When planning your Easter (April 1^st, 2018) or Passover celebration (March 30^th-April 7^th, 2018), you may be looking for something a bit more exciting than the traditional basics. There are many ways to add some extra fun to the standard styles of celebration. Especially when these events include children, having something planned to keep them entertained can help your event run smoothly, while having the children feel included. Traditional Easter celebrations typically include egg hunts for children, while for Passover, having a Seder plate is the traditional way to celebrate. Both of these are wonderful traditions, but alone, they may have you feeling like your celebration is a bit stale. There are several options to add some excitement and flair to each of these holiday celebrations.

For Easter, a customary egg hunt is a perfect way to start the day, but by using some creativity, it can be turned into a new and exciting event. If using real eggs, one option is to have eggs dyed in a few different colors, with prizes for each color. Once the eggs have all been found, whoever has the most of each color wins a prize corresponding to that color. Another option would be to rent a color wheel and dye the eggs to match the colors on the wheel. Once the eggs are all found, each child, starting with whoever has the least amount of eggs, would choose a color of egg they found and spin the wheel to try to match their color. If they match, they win a prize! Have them take turns until everyone has won something.

If using fake eggs, there are many ways to make an egg hunt a lot more fun. Try putting numbers inside each egg, and have small prizes corresponding to each number. Once all the eggs are found, each child would win the prizes for the numbers inside their eggs. Use small items, such as a four pack of Peeps, a hair accessory, a Hot Wheel car, or even dollar store baskets, for each prize. Otherwise, try an egg hunt silent auction! This allows each child to select which prize they would like to win by placing their eggs in a container for a drawing for each prize. Have them write their name on a small piece of paper and place that inside the plastic egg. They can then place as many or as few of their eggs into the containers for each prize to try to win the ones that are interesting to them. Once all the eggs have been submitted, draw one from each container for the winner of each prize. Having a surprise present for anyone who doesn’t have their name drawn is a good idea to make sure no child goes home empty handed. Prizes for this kind of game should be slightly larger, such as movies or themed gift baskets.

For Passover, there are a few options that are perfect to add a bit of excitement to the Seder for any children that are participating. A traditional game for Passover, is to hide the Afikomen and have the children search for it. The Afikomen is the larger piece of the matzah, which is broken in half at the beginning of the meal, and saved for after the meal. A fun twist on this game is to have the children hide the Afikomen and have the adults do the searching. Having a prize for whoever finds it is a great incentive, as the Seder cannot be completed until the Afikomen has been located and consumed. Another way to use matzah in your Passover celebration is to make a matzah house! Use hazelnut spread to connect the pieces of matzah. The Passover can be represented on the matzah house by using red licorice around the door. This is a great activity for kids to use up the extra matzah that comes in a package.

Other fun activities for Passover include the Four Questions Mix-Up, and the Seder Grab Bag Game. The Four Questions Mix-Up starts with the youngest person asking “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The four questions that follow are written on separate pieces of paper and mixed up in envelopes for the children to then try to put in the correct order. The first one to correctly order the questions wins a prize! The Seder Grab Bag Game is a great way to add some creativity to your celebration. To start, grab random items from around the house, making sure you have at least one item per person in attendance. Go around the table in any order and have each person draw out an item from the bag. Each person then tries to create a story about the object while relating it to the Passover story. Take turns one after another, or sporadically throughout the meal. Whoever comes up with the best story wins a prize! When playing this game with younger children, it may be helpful to have items that are easy to relate to the Passover story. However, this game can become an interesting and fun challenge when the items are completely random.

No matter how you decide to celebrate Easter or Passover, there are many ideas and games that can add some extra entertainment to your celebration. If you really feel like thinking outside the traditional celebration box, consider renting a bingo set, a cotton candy machine, or even a bounce house! At the end of the day, the most important part of any celebration is to enjoy the company of family and friends. So while playing games and having fun during your holiday celebration, remember to truly appreciate the time spent with loved ones.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your Easter or Passover!