Dutch Family Traditions, Parenting

Best Easter Egg Hunt ideas for kids of all ages

Happy Easter! “Vrolijk Paasfeest” or “Vrolijk Pasen” as we say in Dutch. The same Sunday as here in the US, but wait…..there is a second Easter Day on Monday. Lucky Dutch! Are they celebrating Easter differently in the Netherlands than here in the USA? I’ve changed it up a little bit for our family: Time to organize one of these creative outdoor Easter Egg Hunt ideas for all ages!

The best outdoor treasure hunts for kids

Easter in the Netherlands

Easter in the Netherlands includes a nice Easter Brunch and Easter Egg hunting. When I was little, we went to church and had Easter activities at school as well. These were often combined with our church. Right before Easter we decorated a wooden cross (almost the size as a little me) and added ribbons, flowers, little jars with honey or jams, Easter eggs and an Easter bread in the shape of a bunny. Then we brought the cross to elderly people in our community or people who were sick.

5 Easter Egg hunt ideas for kids
Me, at age 4, hunting for Easter eggs in the Netherlands

On Easter Sunday we usually got up early, to hunt for eggs. Sometimes family members came over or we went to our grand parents.

On Monday it was 2nd Easter Day. If the weather was nice, we went for a walk or bike ride…..or worked in the garden:0)

Easter in the USA

In the 12 years we lived in the USA, we made Easter into our little fun family day. When the kids were little, we had our easy egg hunt indoors, breakfast and visit family, but as the kids grew older, the egg hunts turned into more elaborate outdoor treasure hunts. Sometimes we invite friends over for a fun “Pajama Easter Brunch” and this year we will chill out (electronic free) in a wooden cabin.

Easter activities for kids
M finding eggs in our back yard.

In our small town here in the Mid West of almost 10,000 people, there are over 30 churches. In the small town where I grew up in the south of the Netherlands of 5,000 residents, we had 1 Catholic church. And that was it!

I know, a lot of Americans and people in the Netherlands are going to church on Easter Sunday. And I bet people are doing a lot of Easter activities, but I have no clue what, besides visiting relatives.

Lets talk about Easter Egg hunts or any time when you need ideas for an outdoor treasure hunt, really. I just asked my hubby what he liked the most about Easter when he grew up. And the answer was: Easter Egg Hunts. So, here you go! Our favorite Easter Egg hunts from the past few years!

6 amazing outdoor Treasure Hunt Ideas

1. Traditional Easter Egg Hunt

You probably can guess this one! Very easy to organize and always fun. Easy to change location, in case it rains outside. Just do it inside. Especially good for younger kids!

Don’t forget to count the eggs beforehand!

Easter, egg hunt, Pasen

When my brother and I were about 5 and 7 years old, he always woke up early in the morning in the weekends to watch cartoons and waited till the rest of us woke up. I was next, to get up and watch cartoons with him. But on one particular Easter Sunday, I totally freaked out, because all the Easter Eggs were still in the Easter basket!

I woke my parents up and told them, that I couldn’t do an Easter Egg hunt, because the eggs were not hidden by the Easter Bunny (“Paashaas”, in Dutch). They checked the basket and it turned out, my brother found some eggs here and there in the house a decided to put them back in that basket that was on the table, unaware that it was Easter Sunday.

The day before Easter, we normally paint the eggs with a dye kit…glitter…stickers… and more glitter!

Best Easter Egg Hunts for kids

In the evening I hide them in the house (age appropriate) or in the morning for the outside hunt (you never know which wild animal loves eggs). You can guide them with “cold-warm-warmer-HOT” game, if they want to give up at some point. NEVER GIVE UP!

Easter Egg Hunt Ideas, Pasen
” Easter Bunny, These are for you. Please hide them for us”

2. Bike Trip and Easter Egg Hunt

One year, when our kids were about 6 or 7 years old, old enough to bike by themselves, we set up a bike trip. This led the kids to grandma’s house, who organized an egg hunt in and around her house with clues as well.

We hung ribbons on trees, signs, bushes along the bike route the evening before the Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had to find the ribbons. We biked behind them to see if they did it right….and watched the traffic also!

For example:

a RED ribbon meant: go left,

a YELLOW ribbon meant go right.

a BLUE ribbon meant going straight.

If the kids almost would miss a ribbon, we would stop them and say:” Look left and right for cars or ribbons.”

3. Crack the Egg Code.

This hunt needs a little more organizing beforehand and it is meant for older kids. I would say 7 and up.

What you’ll need:

  • 26 plastic eggs
  • permanent markers
  • paper
  • Easter candy

Normally the plastic eggs have 2 parts, right? Write a number with a symbol on the top part of the egg and a letter with the same symbol on the bottom part of the egg. Here is a list with numbers, symbols and letters you can use.

Write a sentence or a clue where the kids can find an Easter present. For example: LOOK IN THE WOODEN PLAY HOUSE. Then write on a piece of paper underscores for the letters you used in the sentence for example:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Then, look at the eggs and write the numbers above the underscores, like this:

24 23 23 20 15 14 2 12 5 18 23 23 7 5 14 21 24 6 13 12 23 26 9 5

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Now it is time to switch the top and the bottom parts up. Don’t forget to put something yummy or fun in some of the eggs. Hide the eggs in your yard and a bigger final present where your clue will lead the kids to (example, “in the wooden play house”)

Tell the kids to find the plastic eggs. They can open them to get the treat, but they also need to find the top and bottom egg halves with the same symbols. Put those two egg halves together. Then they can solve the clue. Look for the number on the paper and find the egg with that number. Which letter on the bottom does have the same symbol as the number?

Read the clue and find the final present!

Note: To make it a little easier, just write the number on the egg (leave them whole) and put a treat with the corresponding letter in the egg. I used scrapbook letter stickers.

Best outdoor treasure hunt

4. QR-Code idea to use in a treasure hunt

In the era of tech savvy kids, I found this fun hunt. It is a great idea when the kids are older and they’re not really up for another egg hunt. But hey, we invited friends and the 4 pre-teens had a lot of fun with this one!

QR-Code example

Ever see one of these? I thought it was pretty impressive that you can “hide” a secret message in a code. And the best part is….YOU CAN MAKE THEM YOURSELF!!!!

Come up with some clues. For example: UNDER THE RED FLOWER POT

Go to this QR-Code generator. Type in each clue and save the different QR-codes for each clue on the right side of the page (right click, save image as…)

Then get the app “Quick Scan” on your phone (iPhone) which scans these QR-Codes or use your photo camera on your phone. Cut out the QR-Codes and fold them so they fit in plastic eggs, with some candy of course). Hide the eggs, except one. Give the kids that first plastic egg and show them how it works: Scan the Qr-Code with the phone and see what shows up on the screen. There is where the next egg can be found.

Be sure to write down what your clues are, so you know where to hide the eggs. The clues will lead to a final present.

5. Outdoor Puzzle Treasure hunt idea.

One year I had one blank puzzle left from a summer camp craft. I drew a picture on the puzzle (you can write a message for older kids) and hide the puzzle pieces in the yard. You can even put the puzzle pieces in plastic Easter Eggs.

The kids need to find all the x amount of puzzle pieces. Usually 24 or so and make the puzzle. The message or drawing will tell them where to find the final present.

Egg Hunt for kids

6. Local Map and Picture hunt.

Maybe we already use some kind of fitness or walking/biking/jogging app, like Strava, but did you know you can use this app for a treasure hunt?

You can set out a route in your neighborhood and make pictures along the way. The app will put the pictures on the map. Hide clues and small surprises where the pictures are taken. Let the kids find their way back with their pockets full of goodies!

Don’t forget to pin!

Happy Easter….

Vrolijk Paasfeest!

creative outdoor treasure hunt ideas
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