10 tips for hosting an awesome easter egg hunt (without blowing the budget)

Celebrating holidays is one of those things in life that makes my little heart sing. I LOVE holidays. And I love them even more now that I'm married with a growing family of my own. Ryan and I have had so much fun creating our own family traditions... but our Easter traditions are still in their infancy.

Our first Easter together was the week before our wedding. Our second was while we were doing a short training course in Spain. Our third was spent on different continents while I took newborn Levi to America to meet my family. And now we have our fourth...

This year we decided to host an Easter egg hunt and morning tea for several of our friends and their children. We did it the week before Easter (on a Saturday so as not to conflict with church) since several of the families we wanted to invite were headed out of town for the holiday weekend (and so was my husband - boo-hoo).

It was a beautiful morning... Kids running and giggling, parents lounging and chatting, everyone happy and having fun. And we pulled it off on a fairly tight budget. Here's how:


1. Send the parents instructions for the older kids ahead of time. Ask them to prep the the kids so that they won't burst from their cars to scoop up all the obvious eggs (set out for the littlies) before they're supposed to.

2. Ask the kids (parents) to bring their own Easter baskets, but have a couple of spares on hand just in case anyone forgets.

3. Get your group photo of all the children together before the hunt begins. This way the older ones won't be too hyped up on sugar to sit still and the younger ones won't be pining for nap-time. (I learned this one the hard way.) If you're lucky like me you'll get two of the twelve kids actually looking at the camera... only one of which is looking and smiling. Bonus tip: Include nose-picking toddlers (can you spot him?) and sleepy newborns for added interest. Bonus tip #2: Get your husband to put Easter grass on his head and do a little jig... it will at least get you a few genuine smiles from those not ready for nap time (ie: my son).

the "after" group shot. next year i will definitely be getting the "before" shot!

4. Go over the instructions again with the kids once you're ready to start. Keep it short and encourage the big kids to help the littlies.

5. Release the kids in "heats" according to age. Let the littlest kids go first to find all the obvious eggs and then release the bigger kids 10-15 minutes later to storm the yard and collect their bounty. Alternately, if your property is big enough, send the big kids to the front yard and the little ones to the back yard.

6. In addition to a few "real" eggs, use plastic eggs with candy and prizes inside of them. When the hunt is over, the kids can open their eggs, keep all their treasures, and then return the plastic eggs for next year's hunt. (Give them the heads-up during instruction time so they won't be too disappointed to hand back the shells.)

my favorite little hunter. (i'm a tad biased.)

7. Have a spread of yummy treats and make sure there are a few healthy choices to balance out the chocolate overload. We did a potluck-style morning tea, with all of the parents bringing a little something to share.

8. Set out an Easter basket with some candy for the parents just in case the kids don't want to share... and to keep the oversized kids (husbands) from hunting the eggs themselves. (Although I admit, by the end of the morning it was mostly chubby little hands digging into the parents' basket to supplement their own baskets. Clever kids.)

9. Make sure to get lots of photos. Try to get mid-hunt-action shots, showing-off-the-basket shots, detail shots, smiley posed shots, parent shots, chocolate-faced shots, and sweet-girls-in-pretty-dresses shots.

10. Remember the reasons why you celebrate in the first place. Every family is different, but for ours, we celebrate because of our faith. We love the party, we love the chocolate, we love the bunnies, we love the tasty treats... but more importantly, we love what God has done for us. And that is our real reason for celebrating. You may or may not share our faith, but no doubt you celebrate because holidays are a great reason to gather the family together. Whatever your reasons are, remember them and prioritize them!

Dear friends, will you be hosting an Easter egg hunt this year? Or have you hosted one in the past? Please add your tips and tricks to my list or tell me about your own plans.

glad to have so many reasons to celebrate,

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adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

10 traditions designed to connect your family this christmas

By Lindsey Whitney of Growing Kids Ministry

The holidays are always crazy busy.  You don’t need me to tell you that.  However, in the midst of all the shopping, driving, celebrating, and running around, we often neglect to connect with our families in a meaningful way.  Here are ten ideas to help you slow down, even for a few moments, and cherish those things that mean the most to you.

1.   Hot Chocolate in Front of the Fire

Nothing causes you to slow down and reflect like a hot beverage in your hand. This winter, grab some of those specialty hot chocolates and make each member of your family a special cup of chocolaty goodness.   Gather together in front of the fire and just sip together.  You can chat if the mood strikes, but don’t feel like you have to. Comment on how tasty your drink is, and make sure you tell your family how much you love them.  Then just stare at the flames together.  No fireplace?  You can have your kids draw an imaginary one on poster board, or you can get one of those crazy DVD’s that put a crackling fireplace on your TV! 

2.   Storytime

Start the bedtime routine a half hour earlier and spend that extra time reading lots of Christmas books.  Little Star is a good one that’s out this year.  One family I know gets a different version of The Night Before Christmas  every year as part of their family tradition.

3.   Get Wrapping

Try to wrap presents ahead of time.  I know, you’re busy and this is one task that tends to settle to the bottom of the to-do list.  But seriously, it looks so nice to have those lovely gifts under the tree for a few weeks.  Plus, you don’t have to spend the entire month of December dreading the wrapping process.  Hire some youth group kids or nieces and nephews to do if you want.  I’m sure they would be happy for the extra Christmas cash.

4.   Appreciate What You Have

Spend a night together watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Do movies get any better than this one?)  Veggie Tales just came out with their own version, called “It’s a Meaningful Life” that you might opt for if you’ve got a house full of little ones.  After you watch, have everyone share something that they appreciate about their life and family. 

5.   Read the Christmas Story Before Christmas

Christmas is a great time to read about the birth of Christ, but Christmas morning might not be ideal.  Usually kids are anxious to dive into their presents, mom is busy cooking up a grand breakfast and dad is.. well, who knows?  Maybe getting the video camera ready or installing batteries.  At any rate, if you wait till the midst of all this to read through the Bible, it might get rushed or even pushed aside.  Take time Christmas Eve or earlier in the week to read through the passage and talk about it with your family.  

6.   Kid Friendly Nativity

Nativities are great, but don’t cause yourself undue stress by putting out Great Aunt Wanda’s heirloom set and then yelling at the kids whenever they come within three feet of it.  Instead, go for a kid-friendly version this year and let your kids actually touch it.   Here’s some great ones to take a look at: Little People Nativity, Learning Journey Nativity,  or Kurt Adler Nativity.

7.   Cookies! 

This is one of our family traditions.  Usually we do them all on one day (what a long day that is!), but you may want to break it up and do a different type of cookie every week.  Each year, when December comes, your family will know that Friday is cookie day!  Take those extra cookies to the neighbors to spread some holiday love.

8.   A Grand Entrance

I recently read this idea in Thriving Family magazine.  One family wanted to capture the “coming down the stairs on Christmas morning” moment, so they had their kids stay in their rooms until they heard Christmas music loudly playing in the house.  Every year, the parents picked a different tune and as the kids excitedly bounded out of their rooms, they were all able to share the first moments of Christmas together.  

9.   Remember Others

Samaritan’s Purse puts out a gift catalog every Christmas filled with gifts that you can give to others in needs.  For $4, you can give milk to a child for a week. For $20 you can give a family chickens to raise for a living.  There is a wide range of prices and gifts, and it’s a great way for kids to remember the less fortunate during the holidays. 

10.  Puzzle Time

Puzzles are another one of those activities that force you to sit down and breathe for a moment.  Find some Christmas or winter-themed puzzles and work together on them as a family.  You can do it all in one night, or spend a few weeks on an especially hard one.  Afterwards, you can glue it together and display it as a Christmas memory. 

Wondering how you’re going to remember to fit these things in?  Print off a calendar for December, and let your kids pick the days to do each of the above activities.  Post it on the fridge or some other prominent place so both you and your kids will be reminded to take time for family this Christmas.

Bio: Lindsey Whitney is a new mom of one adorable little girl.  She runs a Family Home Day Care and is the Children's Ministry director at her church.  Her blog is Growing Kids Ministry.




Dear friends, I LOVE these ideas and I'm a big believer in creating family traditions! We have a few Christmas traditions of our own, but now that we're parents we are open to adopting a few more that will be extra special for the kids. I love the child-friendly nativity idea as well as the cookie day! (And the grand entrance when the kids are older.) How do you and your family connect during the Christmas season? Will you try anything new this year?


enjoying my family this christmas,

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
do not reproduce without written permission