Before this week I almost forgot about Easter. I just was so consumed with everything going on with the global coronavirus pandemic I hadn’t thought about the holiday since I first bought Cadbury eggs in February. However, egg hunts are the best and I was really looking forward to this year since Pierce would be somewhat into running around and finding eggs.
BUT we can still have egg hunts while we are social distancing. We just have to be creative! Here are some low-lift ideas on how to still host an egg hunt while social distancing. Maybe you will even discover a new tradition that you love!
Window egg hunt – organize a window egg hunt with your neighbors or friends. Ask them all to cut out egg shapes and decorate them any way they want and hang in their windows. Drive or walk around and see how many you can find!
Indoor egg hunts – some variations on a normal indoor hunt are:
– Putting messages in the eggs
– Write actions and place inside eggs and whoever finds the egg has to do what is inside (hop on one foot, sing a song, skip, do jumping jacks, chirp like a chick, etc)
– Glow in the dark hunt: add glow sticks to eggs and host it at night
– Word search: each egg has a letter and at the end you have to figure out what words/messages they spell
– Puzzle eggs: put one puzzle piece in each egg and at the end of the hunt you all help put the puzzle together
– Color-coded eggs: divide into groups and each group can only grab eggs of their assigned color
– String: tie a string to a basket full of eggs and thread it all over the house, follow the string to the end
– Blindfold hunt: blindfold participants and give hot/cold clues when they get close to the hidden eggs.
Search and find photos – Hide eggs around your home, take photos of the room/s and send the photo to anyone participating. If they find all of the eggs in the photos give them a prize (maybe a mailed card or a gift certificate or just kudos)
Instagram egg hunt – similar to the above but post the photos on Instagram and tag them with a unique hashtag. Everyone who participates has to post at least one photo with the hashtag. Whoever finds all the eggs gets a prize (or bragging rights).
Virtual egg hunt – host an egg hunt virtually via FaceTime or some secure video app and take turns looking for eggs.
Children need time outdoors to explore and learn. Current recommendations are for children to spend up to three hours outside a day. Now, we are not under normal circumstances and I don’t know how most of us can hit this goal following stay-at-home guidelines unless you have a yard and can watch your kids play outside for hours a day. But after hours on end inside our homes trying to come up with games or find new shows to binge, it is enormously helpful to get outside and breathe fresh air.
Last week I talked about having a theme for each week at home. It really helps me when planning out each week and day to have something to narrow my focus. Pierce’s daycare has themes for the week that they structure crafts and learning time around and I love it.
