By Helen Bertelli

When my girls were tiny, our Easter hunts consisted of me scattering eggs on our back lawn. The kids delightedly muddled around finding only eggs in plain sight, all others rendered invisible by a leaf or tuft of grass until pointed out by a grownup (or ‘found’ a week later by the lawn mower).

But as my girls' legs grew longer and their eyes sharper it became clear that eggs on the lawn would no longer cut it, and I found myself going to great lengths to ensure the egg hunt wouldn’t be over in three minutes.  

I became an expert at balancing eggs on swings, monkey bars, and branches. I have been known to upend empty wheelbarrows, sandboxes and other objects to hide eggs beneath. I began to find myself wondering how to push the limits without breaking limbs. Should the tree house roof be off limits? Is hiding one in the end of the drainpipe ingenious or just plain gross?

Now that my girls are 7 and 5 I can no longer rely on eggs alone. To outwit them and keep the fun going, instead of an egg hunt we now do a treasure hunt. What’s the difference? Why, thank you for asking!

An egg hunt is more akin to a scavenger hunt, where the goal is to collect objects. A treasure hunt, on the other hand, is a series of clues hidden around the home and garden, which eventually lead to a treasure.  

If your nieces and nephews are older than 4 or 5 years old, a treasure hunt is the perfect activity for Easter.  A hunt that is 12 or so clues long will keep them engaged and challenged for a good hour.  Plus it will make memories that they will cherish.  
 
Here are some tips for creating an awesome Easter treasure hunt:
 
1.  The clues in a treasure hunt are the key to prolonging the hunt (and the fun); they can be as easy or as challenging as you would like - from counting carrots in a simple picture to answering multiplication problems.


 

2.  Consider using the free Clued In Kids puzzlemaker software to create clues. Simply enter questions with one word answers on the web page (i.e. “In which month is Easter?….April”,  “What is Bugs Bunny’s favorite food?….carrots”) and the puzzlemaker will generate a crossword-type clue that you can use in your treasure hunt.  
 
3:   Incorporate eggs into your treasure hunt by hiding the clues inside eggs, or making a clue with an answer that leads to eggs.
 
4.  Get kids working in a team by assigning clues to each child.  You can assign trickier clues to older kids, and easier clues to younger ones.  
 
5.  Make the Easter basket the ‘treasure’ at the end of the hunt!
 
Happy Easter treasure hunting!

Helen is Founder & President of Clued In Kids, a company that creates teaching treasure hunts inspiring kids to learn, laugh and stay active.

Photo: Courtesy of Helen Bertelli
Published: April 9, 2014