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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Easter Egg Treasure Hunt

The Grand Easter Egg Treasure Hunt Tutorial
Designer: Ann Cutts - Design Team Member


Please click on photos to enlarge

When my own children were little one of their favorite Easter activities was egg hunting. One Easter I left a trail of clues all over the house and garden. My two girls had an amazing time reading the clues and searching out the eggs. It was remembering those happy days that led me to designing this fun activity that I hope you will like and perhaps make to use with your own children or grandchildren this Easter.

Materials needed:
Card suitable to use in a printer
Clip art, rubber stamps, die cuts or other suitable materials to decorate your clue cards.
Small envelope die, punch or template.
I don’t think I need to go into great detail on how to make these cards as I’m sure you’ll agree that the pictures are self explanatory.

To create my game I used the new Messy Rabbit CD by Joanna Sheen. I chose a different rabbit image for each of the cards and added a rhyming clue. I printed these out and made small envelopes using my Cricut machine to attach to the front. Inside each envelope I put a little card containing the answer to the clue.


You may want to only do the text on your clue cards and then use your rubber stamps or maybe die cuts to decorate and pretty the cards up later. The choice is yours. Do make sure that if you are using die cuts or rubber stamps that you plan the size of your card or text before printing so that both the images and text fit on the card properly.

As a teacher I am always aware of the educational potential of any games I make. This Treasure Hunt is an ideal opportunity to encourage early readers to practise their reading skills. In the early stages of learning to read picture clues play an important part in helping to decipher the printed word. The images taken from the Joanna Sheen CD are perfect to encourage children to develop this skill. If you are able to use these images or similar do take the opportunity to talk about the picture and guide your child in using it to help them to work out the location of the next clue.

Each of the clues in the game are rhyming couplets. Rhymes are a great way to encourage and give children practice in focussing on the sounds in words.. It may be that you have one child old enough to read the cards and perhaps a younger child who will enjoy the sound of the words and be able to guess (using the rhyme and picture as clues) the answer.

Some of the card ideas given here might not be suitable for your home or perhaps the weather might make it impossible to go outside. Do use the rhymes that you like and have a go at making up others that fit your home better.
It would be really great if you do create some of your own rhyming clues if you could leave a comment here sharing them with us. We would love to hear them.

For each clue card I made a little envelope with the answer inside and attached it to the front. These add to the fun of the game, but also if you have a very young child who can’t work out the clues opening the envelope keeps them involved.
A couple of small eggs placed alongside some of the clues may be a good idea. They will add to the fun and also make the game last longer.

I’ve only done a few cards to give you some ideas. Obviously you can make as many cards as you like. I know my children didn’t want to stop when they played all those years ago and it is surprising how fast they find those eggs and clues.
Don’t forget if you do make some rhymes please add them to our comments - the more rhymes we have the better the game for all of us.
Most of all have fun!

Ooops forgot to say you should choose one clue card to be your last one and have 'the treasure' hidden in that location. The bath is a good place as there is plenty of room to stash the eggs an it's not somewhere they will have passed when searching out the other clues.'

Ann xxx

Pssst....I just noticed when I was visiting Ann's blog that she is giving away blog candy to one lucky person out of those that leave comments with rhymes for this game!! So, please do share ideas...the candy is great! --Robin

24 comments:

Robin said...

Ann,
this is such a cute game! I think I might do this for my girls for Easter! Thanks for the idea! I am excited to do this now!!!

LORi said...

Fabulous Tutorial Ann!! Love it!! I am with Robin...My kids would get a kick out of this!!

Thanks Ann!!

Ruby said...

This is brilliant Ann. My daughter loves solving clues on our Easter Egg hunt each year, you've just saved me loads of time thinking up lots of new clues, thank you VERY much :o)

~*Joni said...

Wonderful Ann! Your teaching talent has shone through your tutorial and thoughfulness of the children's activity. I can't wait to do this little egg hunt with my own little ones this year! I love rhyming so I thought of a few:


"You're almost to the final treat!
Your next clue is where you brush your teeth..."

"Great job! Now go and take a look -
you'll find your next clue in your favorite bedtime book."

"I'm so proud of you! You make a great Easter bunny.
Now hop to the next clue where we keep all of your money." (piggy bank or little coin purse)

Okay, I'll stop!! Or this post will be a page long. haha! Now I'll get busy and start planning my own egg hunt. Thank you so much for the inspiring ideas!

Allison said...

great idea for the kids
AllisonX

Jennifer Meyer said...

Great idea Ann! LOVE the fun idea and what a great tutorial!

Hugs & Smiles,
Jennifer :)

LORi said...

Wow Joni, these are Awesome!!! Really cute!! You are a rhyming genius!!

Carol said...

It must have been great to be in your class Ann, this is wonderful!
brilliant job on this,i bet the Mum's will love making this as much as the kids will love doing it :)

Hugs
Carol x

lindah11 said...

what a lovely idea anne well done
love linda xxx

Kathy Eddy said...

This is so cute,
the idea is such a hoot,
for coming up with this game
your own horn you should toot!
There's my rhyme. LOL Very clever, my Dad always did a treasure hunt at our birthday parties when we were kids. s an English teacher, they were quite good! Kathy Eddy

Lorraine A said...

fabulous hunt :-) will remember this for the grandchildren ha ha , not that any are expected any time soon !!!
Lorraine

WendyP said...

what a fantastic idea for children - when i become a grandmother i will definitely have so much fun with this !
heres a couple of ideas for clues ...
don't hibernate like a big ole bear
find your next clue next to dad's ...
(chair)

Where dust bunnies love to live and be fed, to find your next clue, go and look under your ..... (bed)

smiles W

debbie said...

ok... lets give this a try

you want some more loot
take a look in a boot.

Thanks
Debbie
ebat@cox.net

Lorraine A said...

Oooh a rhyme !!
Where's the treasure? you may ask
You must find it, thats the task!
Is it here? Is it there ?
You must look everywhere !!
When I find it must I share ?
Well you can take it, IF you dare !!

Hope you like that :-) ha ha
Lorraine

Chrissy C said...

AW what a cute game. I just wish I had kids....oh hopefully soon!

Thanks for the fun weekend. It's been a blast!

silvia said...

What a FABULOUS idea!! These are soooo cute!!

Swedie said...

The Bunny was here,
Look hard my Dear.

A pillow look behind,
and a clue you will find.

Sit on a chair,
And then look under there.

This game is such fun -
Have fun, everyone!

Swedie

-Agnes- said...

If the next clue is what matters
look where the postman leaves the letters.

Jessica Theodore said...

what fun! thanks for a great idea, last year we just hid little eggs around the yard but aimee walked past most of them, this year she is a bit bigger and interested in words and riddles, we have a few apple trees in our yard so i will use

"You will have to check each one of these,
your next clue is hidden in the apple... (trees)"

jess in australia :)

Anonymous said...

I started doing egg hunts 20 years ago, when my son was 5. It's become a tradition in our house now and I'm still doing them. Only trouble is my youngest daughter is almost 19, and the boyfriends and girlfriends join in too! What a great idea though to use Messy Rabbit.


To solve this clue, you'll need brain power
You'll find it hidden in the (shower)


Jane x

andyjay said...

Awesome idea! I wish my kids were little again...

Over to the refrigerator you must hop,
You'll find your next clue up on top.

silvia said...

bend down into a crouch
don't look up, look down
search under the couch
and you won't wear a frown

Max said...

Some fabulous rhymes there ... well done!
I have a feeling there's going to be lots of 'littlies' across the globe scouring houses and gardens for clues this coming Easter.

Luv'n'Stuff
Max
xx

Ginny said...

i made some cards today and posted on my blog