Even twenty somethings want an Easter egg hunt!

Goodness knows I've organized my share of Easter egg hunts, for first grade, preschool, and extended family! This year is going to be a little different: an Easter egg hunt for my married twenty something year old sons. What to do?

Hatching my idea

I'll admit, my first thought was that they'd think an egg hunt is lame and refuse to get into it - which is actually what gave me the idea.  There's no way my grown sons would get excited about running around the backyard for mini candy bars and plastic toys (sometimes I miss them being 3). So what WOULD they get excited about?

Important fact #1: My kids are competitive.

Important fact #2: The prizes don't actually have to go in the eggs.

Important fact #3: The only thing lamer than getting $1 in an egg is getting $1 in an egg when your brother / wife / sister-in-law just got $20.

Important fact #4: I have a lot of different kinds of plastic "eggs".

Do you see the possibilities?

The set up

I'm turning this Easter egg hunt into a competition. I have 5 kinds of "egg" so I need 5 categories. In each category I need 4 prizes (for 4 kids). The prizes SHOULD NOT be equal - to get everyone motivated there have to be SOME prizes worth working for and some that you'll catch grief about for the rest of your life. (Good spirited teasing = love around here).  Depending on your family and your kids you may have all kinds of categories, no judgement on what's right for you and yours! Here's what's happening for me and mine:

Candy: large bag of m&ms, full size candy bar, mini candy bar, a single mint candy.

Fruit: pineapple, punnet of strawberries, a banana, a grape

Beverages: bottle of alcohol (remember, no judgement, you do you!), tiny bottle of alcohol, can of soda, can of grapefruit juice.

Money: $20, $10, $5, $1

Gift cards: Starbucks, Target, Walmart, Dollar Store (different small amounts)

I'll have the prizes on a table, sorted by category. 

How to play

Each person is allowed to collect 1 of each kind of egg. They're going to want to bring it to me quickly - because first come, first served. You got an egg for the money category? First person gets the $20. Second one gets the $10, etc. Give me the egg, grab your prize, go find another egg! The faster you are, the better your prizes! Slow poke wins a grape, $1, grapefruit juice, a tiny gift card, and a mint - not a terrible prize, unless your brother got $20, a bottle of booze, a pineapple, bag of candy and $15 Starbucks card!

The twist

Of course there's a twist! There's one more egg, and it's a doozy. After everything else is said and done the person with the golden egg gets to switch prizes in 1 category with ANYONE else!

 The outcome

 I can't wait to see how this plays out! I think - hope - they're going to love it. It would be great if they said something like, "You're the best mom in the world and I love you to the moon and back!" I won't hold my breath on that one, but maybe, just maybe, I'll hear "Thanks mom!" and get a couple of big hugs. THAT'S what I want for Easter. Wish me luck!

Paula

P.S. What other categories popped into your head? LMK - maybe I'll add it to our fun!