5 Easter Egg Hunt Ideas

ByChristie Burnett Updated on

5 ideas for adding literacy to your Easter egg hunt

Why not add an element of literacy fun to your Easter egg hunt this Easter! There are a number of different ways to do this, depending upon the age and ability of your child.

1. Draw a treasure map representing the area where the eggs are hidden. Mark the location of the eggs and let your little one get hunting. If you have more than one child, make one map but mark each child’s eggs in a different colour and encourage them to work together to find all of the eggs.

2. Instead of a map, create a series of picture cards, each with a hand drawn picture showing the location of one egg.

3. For early readers, create a series of simple sentences clues to the whereabouts of the Easter treasure. Extend the hunt (and make it even more fun) by hiding a series of clues which lead your child/ren around your home or garden, for example, the first clue leads them to a second clue which leads them to a third, until finally they find the hidden goodies.

4. For older children, create a series of rebus clues. A rebus is a puzzle in which words are represented by pictures and single letters. Can you decode the rebus clues below?

5. Another way of challenging older children is to write the location clues in code. The code could involve letter, number or icon substitutions for the letters in the words. One such simple code is the backwards alphabet code. Make a list of all of the letters of the alphabet and then make a second list next to it of the alphabet in reverse order, A becomes Z, B becomes y, etc, and write your clues using the backwards letters.

I hope this leaves you inspired to add a little literacy into your Easter 🙂


Christie Burnett is a teacher, author and mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to find engaging, high quality learning ideas.

16 Comments

  1. We’ve had successful treasure hunts using photos, sending kids from one location to the next location – but it does require some forethought!

    And I’d never have thought to do it for an easter egg hunt – although that is not one of our family traditions, and dogs and chocolate don’t mix so impossible in our back garden!

  2. Love love love treasure hunts! Wonderful ideas, Christie!

  3. This year will be J’s first Easter treasure hunt. I took some photos of some of this favourite things – like his dump truck, his painting basket and his bulldozer. I printed them out and laminated them. What I’m thinking of doing is giving him one picture for him to find; for example his dump truck. Then another picture and an egg in the dump truck. I’m hoping he will get the idea and will enjoy looking for his things and his eggs.

  4. Thank-you for these fabulous ideas!

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  6. laura@art4littlehands says:

    I love that map idea. My kids would go nuts over it. Thanks for the fun ideas!

  7. My husband and I have just finished setting up an indoor egg hunt for our two girls tomorrow morning. There is a basket outside their bedroom door with a bunny footprint and a picture of our bedroom, where they can find an egg each and the next footprint with another clue, which will lead them all through the house. I can’t wait to see them try to work it all out! Thanks for the great inspiration 🙂

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  10. Great post, fab ideas on revamping a fun tradition. I LOVE your idea of writing the clues in code – perfect for getting MY brain working too!

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