Easter Hunt Tips and Tricks (and cute kid photo alert!)

I want to make it clear how aware I am of the religious importance of Easter. I’m a Catholic schoolteacher after all (I was going to use the phrase “for heaven’s sake” but thought perhaps it would be inappropriate) and our yearly remembrance of Jesus’ death and celebration of His resurrection is paramount to our faith.

I must confess though: I also really love the chocolate.

Cadbury Mini Eggs in particular. (With over 750 million sold in Canada each year, I don’t think I’m the only one. Seriously, I don’t eat that much chocolate.)

I’m a sucker for anything piece-y, that I can eat by the handful and still feel like it haven’t had too much (it also takes longer this way, in my experience, which prolongs the joy).

So while I select sponsored posts for This Mom Loves very carefully, I couldn’t hit “reply” fast enough to accept an opportunity to share some Easter ideas with you, courtesy of Cadbury.

First, I’d like to let you in on two very important Easter traditions that I have carried over from childhood:

1. The Easter Bunny leaves a special note to let the kids know how many chocolate eggs they are looking for

2. The Easter Bunny does not wrap gifts (nor does Santa).

I have found that following these guidelines helps to make Easter run very smoothly! The egg count is super helpful, as my daughters know how many they should each be finding (so one girl doesn’t locate the majority of them, leaving fewer for her sister to hunt down).

Note: if there’s an odd number when they’re being hidden, then at least one chocolate must be consumed by the Easter Bunny to keep it even. But if two are consumed, it must be evened out again. And then the note with the total count has to be rewritten accordingly…

Providing a number to hunt for certainly doesn’t guarantee that every egg is found, of course. A couple of years ago there was one last chocolate which none of us could locate, which was finally spotted several weeks later – perched on the baseboard trim in the corner of the room (there’s a suggestion for you!)

Cadbury actually  conducted a survey of Canadian parents and children (ages 7-12), in part to find out some hiding and hunting strategies. 

I’m sure that last point is related to age as well. You want the little ones to be able to have success, but for older kids to have a bit of a challenge as well. 

A gallery with more tips on planning an Easter egg hunt can be found here:  http://www.savvymom.ca/index.php/guides/the-hunt-starts-now/

Just for fun, I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite photos from Easter mornings gone by.

Mullet-haired Maggie shows off an egg back in 2010 (this was the transitional year where she began to realize that she couldn’t eat chocolate with wrappers still on – always a milestone for children):

The two little bunnies ready for their hunt in 2011:

Frannie makes a find in 2013 (the hunt had been officially moved downstairs, to allow the Easter Bunny to get started earlier without disturbing children sleeping on the main floor):

If you’re looking for any last-minute Easter recipes (or something to do with the leftover chocolate next week), there are some great ideas here, including a delicious-looking recipe for Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies…with Cadbury Mini Eggs on top! (Yeah, as if I’ll have any left over, with no idea how to use them!)

What’s your favourite Easter tip or trick? I’d love to hear it! Now back to my chocolate…I mean, my prayers…

Disclosure: This post was generously sponsored by Cadbury Creme Eggs, but the opinions and images are my own. For more information, visit Cadbury Creme Egg Canada on Facebook.