Easter Party Games for Kids and Families: Six Easy Activities

An Easter party does not need to be one long race for eggs. Mix a cooperative hunt, a tabletop challenge and a quiet guessing game so younger children, older relatives and guests who prefer to stay seated can enjoy the same celebration.

These Easter party games use reusable plastic eggs, paper and a few household items. Choose three for a relaxed gathering, or spread them across stations. The Easter dates below follow the Western/Gregorian calendar; the U.S. Naval Observatory explains how Easter is calculated.

Holiday dates for planning

Easter Sunday (Western/Gregorian) date reference

Pick games for your space

For a living room, start with Egg Match Memory, Basket Builder and What’s Missing? For a garden or hall, add a walking egg delivery route and a cooperative hunt. Keep activity lanes separate from food and entrances, and give each station a clear stopping point.

Use large paper egg shapes instead of loose plastic pieces around very young children. Do not use hard-boiled eggs left out as game equipment for later eating. None of these activities requires candy, food tasting or winning a prize to be included.

1. Cooperative rainbow hunt

Hide 18 empty eggs in an adult-checked area: three each of six colors. If your set has different colors, choose your own six groups and explain them before play. Add simple drawn symbols to the groups so matching does not rely on color alone.

Give the whole group one shared goal: find one complete set of six, then another and another. Each finder brings one egg back to the central basket before looking again. A helper tracks the groups on paper. There is no individual winner and no reason to take eggs from another child.

For mixed ages, put some eggs in easy, reachable spots and let older children give hints instead of collecting everything. Finish when all 18 are accounted for, or after ten minutes; an adult retrieves any remaining eggs from the hiding list. Keep the boundary away from roads, water, tools and places children would need to climb.

2. Egg Match Memory

Put six pairs of matching picture slips into twelve identical opaque containers or eggs. Use simple drawings such as a flower, basket, chick, carrot, leaf and sun. A host should prepare the pairs so players do not memorize the setup in advance.

Arrange them in three rows of four. Players take turns opening two. A matching pair stays open and earns one point; an unmatched pair closes in the same spots. Play passes after every turn, even after a match. When all six pairs are found, count points and share tied wins.

For a cooperative version, count how many turns the group takes to find every pair, then try again with a fresh arrangement. If your eggs are transparent or easy to identify by their outside color, use upside-down paper cups over the slips instead.

3. Basket Builder

Place ten empty eggs and a shallow basket on a table. Give a pair two minutes to arrange the eggs so every egg sits inside the basket without anyone holding it. The basket should be large enough for a plausible solution; test it before the party.

Now change one condition: arrange the eggs in a color pattern, keep matching symbols together, or fit the same set into a different container. Let children explain their choices. This is a building and sorting challenge, not a contest to stack eggs dangerously high.

You can run it seated with the basket near the table edge. For a younger child, use four large paper shapes and a drawn basket outline instead.

4. Walking egg delivery

Mark a short, clear route between two bowls. Each player carries one empty plastic egg on a large spoon, walking to the second bowl and returning along a separate path if space allows. If an egg falls, stop, pick it up and continue from that spot. There is no elimination.

Give each player three turns and count successful deliveries, or set a shared target such as twelve deliveries for the group. Keep the starting distance the same for players using the same version. A seated alternative passes an egg from spoon to spoon above a tray, with a helper moving the receiving bowl as needed.

Use empty eggs, not raw eggs. Choose a short route over a non-slip surface and keep waiting children out of the lane. You can skip timing entirely; steady movement is the point.

5. What’s Missing from the Basket?

Show six recognizable objects for 20 seconds: an empty egg, ribbon, leaf, spoon, toy chick and paper flower, for example. Cover the basket with a cloth, remove one object unseen, then reveal the rest. Everyone guesses by pointing, speaking or drawing.

Replace the object and change the arrangement before the next round. Play six rounds. Award one point for each correct private answer if your group wants scores, or let everyone solve it together. Do not insist that the quickest voice wins.

Start with three objects for younger children. For an extra challenge, remove two, but tell players that the rule has changed before they look.

6. Draw an Easter surprise

Give everyone a sheet of paper. Read three prompts one at a time: draw a basket, put an imaginary egg in it, then add something surprising that could hatch from that egg. Allow a minute or two for each stage.

Invite children to tell the story of their picture, with passing always allowed. A rocket chick, tiny garden or friendly dragon can be just as welcome as a bunny. There is no best-picture vote. This makes a useful wind-down activity while adults prepare a meal.

A 45-minute Easter party plan

Allow five minutes for explaining the space and matching symbols, ten for the cooperative hunt, ten for memory, ten for delivery or basket building and ten for drawing and cleanup. For 18 children, use three groups of six and rotate through three stations for eight minutes each, with an adult leading every station.

Plan a seated option at each activity rather than assigning one child a separate game. Give helpers a list of supplies and the stopping rule. Keep a count of hidden eggs so nothing is left in the garden afterward.

Ready-made Easter game options

The Games with Easter Eggs collection offers another egg-game resource to explore. For a short station format, see 10 Easter Games in One Minute. Check each listing for its contents and choose the resource that matches your group.

For a hunt with written directions, use the Easter egg hunt clue guide. For a faith-centered group, the church and Sunday school Easter games build activities around the resurrection accounts.

Questions families often ask

Can we make every game candy-free?

Yes. Use empty eggs, picture slips and a shared celebration at the end. If you serve a snack, handle it separately and follow your guests’ food needs.

What if it rains?

Keep the hunt within one approved room, hide paper egg shapes at reachable heights and use the three tabletop games. Skip movement routes if the room is crowded.

How do we avoid older children taking over?

Use shared goals, equal turns and helper roles. Ask older children to offer one hint or explain a rule, while younger children get time to find and try things themselves.

Optional supplies

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JOYIN empty plastic Easter eggs can hold picture slips or act as reusable game pieces for a supervised hunt. Use paper shapes when loose plastic pieces are not suitable for your group.