Easter egg hunt ideas you haven't thought about

Do you plan the same old Easter egg hunt for your children year after year? Maybe it's time for a new approach. Take Easter up a notch from boring green Easter grass and tired plastic eggs.

Creative and fun
Easter egg hunts

Tired of the same old hunt? Easter egg hunts can be fun for all ages, especially when you put a new twist on the festivities. We've got a few new ways to outsmart the Easter rabbit this year.

Dusk hunt

Why not send your kids hunting for Easter treasures at twilight instead of first thing in the morning? Even though it won't yet be dark, hand them flashlights, and send them on their way. They'll be sure to love this new twist on the traditional egg hunt. If it's highly unlikely your child will be able to wait all day to search, either set up the hunt the night before or give your children a little something from the Easter bunny in the morning with a note that explains they can't search for their loot until dark.

Safety tips for Easter egg hunting >>

Treasure egg hunt

Aye, aye mateys! A fun spin on an egg hunt is to send your kids searching for "buried" treasure. Give your children eye patches and maps to follow to find their hidden treasure eggs.

Leave clues along the way from the Easter bunny ("fur," paw prints or even carrots) to let them know they're on the right trail. You can hide fun-filled eggs along the way and when they reach the end of the hunt, they will find their treasure. Burying the treasure is optional.

Color-coordinated eggs

To make sure each child gets the same number of eggs, assign them their own color. But to instill a little friendly competition, tell the kids there is one color they can all search for: Gold. Hide one golden egg in the bunch. Whoever finds that egg gets an extra special prize. Just don't forget where you hid the eggs or how many eggs the kids are supposed to find. Make sure the eggs for younger hunters are easier to find.

Egg puzzle

Tell your children the Easter bunny left them a puzzle, and they have to locate all of the puzzle pieces to find out what the grand finale prize is. To set up the puzzle, on a large sheet of paper, write a message to your children. Then, divide up the paper to look like puzzle pieces and cut out the individual pieces. Hide each piece in an egg. Once the kids have found all of the puzzle pieces, they can lay them out on the floor to read their special message and find the big prize the Easter bunny left for them.

Creative (and sugar-free) egg stuffers

Mix it up this year and take the candy out of Easter. Yes, you read that right — ditch the sugar. The kids are already "hopped" up enough on their natural energy anyway. Fill the eggs with fun surprises the children will never expect.

• money
• movie tickets
• stickers
• gum
• IOU notes (Example: One large banana split to make up for all the sugar lost on Easter!)

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