What makes a great Easter egg hunt? Share your tips and experiences with Cadbury and you could win a £200 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

With Easter falling early this year, we're already planning ahead, and Cadbury are looking to hear Mumsnetters’ experiences of Easter egg hunts.

What do you think makes a great Easter egg hunt? Does your family have any traditions - perhaps you base the event on memories from your own childhood Easters? Do you (or the Easter bunny) put together a treasure map or cryptic clues to help find the hidden eggs - and to make the hunt last more than five minutes! Will there be a star prize - or specific eggs to find, so everyone gets a fair share? How do you add to the eggsitement - and more importantly, how can you prevent any arguments or jealousy between the children?!

Whether you’re a fan of traditions or planning an all day eggstravaganza (sorry!), share your egg hunt tips - and your family's favourite Easter experiences - and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 Love2Shop voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Cadbury's pages on MN, their social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

I remember one amazing Easter egg hunt as a child, just little foil eggs hidden in my Aunt and Uncle's charming little garden - finding one in the nooks of a little apple tree in blossom - was just so lovely. But not a regular thing back then like it is becoming now.
For our Easter egg hunts I like little hand sized eggs - both LIDL and Waitrose have been good places to find them in recent years. LIDL were great in doing a bag with eggs in 4 different colours which was perfect here for the 4 of us. We all hid one colour and looked for another. I think it was Waitrose who did cute little clue sticks to make and place around garden to help the hunt along - those helped add to the fun
I love a nice Easter egg hunt - such a great way to get out in the garden and celebrate Spring time together - as I mentioned I've found the DC like to hide the eggs, make clues, and find them too, so different coloured eggs really help to facilitate this

[Cocacolaandchocolate]

Our Easter bunny hides eggs over the house and garden and writes Clues to the four children.
(Tip -remember where you hid the egg... One year there was a unfounded one in the oven which I forgot about....)

[PoppyMumsnet]

Thank you for all of your comments. The winner of the prize draw is CMOTDibbler - congratulations!

[beanie623]

For my kids if its over too quick it spoils some of the excitement and with a difference in ages, one will find it easier than the other, so i create an easter egg hunt that has different surprises, little cuddly toy chick or bunny, little chocolate eggs of course, some little bags of things to make and create, hair clips or pretty ties, i do have two girls! little things. And create a map, beginning with following the directions and then some leading to a clue, or a game (which us adults have to play for just fun) so each of my kids have a go at a reading the map, guessing the clue and the best part just playing a game. With the easter egg at the prize at the end. A real easter egg treasure hunt!

[MrsJ2000]

a great Easter Egg Hunt starts with great weather - nothing better than in the garden hiding eggs behind plant pots, under bushes and in the greenhouse. But we all know the weather certainly cannot be guaranteed. So you need to have a plan B - a hunt indoors.
Having had previous experience of plans gone to pot because of rain pouring down on Easter Sunday morning I now check the weather the night before. If there are any signs that we get even the slightest of drizzle I go about hiding eggs all over the house ...........plenty of places to have fun hunting them out. But I do have a tip - write a list as to where exactly you have hidden them - no use finding one in a cupboard a month down the line. Another little tip - don't hide them all close together - spread them out so that children have are able to spread out and have the chance of finding at least one egg. I always have everything organised before people arrive for our Easter meal and egg hunt - which means a selection of baskets etc for the young ones to put their eggs in. You'll find that otherwise there will be lots of melted chocolate from hot sticky fingers and cries of oh no chocolate on a good dress. As a general rule we always do the egg hut after Easter Sunday dinner otherwise eager young hands are busy unwrapping and scoffing chocolate and then don't want any proper food - we fill them up with a roast dinner and either trifle or cake for dessert first and then when they have found the eggs and every one collapses in a heap after all the fun they have to ask their parents which they can east - so as not to let them eat everything they have found

[marymanc]

Lots of chocolate eggs...

[Lulabellx1]

Cadbury Cream Eggs!

[IWasThere4Aug12]

We found some rhyming clues on the Internet and used those to hide eggs round the house -kids loved it

[kittylover]

we always have a treasure easter egg hunt with lots of clues and extras treasure

[Kathderoet]

We buy plain pretend eggs, one with a star on which is very difficult to find, depending on the colour they get a different sized egg pulled out a bag, one bag for pink eggs one for yellow etc and the one with the star gets the mega egg. Stops fighting and keeps them occupied for ages.

[Jocelynne123]

Chocolate! Haha. We used to a treasure hunt and at each clue was a little egg and they eventually came to the big egg at the end xx

[ElizaW922]

Great locations, a relaxed atmosphere, make sure everybody gets a prize, and some cute fluffy rabbit toys! :)

[nerysw]

A mix of easy and hard to find eggs (especially if you have a mix of ages) and a few non chocolate treat like stickers or little notepads to find too.

[maursieq]

lots of creme eggs hidden round the house (even better when you are still finding them in May!)

[meggysar]

What makes a great Easter Egg hunt is to ensure that everyone is going to get more or less the same amount of eggs!!!

[grannybiker]

I'd say to make sure the eggs are wrapped- our children used to spend hours re-hiding them for each other, several days later!

[haggisaggis]

Kids are older now (teens!) but when they were wee would do a hunt for them and both of their friends - always in the garden only and would specify boundaries. Loads of eggs - I would try and get coloured ones and use one colour per child if possible. That way they could only look for their own ones. Would also hide a chocolate bunny for each child but they were told they were only allowed to find one each.
Tips - try and remember where you hide them! Every year I forget one or 2 and find them in the autumn when the plants die back.
Give them something to collect the eggs in - carrier bags are fine.

[PhilTB54]

Make a treasure map giving obvious clues to where the eggs are hidden.

[cathyov]

Do not just hide eggs, do some of the kiddies favourite things with perhaps a rabbit sticker - healthier too!

[embabes7]

This will be the first year for our son to do an Easter egg hunt :) can't wait - I think making it educational too so looking for colours and shapes etc, when he gets older, i'll do a treasure trail :)

[12LuDo]

The most important part of an easter egg hunt that makes it great is good weather, it's just not the same if it doesn't take place outside! I always try to have lots of variety,l so they don't know what they will find, it's lovely to see their faces!

[Janbru]

We like to boil eggs and paint them it's really good fun for all

[jazzitup]

Didn't do this much when I was a child but I love to make a real effort to make it a family occasion, hiding the eggs and making up funny questions and of course whatever is not found, Daddy gets :o)

[robyn297]

A treasure map is great for older kids.

Last year I made my kids a sensory easter egg hunt, they loved it.