Literacy Egg Hunt Activity

Spring is here, and with the promise of warmer weather, I find myself itching to be outside with my children any chance possible! The fresh air is good for all of us, and going outside provides welcome relief from the monotony of the day, especially during these unique times. Here is a simple but fun activity for caregivers to do with children at home who love to partake in springtime egg hunt festivities! My kids LOVE to have egg hunts. It is fun, gets us outside on nice days and entertains us indoors on a cruddy one. If you have children at home, and some spare plastic eggs and a permanent marker laying around, give this activity a try!

This egg hunt encourages letter recognition and naming, an important pre-reading skill. It can also be expanded upon to challenge older children, too.

To Create The Eggs:

• Use permanent marker to write each letter of the alphabet on different plastic eggs
• Write the capital letter on one half, write the corresponding lowercase letter on the other

Ways To Play:

1. Hide already matched eggs 
   • Have each finder name the letter written on the egg as they are collected
2. Break the eggs in half and hide each side separately
   • Once found, encourage children to put eggs back together with their correct matches
3. Mix the eggs up with mismatched tops and bottoms, hide ‘em, and once all are collected, put the eggs back together with their correct upper and lowercase matches
4. Hide the letters of your child's name, spell it out as soon as they're all found
5. For older children, use the eggs to spell out more challenging words
6. Write different words on the top and bottom of the egg that can be made into a compound words (example: tug + boat = tugboat)

Other Egg Hunt Ideas: 

• Use the eggs to write math equations on one half of the egg, and answers on the other
• Write a number on one half of an egg, and draw the corresponding number of dots on the other.    
  • Have kids find the number match and encourage them to count out loud
• Find a simple puzzle laying around the house, hide one piece in each egg
  • Once you’ve collected all of them, assemble the puzzle together

This activity is very flexible, so feel free to get creative and put your own spin on it. Happy hunting!