A few years ago, I decided to have an Easter Egg Hunt. At the time, my son was 2 and we invited 10 friends over to hunt for eggs. He’s now 6 and we’ve made this an annual event. Each year the party grows in size and in a few weeks, we’re expecting about 35 hunters and their parents at our house! I absolutely love this party. It’s a kick off to Spring and just a fun morning for all of the kids and parents. Many people have told me that I’m absolutely crazy for opening up our home to such a large crowd. But, I love it and the size of it does not bother me in the least…..because I’m organized! Here are a few ideas to help you plan and organize your next Easter Egg Hunt. These tips have worked well for me and I hope that they’ll be helpful to you as well. Happy hunting!
Invitations
Take the easy route! Use Facebook for a quick way to get the invite out. You can also use Evite as a way of sending invitations out via email.
Menu
Keep it simple! Plan a menu that you can prep ahead the day before. This will allow you to enjoy the day and not be a slave in the kitchen. Also, freezer-friendly is key! In case of leftovers, you can easily freeze the food to eat during busy mornings….#momwin!
Theme/Party Supplies
Stock up on party supplies during ‘day after’ sales for the following year. Stock up on plastic eggs, non-perishable fillers, baskets and decorations and you’ll save 50-75%! Walmart and Christmas Tree Shops are my go-to’s for great day after sales.
Egg Fillers
Determine the number of eggs that you’d like to fill per child (20 eggs per child is a good number). I keep my egg fillers to .20 cents (or less) each and typically shop online at Oriental Trading Company while they have free shipping offers. They are a great resource for party supply needs. I buy a combination of non-candy and candy fillers.
Delegate
It’s the day of the party! As much as you can, and feel comfortable doing, delegate tasks to family members and close friends attending your party. Task the hubby or significant other with taking coats as guests arrive.
Delegate the spreading of the eggs to the dads; they love it!
Put someone in charge of monitoring the oven so that they can take out any casseroles while the hunt is happening. That way food will be hot and ready to go once everyone comes back in from hunting.
Reuse
Reuse your plastic eggs for next year! Once the hunt is over and all of the kids have cracked open and emptied those colorful plastic eggs, toss them into a large laundry basket for next year’s event. This definitely saves a lot of money! Granted some of the eggs don’t pass QC for the following year, but the bulk of them do.
Debrief
After the party is over, debrief to see what worked well and what didn’t. Jot down what was on the menu as well as the number of people in attendance. Capture how much food was left over. This will determine your menu and quantities served for the next year.
Hopefully you’ll have found these tips to be useful. Have fun planning your next Easter Egg Hunt! Click here if you want to print out my Easter Egg Hunt Checklist.