golden eggs. These are foil wrapped chocolate eggs. Each child could be instructed to hop to the front of the room where a 'golden' egg is waiting, put it in their basket and hop back. Winner is first one back with the egg.

Word games that require making words from the letters that spell Easter, or Easter-related things, are good for older kids. Older kids could also decorate blown eggs or add to the basic colors of hard-cooked eggs.

Have fun and be sure to color plenty of eggs for the hunt.

Credits: Jo Ann Wentzel