Easter Game Ideas

Your first order of business is to make sure that the total number of players is divisible by three, for example 12,15,18, etc. If your numbers are off encourage an adult or two to play to even things out.

For every three players you need one animal, so if you have 15 participants you will need five animals. For each animal, on three separate small slips of paper write down the name of an animal and the sound that animal make, for example a Cow says Moo!. It may seem like overkill to tell the players that a cow says “moo” but for an animals like a dog it could say bow-wow or roof. You want to be sure that the kids are all making the same sound when looking for each other so specify each sound.

Once you have completed three slips for each animal your total number of slips should match your number of players. Fold the slips of paper, put them in a basket and mix them up. Explain to the kids that they must keep their animal a secret until the game starts, then have each kid select a slip of paper from the basket. For younger kids that cannot read yet let an adult help them out. Have the children spread out in a large open area.

When all the kids know what animal they are and are spread out you can start the game. Once you begin the players are not allow to talk, they can only make their animal sound. The challenge is for them to find the other kids making the same animal sound. So the kids scream out their animal sound repeatedly while searching for the other kids making the same sound. When a player finds one of their like animals they join hands and search together for the third. When all three animals have found each other they sit down as a group to declare that they are finished. The team to finish first is the winner, but let the game continue until all of the animals have found their matches.

Suggested Animals and Sounds:

Bee – buzz
Bird- tweet
Cat – meow
Chicken – cluck
Cow – moo
Crow – caw
Dog – roof
Donkey – heehaw
Duck – quack
Frog – ribbit
Goose – honk
Horse – neigh
Owl – woot
Pig – oink
Roster – cock-a-doodle-doo
Sheep – baa
Turkey – gobble

The object of this game is for the guests to get as many jellybeans as they can within the time limit. The challenge is that they have to use chopsticks to get the jellybeans. If you have a wide age range of party guests you can have multiple contests, one for each group.

Place a large bowl filled with jellybeans in the middle of a table(preferably a round table). Setup the players around the table making sure to allow a lot of wiggle room since the game can get pretty hectic. Usually only four player can participate each round, so you may need to take multiple turn for everyone to get a chance.

Each participant gets a set of chopsticks and a bowl to place in front of them. Set a time limit of three minutes for the players to move as many jellybeans as they can from the center bowl to their bowl in front of them only using the chopsticks. If one drops on the table before it gets to their bowl they must use the chopstick to pick it up. Count how many jellybeans are in the bowl of each player at the end of the turn and keep a running list. Repeat the game until all the guests have played once. Everyone gets to keep the jellybeans they got during their turn and the person who had the most jellybeans in their bowl is the winner and keeps all the remaining jellybeans. If you had several contests for different age ranges split the remaining jellybeans between each of the winners.

Optional: If you have some kids that just too young to use the chopsticks but still want to be included in the game, let them play with the same rules but using a small spoon.

Cut large Easter eggs out of different colors of construction paper and laminated them if possible. You can decorate them if you are so inclined or if you want to add a craft to the party have the kids decorate them. Tape the eggs to the floor in a circular pattern, one for each player. With every kid standing on an egg, start the game by playing music. The kids hop(like a bunny) around the circle of eggs in a clockwise manner as the music plays. They must hop on to the next egg when the player behind them reaches the egg they are standing on. When the music stops they need to find an egg to stand on(one kid per egg) or they are out.

The first time there should be enough eggs for everyone to give them a chance to understand the game without fear of elimination. After the first round remove one egg and play again, whoever is not able to find an egg when the music stops is out. During the game you will have to adjust the position of the eggs to shrink the circle as eggs are removed. When it gets down to two players left place a chair about three feet from the final egg and the last two players must hop around the chair once they are forced to leave the one remaining egg. The child on the last egg when the music stops is the winner.

Suggested Music: Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Easter Parade, The Bunny Hop

Set a start line and a finish line. The contestants stand at the start line inside of their sacks, holding them with both hands at their waist. When the race begins the participants must hop to the finish line while staying inside of their sacks. The first person to cross the finish line wins.

If your party has guests of a variety of ages it is a good idea to run multiple races, one for each age/skill level. The course can be shorter for younger kids and increase in length as the age of participants increase. Be sure to award a prize to the winner of each group and you can crown a grand champion with one last race featuring the winners of each group.

Burlap sacks are an excellent choice to use for your Bunny Hop Sack Race. They are durable so you can keep them to use for your Easter party next year and they are large enough for adults. For young kids burlap sacks might be too large so consider using pillow cases.

This game comes with a few important warnings. First, it is crucial that you clearly explain to any of your guests considering playing that there is a chance they will end up covered with raw egg. Also, this is a game that obviously should only be played outdoors. Finally, while you can play this game with kids it is not recommended. Sometimes children will think it sounds fun, but when they get covered in raw egg they become upset.

Standard Method: Fill a basket with one fewer hardboiled eggs than game players. So if you have ten participants, put nine cooked eggs in the basket. Add in one raw egg and mix them up. The eggs should all be undecorated or if decorated they should be similar enough that there is no way to determine which of the eggs is raw. Also it is a good idea to refrigerate all of the eggs, sometimes people can tell the raw egg because it is colder.

Have the players stand in a circle close to one another. Walk around the circle with your egg basket allowing each guest to select one egg. Once everyone has an egg, the players will turn to their left so that they are facing the back of the person next to them. Countdown One, Two, Three, Crack! and all of the players in unison will gently break their egg on the top of the head of the person next to them. One players will end up with raw egg dripping from their hair, that person is the “winner” and receives a well deserved prize(as well as a towel to clean up). If the game goes over well and you have eggs left you can play additional rounds.

Alternate Method: Play the game exactly like the standard version but the person who gets hit with the raw egg is eliminated. Reload your egg basket as before but with one fewer hardboiled eggs and play another round eliminating another player. Continue playing until there are only two participants left who will stand facing each other for the last round. The person who makes it all the way through the game without getting egged is the winner. If you have a large number of players you might consider using two or even three raw eggs per round to speed up the process.

Prank Method: Do all of the explanation and set up for the game exactly like the standard method so the guests think that one person will end up covered in raw egg. The surprise is that ALL of the eggs are raw!

Fill an Easter basket with loads of different small candies like jellybeans, foil wrapped chocolate eggs, and Hershey Kisses using lots of Easter grass to keep most of them hidden. You can also add a few larger items like a stuffed bunny or candy bars, but pay close attention to exactly how many items are in the basket.

At the start of your party place the basket on a table with slips of paper, pens and a cardboard box with an opening cut in the top. Challenge your guests to figure out exactly how many items are in the basket (no touching allowed). When they are ready to guess, they write their name and estimate of the number of items on a slip of paper and drop it in the box. The person closest to the actual number wins and gets the basket and all its contents as a prize.

On a large poster board or white board write out “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” in large letters and place it where all can see it. Pass out pens and paper to all of your guests. The challenge is to write down as many words as they can using only the letters appearing in Here Comes Peter Cottontail. The rules:

-All words must be at least four letters.
-Words that appear as is in the phrase cannot be used, so “cotton” would not count because the word cotton is in the phrase.
-The singular and plural of the same root word both count. So both “tear” and “tears” would count.
-If the letter appears once in the phrase you can only use it once in your word.
-Four letter words are one point, five letter words are two points, and so on.
-Words related to Easter count double.

Set a timer for five minutes and turn your guests loose. Once time has expired have them exchange their answers with another player to add up their scores. The person with the most points is the winner.

You may have noticed that a lot of our kids games are Easter versions of classic games. This is not an accident. The more familiar a game is the quicker people can start playing instead of learning rules. You can do the same thing with any number of kids games. Make a list of popular kids games that you know the younger guests at your party will enjoy like Simon Says or Duck, Duck, Goose and then convert them into Easter games. In can be extremely simple like:

Easter Bunny Says, instead of listening to what Simon Says, it is the Easter Bunny in charge.

Or you can change the rules slightly to add in an additional Easter element:

Egg, Egg, Bunny, play it like Duck, Duck, Goose but have the kids hop instead of running.

The possibilities are only limited by your creativity. This is a great way to know that the you are playing games the kids will love and you can keep the Easter theme to your party activities.

If you have a sharp and focused group of players this game can last a surprisingly long time. Try to keep the pace of play rapid, sometimes guests will take forever trying to get it right.

The Set Up: Have your guests sit in a circle in a large open area and select a random player to start.

The Rules: The first player will say, “Next year I hope the Easter Bunny brings me __________” filling in the blank with whatever present they choose. It can be realistic like “a chocolate bunny” or outrageous like “a diamond ring”. For purposes of example the first person said ” a chocolate bunny”. The person to the left of the starter(clockwise) goes next. They will say, ” Next year I hope the Easter Bunny brings me a chocolate bunny and __________” filling in the blank with whatever they choose. The third person would say the entire phrase including both of the previous answers(in order) and add a third.

This continues moving left around the circle with each person repeating what the previous person said and adding an additional Easter present until someone forgets a present, messes up the order or in some way makes a mistake. That person is out and leaves the circle. The person to the left of the person that is now out starts the game over again from scratch. Continue playing and eliminating players until only one person remains. That person is a very deserving winner.

If the Game is Taking Too Long: Sometimes this game can bog down with guests taking long turns. If your game starts to slow down or even from the very beginning you can add a five second rule. So if any player on their turn goes for more than 5 seconds without adding to the list they are eliminated.

Set up a start and finish line 20-40 yards apart(depending on age of your game players). At the finish line put one player who is selected to be the Bunny Master for the first round of the game, all other players go to the start line. To start the game the Bunny Master turns away from the players and yells, “Bunny Hop”! At this point the players hop toward the Bunny Master as quickly as possible while holding two finger from each hand to their head to make bunny ears. At any point the Bunny Master yells, “Bunny Stop!” and turns around to face the players. The players much immediately freeze in place motionless. If any player is moving when the Bunny Master turns around, fails to hop or put up their bunny ears then they must go back to the start line before game play continues. The Bunny Master continues to alternate between Bunny Hop and Bunny Stop until one of the players is able to tag them. That player is the winner and becomes the Bunny Master for the next round.

The simple instructions for this game are that you give each guest a spoon and a hardboiled egg. They race while carrying the egg with the spoon and are not allowed to touch the egg at all. If they drop the egg, they must pick it back up only using the spoon. The first person to cross the finish line is the winner. But there are a few options you can add to this game:

– Instead of a simple straightforward course you can make it zigzag or even add obstacles they have to navigate.
-You can run the race for the young kids with a simple course and then increase the difficulty for older party guests.
-Another way to level the playing field with younger and more mature guests is to change the size of the spoon. Give kids large serving spoons or even a ladle while the adults must use a small plastic spoon.
-For a real challenge require them to hop like an Easter bunny instead of running.

The first order of business is to select a taboo word, meaning a word your guests are not allowed to say. The most obvious choice is “Easter” which will work just fine, but if you wish you can choose another word like jellybean, chocolate, bunny, or anything you wish that is likely to be said frequently at your party. Now you need tokens. Clothespins are commonly used since they are easy to clip onto and remove from clothing without doing any damage.

To start the game inform all of your guests of the taboo word. Give them each a token and explain to them that whenever they say the taboo word they will lose their token to the first player to call them out. Now start the game. If Aunt Sue accidently says the taboo word and Cousin Earl is the first to point out her mistake, then Aunt Sue must give Cousin Earl her token. Now Sue has no tokens and Earl has two tokens. The only way for Aunt Sue to get a token back is to be the first to call out someone else when they say the taboo word.

The game continues throughout the party until close to the end when the person who has collected the most tokens is declared the winner.