Don't Tempt Me to Run You Over! (Easter Egg Games for All)

Ya’ll may remember that while I unfortunately did not hit the Lotto South Jackpot and/or Powerball, I did somehow manage to hit the Mom Squad Jackpot at the beginning of the school year and won the highly coveted role of being room mother for both of the mini monograms. Which is fine. Really, it is! I had originally planned to trade off years just to keep peace in the land of the Monogram (by keeping it "fair" and be mini #1’s room mom one year, then mini #2’s room mom the next, and so on and so on until alas they graduated from High School whereupon College I would somehow work my way into the Fraternity House), but as I said, I hit the jackpot this year. So on top of coordinating the party’s, I typically have to stay or arrange for other mothers to stay and help, at least for Mini #1’s class because I am the ONLY room mother there and apparently, some of the other SAHM’s are just too *busy* to be bothered with something like actually participating in their kid’s school parties for all of an hour out of their day. Whatever.

So the Easter party is obviously coming up. And let me just tell you, for those of you who don’t have kids in pre-school, no one ever wants to do the craft or game. EVER. Pick a holiday party, it doesn’t matter because no mom ever wants to sign up for this. And in my vast room mom experience, if you really want to tick of Susie Sunshine (who, BTW probably showed up to pre-school late this morning and walked behind your SUV without paying any attention while you were in the process of backing out of your parking space so you nearly run her over because she's walking right in your blind spot just assuming your gonna stop for her tardy rear-end), assign her the craft for the party. Go ahead. Make her day. And equally as time consuming is the game. But realizing this, I went ahead and assigned myself the game. I thought, I’m going to make this really fun. No more M&M Bingo for these kids!

But too, many of you I know will be hosting Easter brunch, parties and Easter egg hunts of your own in the next couple weeks, even if you don’t have the refined pre-school soiree’s to attend as I do. And in my book, there is more to an Easter egg hunt than just the hunt itself. Throw some games in there to liven it up a little! Extend the fun a little (because we all know how fleeting those egg hunts are) and build up to the actual hunt by offering a few games to get your party started.

Easter Egg Rolling Find a hill, pick a colored egg, and roll them down the hill. The egg reaching the base of the hill first is the winner. This game is played on the South Lawn at the White House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.on the first Monday after Easter.

Easter Egg Bowling *But I’m calling this Easter Egg Bocce since I’m calling the shots and all and this is a lot more Bocce than it is Bowling* Colour some boiled eggs and leave one white. Roll the white one into the centre of a room and take turns to see who can roll their egg closest to the white egg.

Egg and Spoon Races Eggs, spoons and an area to run are all you need for this game. Variations could include relays and obstacle courses. To make it easy for younger kids, place something on the spoon to make the egg stick.

Nosey Egg Roll The ideas of this is to have the kids roll the eggs using only their noses. The first one over the finish line wins a prize.

Duck Walk Race Have the kids line up at the Start Line, squat down and grasp their ankles with each hand from behind. On GO, they waddle to a designated Finish Line. They can't let go of their ankles or the are disqualified. The first child over the Finish Line wins a prize.

Easter Bunny Tag Played in the same fashion as tag except that everyone must hop (if you do anything but hop then you're automatically it.

Easter Guess the Number Game Take a jar and fill it with Easter eggs, jelly beans, etc. Count the different candies as you put them in the jar. Leave a piece of paper and a pencil next to the jar and have all the children guess how many candies are in the jar. Be sure they write their name on the paper beside their guess. The child who is the closest without going over wins the jar (and maybe a chocolate easter bunny).

Easter Egg Match-Up Get a bunch of different colored plastic eggs. Separate the eggs and hide each half in a different places. The kids must match up the eggs to win prizes.