Has Easter in Lockdown got you scratching your head for fresh ideas? I’ve got just the thing – a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt! This is perfect for any families with kids who stay up till dark. Read on for a complete list of all the items you’ll need, where to have the hunt, how to set it up, ideas for prizes and tips to make it even more memorable.
Here’s everything you’ll need for the best glow in the dark Easter egg hunt ever!
Eggs
You’ll want to have about 7-10 plastic eggs per child (or adult!) participating in the hunt. Lighter colours will work best, and the size will depend on the type of light that you’re using. Read on for more about that.
Glow Sticks or Tea Lights
Of course, you’ll need something to make the eggs glow. You could use small glow sticks (the kind for bracelets) if you have the larger-style plastic eggs. Slightly bend the sticks and shake to release the glow. Do this shortly before your hunt, and then gently bend them to go inside the eggs. Alternatively, you could use battery-operated tea lights, and these might fit in the smaller plastic eggs.
Some glow in the dark eggs need to be ‘charged’ before the glow. So if you buy this kind, make sure to leave them in the sun for several hours before your hunt.
Or, for maximise ease, you can find this fantastic glow egg kit on Amazon. This is my favourite solution because the glow sticks are the perfect size (about 1.5 inch). Plus, the eggs are light coloured so that the light can shine through. If you want them to glow even brighter, you might need to use a couple of sticks for each one.
Baskets
The children will need something to put their eggs in, so make sure they have a basket or bag to gather them in.
Location
A glow in the dark egg hunt works for indoors or outdoors. You could set this up in your garden, making sure it’s safe for the children to bump around in the dark. Indoors, you have a bit more control over the light and the weather. But keep an indoor egg hunt contained to one floor of your house to avoid anyone tripping on the stairs.
Set-Up
If you can, have one adult or teen gather the kids up while someone else prepares the eggs. The glow only lasts about an hour or two, so you’ll have to assemble these right before the hunt.
For added fun in the dark, you could let the kids wear any kind of flashing-light items that they have might already. Lots of kids like to wear glow in the dark makeup too. Or, they might like to just carry torches.
Let the kids know if there are any special safety rules. Also, let them know how many eggs or which particular colour you want them to find. This is particularly important for different age groups and different egg-finding abilities!
When you’re all ready to go, get the kids to do a countdown.
Then let them loose!
Prize Ideas
When the kids finish finding their eggs, they can then trade for prizes. You could give them a big chocolate egg or a mixed bag of their favourite Easter chocolates or sweets. Or, since you won’t be putting these prizes in the eggs, you can be a bit more imaginative.
For smaller kids, some fun prizes are rubber ducks, Hot Wheels cars, sidewalk chalks, crayons, mini tubs of Play-Doh, stickers, cups with their favourite cartoon characters and bubbles.
For tweens, try Lego blind bags, yo-yos, mini bath bombs, fidget toys, squishies, fun rubbers, scratch art, travel games and scented pens.
Teens might like keychains, chewing gum, lip balm, nail polish, funny socks, pencil cases, coin pouches, face masks, playing cards and mini Pringle cans.
Books are welcome for any age. And any kind of glow in the dark toy will be super fun to play with after the event, too. You can find glow in the dark necklaces, Minecraft swords, glasses, bugs, stickers, fairy wands and more.
After the hunt
Once all the eggs have been found, you might want to gather the glow sticks in a few jam jars to dot around the area. Put on some music and get everyone to bop around till bedtime.
And that’s all you need for an awesome glow in the dark Easter egg hunt! This a terrific twist on the traditional egg hunt that your family will remember for a very long time.
If you like this idea, you might also like How to Host a Board Game Olympics.
Subscribe to get more family fun ideas in a newsletter FREE to your mailbox every week.
