Where To Hide Easter Eggs & Clues For The Ultimate Egg Hunt

On a scale of one to 10, how ready are you to throw your kids the Easter egg hunt of a lifetime? Because you're busy planning the Easter menu and hosting tons of family, you might need a few suggestions for where to hide Easter eggs and clues to make this a scavenger hunt to remember. Plus, there's one Easter-April Fools' prank you should never play on your family, tempting as it may be.

First, let's talk clues, which are the key to every overachieving egg hunt, and totally optional, especially if you're the parent of young children. Over at SheKnows, the writers recommended printing out (or crafting) a dozen utterly adorable Easter bunny tracks to lead your scavenger hunters to their prize. How exciting will it be for the kids to wake up and see their backyard covered in gigantic bunny tracks? If you've got a moment before bed on Saturday night, I also love the idea of printing out a pirate-style treasure hunter's map of your house, or these fun printable clues — think, "Look behind the door" — from Edventures with Kids. Amazingly, you can even create a scavenger hunt customized for your house at the website Scavenger Hunt Riddles. (Thanks, internet!)

Because Easter egg hunts can get repetitive if you hide eggs in the same places in your backyard year after year, The Huffington Post recommended some lovely variations on a theme. You can consider a bicycle egg hunt in a large meadow or park, the article suggested, or opt for a "lighted egg hunt" at twilight, rather than the more familiar morning dash.

OK, so on to the eggs. Unfortunately, unlike with Christmas preparations, in most places you can't hide Easter eggs the night before, because what if it rains? So you've got to get up early — like, at crack of dawn early — to tuck those pastel-painted eggs behind tufts of grass. But scoping out your hiding spots in advance can save you time later, so take a look around your backyard now. Do you have a sandbox? If so, World Market's blog suggested burying Easter eggs for your kids to dig up. What about a swing set or other play gear? You can balance an egg in a stuffed animal's lap and prop them up on a swing or at the top of a slide. Creative Atmospheres also recommended hiding eggs among the gardening supplies — tucked inside your gardening gloves, the watering can, or inside a pot.

Personally, I also love the idea, featured at Fun At Home With Kids, of making a life-sized Easter basket out of an inflatable pool, filling it with shredded colored paper, and letting kids dive for their eggs. As a bonus, this one could be both an indoor or an outdoor activity, according to what the weather brings.

That leads us to indoor egg hunts, which honestly, are a total blast for kids. For one thing, you've got more nooks and crannies inside your house than you do outdoors, and it's fun to find an egg in the bathroom, hiding in plain view. CafeMom suggested tucking an egg into the dishwasher, or balancing one on a candlestick. How about in the fridge, an egg carton, or a laundry hamper, as Romper previously suggested? Or you look around your house for ledges, mantels, and and windowsills. When I was a kid, my mother was always a fan of tucking an egg into a sock in my drawer, with another inside a box of Kleenex. Just be sure to keep the egg hunt safe for children, advised Safe Wise, and not hide anything near water, or anyplace you wouldn't want them to go.

Because Easter falls on April Fools' Day this year, I promised to tell you all about the one Easter-April Fools' prank you should never play, and here it is: guys, don't send your children into a grassy field in search of Easter eggs if you haven't hidden any, because that's just mean. Kind of funny, but mean. Happy Easter hunting.

Check out Romper's new video series, Bearing The Motherload, where disagreeing parents from different sides of an issue sit down with a mediator and talk about how to support (and not judge) each other’s parenting perspectives. New episodes air Mondays on Facebook.