Your Guide To The Ultimate Easter Egg Hunt for Toddlers

Peter Cottontail is officially hopping down the bunny trail, folks. That’s right, Easter is just around the corner, and we’ve got just the thing to help make it a great one for your toddler. Our Guide to the Ultimate Easter Egg Hunt for Toddlers

All About Eggs

We like a combo of dyed eggs and plastic eggs – you get the fun of coloring eggs together and the yumminess of chocolate Easter treats! Plus, with a few dozen boiled eggs in the mix, you can give your kid more eggs to hunt without giving them more sugar.

Tips for Dying Eggs with Toddlers

• If you’re getting a dye kit, be sure to get it early before they sell out! Or make your own by filling small bowls with enough hot water to cover an egg and adding 1 tsp of vinegar and 20 drops of food coloring per bowl. Use one of your old t-shirts as a smock for your toddler. It will completely cover their clothes and makes for a cute picture!
• Go with the flow – even if that means your toddler wants to mix colors and ends up with a dark brown egg. It’s all about having fun, right?
• Be sure your toddler knows that the water is hot!

Tips for Filling Your Plastic Easter Eggs

• Fill them on Saturday night after the kids are asleep and keep them out-of-sight until it’s time for the big hunt – toddlers are not known for their patience, after all.
• Candy is the obvious filling choice, but you have plenty of options. Your toddler probably doesn’t have any expectations about what they’ll find in their eggs, so go with whatever you want. Raisins, peanut butter crackers, dark chocolate, you name it...
• Almost any toy that can fit into an Easter egg is probably a choking hazard for a toddler. Opt for stickers instead if you want some non-food fillings!
• Remember that many hard or chewy candies are also considered choking hazards for toddlers.

Get a Toddler-friendly Easter Basket

Keep those tiny hands in mind when you pick their Easter basket. Long handles and large baskets will be tougher for them to handle as they hunt.

Time to Hide

Keep Count

Rotting eggs smell like… well, rotting eggs. Avoid all of that by keeping track of how many eggs you’ve put out and make a basic map if necessary.

Keep it simple

You have plenty of years for creative Easter egg hiding places that make your kids really work for it… the toddler years are not those years. They’re likely to get bored or frustrated before all of the eggs are found. Eggs scattered out in the open or “hidden” in easy spots are plenty for toddlers! The novelty of the activity and the process of gathering things in a basket are enough to make it fun.

If you’ve got older kids too, make sure they know they know to leave plenty of “easy” eggs for their younger sibling. If you do want to add some creativity to your hiding places, go for funny instead of difficult. Leave eggs in silly but obvious places like chairs, flower beds, or doormats, and have a few stuffed animals “lay” eggs in the backyard.

Time to Hunt

When it’s time for the main event, remember that any amount of fun is a success. Young toddlers may not get the concept, and even older toddlers may be way more interested in the snail they find than the eggs.

Lots of hints and help can help keep them interested and focused, but if they decide to plop down and enjoy each treat as they find it, that’s okay too! We have a feeling the Easter Bunny won’t mind.