The Left/Right story game is a well known activity that is easy to setup and play for any age. All you need is one copy of the “Easter Bunny Left/Right Story” and at least one prize for winners. Best of all, no one will know who will end up the winner until the very last […]
Easter Games for Kids
Barnyard Fun
Materials Needed
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
Jellybean Chop-Chop
Materials Needed
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.
Musical Easter Egg Hop
Materials Needed
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
Bunny Hop Sack Race
Materials Needed
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.
Printable “Easter Boggle” Game
($$$) This is a FREE printable game
This printable game is played just like the real game Boggle, but is already setup and has a Easter holiday twist. Directions Printout and give every player a copy of the boggle game sheet and a pencil. Make sure to pass the game page to each player up-side-down so no one has an advantage of […]
Easter Scramble Scavenger Hunt
($$$) This is a FREE printable game
This is a great twist on your basic scavenger hunt, and really easy to setup last minute as you do not have to write clues or even have the items set up for the players. It’s all “on the fly” creativity. Directions Print out enough game sheets for the teams playing. Split your guests into […]
Easter Bunny Word Scrabble
($$$) This is a FREE printable game
Kids will have a great time finding words out of the phrase phrase “Have a Happy Easter!” How many words can you make, how many 8 letter words? It’s actually harder than it looks! Directions Print out a word scrabble sheet for each player and pass them out with pens or pencils. Set your clock […]
Easter Basket Guess How Many Game
Materials Needed
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.
Here Comes Peter Cotton-Spell?
Materials Needed
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.