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Easter Egg Hunt with a Twist
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Here at Celebration Style we like to choose more meaningful
gifts and prizes for the children attending our parties. But
when it comes to Easter, it can often be difficult to find
enough worthwhile items small enough to fit inside a plastic
Easter egg. To remedy that situation, we suggest an Easter
egg hunt that leads kids, clue by clue, to a larger bounty
of prizes and treats. (As an added bonus, a hunt like this
keeps the kids working together as one and eliminates the
competition of who will find the most eggs.)
Assemble a list of clues to specific locations within the
area you plan to hold your Easter egg hunt. Scout out easy
targets, like the fire hydrant at the corner or your neighbor's
house-shaped mailbox, and write the clue so that it's fun
to decipher, but easy to figure out. To lead them to that
mailbox, for instance, you could write, "I'm easy to
find … but you'll need a hunch … to find the small
house … who eats letters for lunch."
Map out your hunt so that you know where to place each clue,
and then tuck each one inside a plastic egg and hide the eggs
carefully. (It's most fun to place the eggs in a pattern that
will lead the children back and forth all over your chosen
activity area.) For the last clue, you might want to make
the children seek out a certain adult at the party. This is
a great way to ensure that the adults don't miss the end of
the hunt, and an easy way to let everyone know it's time to
get the cameras ready. Let this adult hold the final clue
in the hunt -- the location of the prizes and treats.
Choose your last location carefully, as you don't want the
children to stumble across the final reward before they've
found every clue. Then sit back and watch the fun.
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The Spring Olympics
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The winter olympics were exciting to watch, and while most
of us don't have the opportunity to participate in speed skating
trials or go skiing regularly, we can still experience the
euphoria of a well-earned medal with a hometown "Spring
Olympics". Great weather is already here in Phoenix,
and just around the corner for the rest of the country, so
make some time to be outdoors with a string of Olympic events
suitable for every age.
You don't have to be a sports fanatic to come up with ideas
for this get-together. Imagine an obstacle course where you
crawl through an old tire, under a table, and through a hanging
hula hoop before walking backward through a sprinkler and
back and forth among a stand of trees on your race to the
finish line. Or try cardboard "car" racing -- cut
the top and bottom off a group of cardboard boxes and attach
shoulder straps to these wearable cardboard "cars".
Paint each car with a different number and make all the participants
race on their knees. Have a golfer in the family? Borrow his
golf clubs for a one-hole putting range where the golfers
are all blindfolded. There are endless possibilities for your
own Spring Olympics -- just use your imagination.
You can even provide an announcer for play-by-play analysis
of the games. Pick someone with a good sense of humor -- just
make sure he or she whispers appropriately during the golf
competition.
And don't forget the medals! Your local party store will
most likely offer a selection of plastic medals and blue ribbons
to use, or you can go all out at a trophy store. For the craftiest
bunch, create your own trophies. Assemble a pile of recyclables
and metal findings and start gluing. Imagine a toy car mounted
on a tin can, or a nuts-and-bolts figure attached to a piece
of scrap wood. You can even spray-paint each trophy gold or
silver, if you like. Make your awards ceremony extra-special
by presenting trophies or ribbons to everyone who participates.
Just remember that the competition is secondary to the fun.
If you do, we promise that they'll be clamoring for the next
Spring Olympics before another four years has passed.
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