Easter is a perfect opportunity to spend time as a family away from screens and tech, but once your kids are bored and hyped up on sugar, it doesn't feel so idyllic. Playing family games is a great way to keep kids engaged and occupied.
Once you've got your head around why Easter doesn't fall on the same day each year, it's time to plan some entertainment. These Easter games for families will keep kids entertained; just choose options suitable for your kids' ages and interests. Some of these games make excellent Easter basket stuffers too.
Shop this article: Prextex Plastic Easter Eggs, Joyin Easter Egg and Spoon Relay Game and Easter Bunny Go Fish Card Game
BestReviews’ Jacob Palmer joins Jessica Wills to share BestReviews’ picks for the top Easter gifts for children and adults.
Besides the traditional Easter egg hunt, there aren't really any specific games that are widely played on this holiday. The good thing about this is it leaves you more freedom to find or come up with fun Easter games for kids and adults to enjoy. Any of the following can be great fun on Easter day.
Rather than hiding Easter eggs in multiple spots all over your home or yard, hide one big cache of eggs with a clue-based treasure hunt to find it. Start by giving your kids the first clue. Solving this will lead them to the location of the next written clue, which you can tuck inside a plastic Easter egg. Keep doing with more clues until the final clue leads them to the eggs.
The great thing about this kind of treasure hunt is that you can have as many clues as you like and you can tailor them to your kids' ages and ability levels. If you think your children might lose interest without incentive, you can put a few pieces of Easter candy in with every other clue.
An egg and spoon race involves balancing an egg on a spoon over a set distance, with the first person to cross the finish line winning the game. Kids and adults alike can join in, resulting in some healthy intergenerational rivalry.
While you can use real hard-boiled eggs for this game, you can also buy egg and spoon race sets containing wooden or plastic eggs with spoons of a suitable size. These eliminate the prep time, potential mess and waste of food.
All you need for this game is an Easter basket for each team or child and a pile of carrots, for the Easter Bunny, of course. If you're playing with just a handful of kids, they can each have a basket, but for large family gatherings with lots of kids, divide them into two to four teams.
The simple aim is to throw the carrots into the basket without crossing a set mark. It might not be an elaborate game, but this makes it great for young children. When older kids want to get involved, set their mark farther from the basket so they don't have an advantage.
Spice up your usual egg hunt by filling half the eggs with your usual candy or toys and the other half with written challenges. These challenges can be anything you like but keep them fun and relatively brief. You can even make them Easter-themed, such as "hop like a bunny" or "make the sound of a chick."
For this game, you'll need one bowl of jelly beans, one empty bowl and a spoon for each player. Give each player 30-60 seconds to move as many jelly beans as they can into the empty bowl using the spoon held in their mouth. Tip the jelly beans the player managed to move into a measuring cup and make a note of the measurement before moving on to the next player. At the end of each round, you can declare a winner.
This is like an egg toss game but you won't waste food and there's less mess — assuming you play outside. Pair up the players and give them a filled water balloon each. The players must toss it between them, attempting not to drop it. If they drop the water balloon and it bursts, they're out of the game. If it drops and doesn't burst, they can pick it up and keep playing.
The last pair left in the game with an intact water balloon wins. You can make it more challenging for older kids by spacing them farther apart than younger kids, so it's fairer for all players.
There are a variety of traditional card games, board games and other games with Easter versions. Your kids can look forward to playing these games once a year, making the experience more special. You can find Easter editions of popular games such as Go Fish and Bingo.
Brach’s Classic Jelly Beans — 54 oz (Pack of 2)
These two bags of jelly beans contain roughly 6.75 pounds of beans total, which should be more than enough for any jelly bean-related games.
With 36 plastic Easter eggs in a set, this should give you an ample amount for egg hunts, treasure hunts and so on. They come in six colors: orange, green, yellow, blue, pink and purple.
Joyin Easter Egg and Spoon Relay Game
Containing 12 eggs and 12 spoons, this set is perfect for getting the whole family involved in an egg and spoon race.
Easter Bunny Go Fish Card Game
Kids will have a blast playing this Easter Bunny-themed version of Go Fish. It's a great non-candy Easter basket gift, suitable for ages 4 and up. Kids can also play Old Maid and Slap Jack with this deck, designed for two to six players.
Joyin 28 Players Easter Bingo Cards
Up to 28 players can participate in this Easter Bingo game, so it's perfect for big family gatherings. It comes with Bingo cards, a call-out card and eight egg-themed sticker sheets for marking which squares you've gotten.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza - Easter Edition
This rowdy, fast-paced board game is a big hit, and the brand now offers a special Easter version. Suitable for ages 8 and up, it provides 10 to 15 minutes of playing time per game for two to eight players.
Astaron Pin The Tail on The Bunny Game
This fun game is classic pin the tail on the donkey, but with an Easter spin. The goal is to place the tail on the bunny while wearing a blindfold. The set comes with a bunny poster, 24 tail stickers and two eye masks. There are enough stickers for kids to have multiple tries, or for a larger group to play together.
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