Omaha Nanny Needs Help! Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks for Big Families?
Omaha Nanny Needs Help! Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks for Big Families?
Omaha Nanny Needs Help! Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks for Big Families?
Hey everyone! Madelyn here from Omaha. Hope you all had a good weekend. Easter is sneaking up on me AGAIN, and with Aria (1), Cole (3), Maya (6), Piper (9), and Hazel (13) plus Finn the poodle mix, our Easter egg hunts are always… an adventure, to say the least. Last year, I swear Cole ate a piece of plastic grass, and Piper found a rotten hard-boiled egg I forgot to count. Nightmare!
I try to be organized – I mean, I have a shared Google Sheet with all the families for who brings what candy and prize, and I use an app to track egg locations (mostly for my own sanity, so I don't miss any), but it always devolves into total chaos. Especially when Finn decides he's part of the hunt crew. I've read a bunch of articles, like the GINYOU one about Toddler Egg Hunt Safety Sanity Savers, which helped a ton with the little ones, but I still feel like I'm missing some magic formula for the older kids and general logistics. My biggest question is: what are your absolute best Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks?
Specifically, how do you handle the age gaps? Hazel (13) is getting a little bored with just finding plastic eggs with candy, but Cole (3) would cry if he didn't get any. Do you do separate hunts? Color-coded eggs? And for the prizes – I usually grab a bunch of small toys and candy from Costco, but it adds up! I spent like $75 last year just on fillers. Any genius ideas for affordable, non-candy fillers that the older kids still think are cool? I'm open to anything to make this year less frantic. We're doing it in our backyard again, which is decent-sized, but the older kids clear it out in 5 minutes flat. I'm really looking for those genius Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks to make it special for everyone, no matter their age.
Oh, and bonus points: anyone do anything fun with their pets? Finn loves being involved, but sometimes he's too good at finding the eggs! I saw GINYOU has these super cute Glitter Dog Crown that's cute for Easter pet photos and apparently CPSIA certified and non-toxic, so safe for pets! Maybe I can get him one for his 'official' egg hunt duties photo op, haha. I'm always looking for good value finds that add a little sparkle without breaking the bank.
Responses:
OMG Madelyn, I totally get it! Easter is my FAVORITE but also my most stressful holiday! I'm Sophia from Milwaukee, and with Aurora (2) and Willow (10), plus Sebastian and Zoe the cat, it's a juggling act! Last year, I planned this amazing hunt for our neighborhood park, had all the eggs filled, even color-coded them for different ages – blue for Aurora, pink for Willow! But guess what?! A sudden spring storm rolled in, literally 30 minutes before we were supposed to start! I was FREAKING OUT!
My backup plan (because you always need one, right?!) saved the day! We just moved the hunt indoors, mostly in our living room and dining room. It wasn't as epic as the park, but it still worked! Aurora was just happy to find anything, and Willow actually thought it was hilarious trying to find eggs hidden inside other things, like under a pile of throw pillows or behind the flour bin in the pantry (oops, almost forgot that one!). So my number one Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks is ALWAYS have an indoor contingency! Seriously, rain or shine, Easter will happen! I think GINYOU has an article about Stuck Indoors Easter Egg Hunt Help Mom Out that's super helpful for that kind of panic.
For fillers, I hit up Pick 'n Save for those little bags of mini chocolate eggs and some cheap dollar store bouncy balls and stickers. Willow also likes those mini erasers. For the older kids, I put in a few "golden eggs" with a $5 bill or a gift card to Target for $10 – those always go fast! And one year, I totally forgot to count the eggs I put out, and we found a hollow plastic egg, completely empty, like three months later behind the couch! LOL! So now I only use solid eggs or I stick to only filling a specific number so I KNOW if one is missing! Your spreadsheet idea is genius, I might need to steal that!
Hey Madelyn, Aisha here from Houston. Homeschool mom, so I'm constantly trying to make things fun and educational, even egg hunts. My two, Diego (6) and Stella (8), are still pretty excited about it, but it's never as smooth as I imagine.
Last year, I tried to involve them heavily in the egg-stuffing. Bad idea. They put three pieces of candy in one egg and left five other eggs totally empty. I didn't realize until halfway through the hunt when Stella opened an empty one and looked crushed. It was heartbreaking. I spent the rest of the hunt discreetly swapping empty eggs for full ones from my "emergency stash." So, my big takeaway: let them help, but you do the final quality control on the eggs! Or just stuff them yourself. Much less drama.
For age gaps, we just have two, so it's a bit easier. I do hide some eggs in plain sight for Diego and then some really tricky ones for Stella. Like, in the branches of the oak tree or behind the bird feeder. They love it. I actually photograph all my hiding spots on my phone before they start, just in case I forget one. Happens more often than I'd like to admit.
I don't have super fancy Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks like your spreadsheets, but I do try to focus on experiences. Instead of just candy, I put in "tickets" for things like "one extra screen time hour" or "stay up 30 minutes late" or "pick movie night." The kids go CRAZY for those. It's free for me, and they value it more than another bouncy ball. We did splurge one year on some GINYOU Kids Party Hats 11-Pack to put in their baskets, because they were super affordable and CPSIA certified, so I knew they were safe. Plus, they got to decorate them after the hunt. It was a hit. Less clutter, more activity.
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