Easter Egg Hunt

I always have two Easter Egg Hunts in my Kindergarten class. The first one inside, and the second one on the playground.

For the indoors search, I "hide" a variety of plastic eggs, candy, small toys, etc. around the classroom, but in plain sight. In fact, I tell the kids to watch me as I "hide" the stuff on chairs, under tables, by the sink, next to the computer, on the bookshelf.... I then have the students sit on the carpet and choose two (who are at the same reading level) to come to the front of the room. I have them turn their back to the dry erase board, facing the other students, while I write their "clue" on the board. These clues can range from a color ("blue", "pink"), a couple words ("yellow toy," "green egg") or a complete sentence ("Look for an egg by the sink." "Get a purple egg."). I then say "Go!" and the two students turn around, read the clue and are off to find their egg (Running is not allowed. Those who do so are disqualified and end up without an egg.). The first to find the correct egg gets to place it in their basket. The one who doesn't win gets to have another turn until he/she does win an egg. If both students find the correct egg at roughly the same time in different parts of the classroom, we have a tie and both get to keep the egg. (It is amazing how many ties we have in our class!). Once everyone has had a turn (and won an egg), we start over. We normally play until everyone has won three eggs. (Meanwhile, the parents hide the remaining eggs ouside....)

For the outside Easter Egg Hunt I used to count the number of eggs we are hiding, divide that number by how many students we have and tell them they can only get that number of eggs. It would take the parents 20 minutes to hide all of the eggs. However, the kids would find them all within 2 minutes. So, in order to stretch out the search, I now have the kids line up on the edge of the playground. I spell the name of a color ("B-L-U-E"), count to three and shout "Go!" They then have to find one egg that color. Once everyone has found that color, they line up and we do it again with another color. We continue through every possible color. Then, for our final hunt, it is a free-for-all and they can keep whatever they find.

If, despite the attempt to balance out the eggs among the students, I still find that one student has far more than the rest (usually someone who picks up 4 multi-colored eggs when I said "One blue egg.") and another has far fewer, I will ask the first student is he/she would mind sharing with their friend. I've yet to have a child refuse to share.

Once back in the classroom, while we are graphing jelly beans, the students are allowed to choose and eat ONE candy from their basket. The basket, by the way, is a plastic milk gallon that has been turned into a rabbit (See the "Easter" Holiday unit from http://www.misterkindergarten.com/.). After our graphing activity, it is time to hop on home.