I love, love, love making every holiday exciting for my toddler! When I thought of this unique Easter Hunt idea, I knew you’d love it, too! Please comment below letting me know what you think.
Prep Time:
30-45 minutes, plus drying time
Clean-up Time:
3 minutes – really!
Learning Concepts:
-Colors
-Shapes
Fun Aspects:
-They get to smash eggs!!! YES! (Trust me, this only takes 2 mins to clean up!)
-They get a few fun little toys (I spent $1-4 on each toy)
-They get to practice their colors and shapes
What you’ll need:
–6 small paper shapes, with a corresponding large shape of each
–12 broken egg shells, rinsed and dried — you’ll need extra, because the half shells don’t fit with their original other half. I just saved the shells of eggs I used for breakfast and recipes.)
–A half-dozen egg carton (or a dozen cut in half, like I did)
–Paint (I used drink mix, Eco Kids Organic Paint, and some inexpensive non-toxic/washable paint I got from Michael’s Craft Store)
-Glitter glue or regular liquid glue
-Optional: Anything to decorate with (stickers, glitter, glitter glue, markers, etc.)
Cut a bunch of shapes out. Here’s how I made it easy on myself:
–Circle: I traced a bowl
–Triangle: I used a ruler to make the hypotenuse, but the other two sides were just the sides of a normal 8-1/2″ x 11″
–Square: I cut off 2-1/2″ from the side of an 8-1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper, making it now 8-1/2″ x 8-1/2″
–Rectangle: I used one sheet of paper as is
–Heart: I just freehanded it. My toddler accepts my lopsided heart as it is
–Crescent: See “Heart”. 😉
Go through your shells, and try to match them up. They shouldn’t fit as if they were part of the same egg. One should go a little into the other. This will make keeping them together easier.
Put your shapes into one side of each pair, and gently fit the other half on top. They should overlap a little.
Glue the two sides together around the crack using liquid glue or glitter glue.
Paint your eggs! I made my own little drying rack using the tops of mason jars and rubber bands, but no need to get fancy. You can simply paint one side, let it dry, and then paint the other. Once they dry, you can decorate them however you like.
Take inventory. 🙂
Put your large shapes out. I happen to have 6 drawers in my living room, but you can use anything you want. A few ideas: 1) use boxes to put the gifts into, and place the shapes on the boxes, 2) use doors to put the shapes on with the gifts behind the doors, 3) put the shapes on kitchen cabinets with the gifts behind the cabinets, 4) wrap the gifts, and put the shapes on the gift… or anything else you can think of!
Put your painted eggs in a small egg carton. I cut a dozen egg carton in half with a serrated knife and tied a bow around it. Bows make everything better!
It’s time to open her Easter surprise!! Here’s when I told her the rules (because I knew she would just grab at them once it was opened). I told her that after she opened it, she needs to put down the carton. I said that when I called out a color, she has to find the corresponding egg, and that I’d then tell her what to do next.
That’s a happy girl! Look at those imperfect eggs Mommy made! Perfect for her, though!
I called out pink. When she grabbed the correct one, I told her that she gets to smash it on the ground. She looked at me like I was crazy. “No, really! Smash it to see what is inside!” She was timid at first, but then she whacked it against the ground. SUCCESS! A little paper heart jumped out!
I told her to find the drawer with the heart on it. She did. She opened it and found her first little gift.
She was thrilled!
She cracked, and cracked, and CRACKED! Great shot of the yellow egg crack!
She didn’t quite get this one open, and she couldn’t get the shape out with her finger, so…
She blasted it against the ground!
She had a great time going back-and-forth, and she did SO well with her shapes and colors!
Amidst the mess of egg shells was a beautiful, happy, thankful little girl! The best part was that it seriously took me 3 minutes to clean up everything! I swept the shells together with my hands and threw them into the carton, I took the shapes off of the drawers, and then I vacuumed up the small pieces of egg shell. Easy breezy!
Go for it, Mama, and enjoy this fun time with your little one!
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