Easter egg hunt ideas and prizes — colourful spring party decorations

How to Run an Easter Egg Hunt — Tips, Prizes and Ideas

An Easter egg hunt is one of those activities that children genuinely love — and it takes surprisingly little effort to set one up well. Whether you're planning a garden hunt for a handful of kids or organising something bigger for a school or community group, this guide covers everything you need to know about running an Easter egg hunt that actually works.

Easter falls on 5 April 2026 this year, and with the spring weather (hopefully) on your side, now is the time to start planning. Here's how to do it properly.

How Many Eggs Do You Need for an Easter Egg Hunt?

The golden rule is 8 to 12 eggs per child. This gives everyone enough to find without the hunt ending in 30 seconds flat. For younger children aged 2 to 4, drop that to 6 to 8 eggs hidden in obvious spots — behind a flowerpot, sitting on a garden chair, tucked next to a wellknown toy.

For older children (5 and above), you can push the number up and make hiding spots progressively harder. A hunt that lasts 15 to 20 minutes hits the sweet spot — long enough to be exciting, short enough that nobody gets bored or starts squabbling.

Quick maths: 10 children × 10 eggs each = 100 eggs. Always buy or prepare a few extras — eggs go missing in gardens more often than you'd think.

Choosing Your Easter Egg Hunt Prizes

Chocolate is the classic choice, but it's not the only option — and for warm days, allergy-conscious groups, or school events, alternatives often work better.

Non-Chocolate Easter Egg Hunt Prize Ideas

Browse our full Easter party collection for more ideas, or check our party bag fillers for prizes that fit inside eggs. If you want to keep things plastic-free, our eco-friendly party bag fillers are a good starting point.

How to Set Up an Easter Egg Hunt: Step by Step

1. Pick Your Location

Gardens are the obvious choice, but an indoor hunt works just as well — and removes the weather gamble entirely. Parks work for bigger groups, but you'll need to arrive early to hide eggs before other families find them.

For indoor hunts: behind cushions, inside shoes, on bookshelves, and under furniture all work. For very small children, keeping the hunt to one or two rooms makes it manageable.

2. Set Boundaries

Before you start hiding anything, decide the search area and make it clear to the children. Use garden canes with ribbon, chalk lines, or simply say "only in the back garden, not the front." Without boundaries, you'll have children wandering off and eggs left unfound for weeks.

3. Hide the Eggs at the Right Difficulty

This is where most egg hunts go wrong. If you hide eggs at adult height or in genuinely obscure spots, younger children will find nothing and older children will grab everything.

For ages 2 to 4: Eggs should be partially visible — poking out from behind a plant pot, sitting on a low shelf, resting on a garden chair. They're not really "hidden" at this age, more "placed."

For ages 5 to 7: Hidden but findable — inside a wellington boot, tucked into a hedge at child height, behind a watering can. They should need to look, but not need clues.

For ages 8 and above: Properly hidden — up in tree branches, inside a bird box, underneath an upturned bucket. You can add clue cards at this level to turn it into a treasure hunt.

4. Use Colour-Coded Eggs for Mixed Age Groups

This is the single best tip for making an egg hunt fair when you have a mix of ages. Assign each age group a colour — for example, yellow for under-5s, blue for 5 to 7s, and green for 8 and above. Each child only collects their colour.

Hide the younger children's colour eggs in easy spots and the older children's in harder ones. Everyone finds roughly the same number, nobody feels cheated, and you avoid the inevitable tears when a 3-year-old's basket is empty while a 7-year-old has collected 15.

5. Have a Start Signal and a Collection Point

Count down from three, blow a whistle, or shout "Go!" — whatever works. Having a clear start means nobody gets a head start. Set up a collection point (a table or blanket) where children bring their eggs back, which also makes it easy to hand out any extra prizes.

Easter Egg Hunt Ideas to Make It More Exciting

A straight "find the eggs" hunt is perfectly fine, but if you want to add a twist:

Clue-Based Treasure Hunt

Instead of (or as well as) hiding eggs everywhere, write simple clues on cards. Each clue leads to the next hiding spot, with eggs or a final prize at the end. This works brilliantly for older children and keeps them engaged for longer. It also works indoors when you don't have a big garden.

The Golden Egg

Hide one special egg that's harder to find than the rest. Whoever finds it gets a bonus prize. You can spray-paint a plastic egg gold or wrap one in gold foil — children absolutely love the idea of the "special" egg.

Egg and Spoon Relay

After the hunt, use the eggs for a relay race. It extends the fun without any extra supplies and burns off the inevitable sugar rush if chocolate was involved.

Bunny Trail

Use flour or chalk to create bunny footprints leading from the back door out into the garden. It adds to the magic for younger children and makes a great photo opportunity.

Easter Egg Hunt Checklist

Here's what you need to have ready the day before:

  1. Eggs — 8 to 12 per child, plus 10% spares
  2. Baskets or bags — one per child (paper bags or reusable tote bags work fine)
  3. Prizes for inside fillable eggs — puzzles, erasers, tattoos, seeds, craft kits
  4. Boundary markers — ribbon, chalk, or cones
  5. Clue cards — if running a treasure hunt variant
  6. One golden egg — with a bonus prize
  7. A whistle or timer — for the start signal
  8. Camera — you will want photos

Need last-minute supplies? If you're local to Bath, our click and collect service means you can order online and pick up the same day — we're flexible on collection times including evenings and weekends.

Eco-Friendly Easter Egg Hunt Ideas

If you want to reduce waste, there are easy swaps that don't take away from the fun:

  • Skip the plastic eggs — use painted wooden eggs, wrapped chocolate, or paper clue cards instead
  • Choose eco party bag fillers as prizes — flower seeds and ReCycleMe craft kits are plastic-free and give children something to do after the hunt
  • Use paper bags instead of plastic baskets for collecting eggs
  • Avoid foil-wrapped eggs — the foil is rarely recycled and ends up scattered across the garden

Read our full guide to eco party bag filler ideas for more plastic-free inspiration, or browse our eco party supplies hub for everything in one place.

What Age Is Best for an Easter Egg Hunt?

Children from about 2 years old can join in with help, but the real sweet spot is ages 3 to 8. At this age they understand the concept, can search independently, and still find it genuinely thrilling.

For parties with a wide age range, the colour-coded egg system described above keeps it fair. You can also pair very young children with an older buddy — the older child helps spot eggs while the younger one puts them in the basket. Everyone wins.

Not sure what prizes suit which age group? Our party bag fillers by age guide breaks it down for 3, 5, 6, and 8 year olds — the same logic applies to egg hunt prizes.

Final Tips

  • Hide eggs the morning of the hunt — overnight hiding risks wildlife finding them first (squirrels, foxes, and cats are all fans of chocolate)
  • Count your eggs before hiding and keep a note of the total — this way you'll know if any are missing at the end
  • Have a backup plan for rain — even if you're planning an outdoor hunt, know which rooms you'd use indoors. British weather and Easter rarely cooperate.
  • Take photos of hiding spots as you go — it makes finding any remaining eggs much easier when the hunt is over

Happy hunting! Browse our Easter party range for decorations, prizes, and everything you need to make it brilliant.

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