A fun thing to do at Easter is to have your child build an Easter Basket with Clues. This project is great for an older child to give them a more challenging hunt than a normal Easter Egg Hunt.

Each year, at Easter time, I came up with printed clues to lead her from one Easter egg to the next and she built the basket as she progressed through the clues. This came to be called an “Easter Egg Hunt with Clues” and Jess loved it each year.

This fun experience gave us a chance to keep the Easter egg hunt going long after kids normally think they are “too old for it.”  The idea is great for older kids and teenagers, alike.  

You can make the clues as hard or as easy as you like. I also liked to add some other teen stuff to the basket too, and not just candy.

The basket was fun to shop for.  Mini sized candy bars are perfect to put inside of plastic eggs and I also gathered together some fun beauty items, candles and a cute coffee mug.

Once kids become teens, they still love the sweet treats, but teenage items also really appeal to them and makes the hunt more grown up.

Here is how to Build an Easter Basket with Clues.

All fun Easter Egg hunts need a basket to hold the goodies in.  Also, what good would Easter be if I didn’t have a chance to do something crafty? 😉 I chose a medium sized basket and spray painted it white.

Next, I wrapped the handle with some green paper tape and hot glued a few butterflies to it.

Jess loves all forms of nature, and I know she will want to use the basket in her room later to hold makeup and jewelry so I wanted it decorated in a pretty way for her.  

The basket stayed hidden until the morning of the Easter egg hunt.  Overnight while she was sleeping, I put the basket on her bed and the first clue got tucked into it with a hint about where to progress next.  

I made the clue ambiguous enough so that she had to think a bit.  After all, “she is a teenager, not a baby!” as she is fond of telling me.

Here is an idea of how my hunt goes as it progresses.  Building an Easter Basket with Clues just needs a bit of creative thought and clues that are hard enough but not too frustrating.  

I’ve given you some tips that I use each year to make my hunt a success.

1. Starting the Easter Egg Hunt with Clues

Building an Easter basket with clues means that the hunt will be a bit of a challenge. Jess’ father has a lot of old shoes, so trying to find just the right pair is not easy! Patience is not a strong suit with teens, so I mixed some easy clues and some hard ones as the challenge continued.

Each time Jess found an Easter egg, she added it to her basket and then moved on to the next place that is hinted at in the clue.

Easter clues should be a mix of hard and easy

2. Don’t make the clues too hard.

I liked to move around the house, back and forth as we built an Easter basket with clues.  Jess knows that if she saw an egg anywhere but doesn’t find it with a clue, she had to wait till later to gather it.

Still, I kept most of the eggs hidden out of plain sight, so it was a challenge pretty much all the way through.  

Even though I led her to the bathroom sink, the treat is still hidden behind it, not IN it. A little manicure and pedicure set was hidden there as a special teen treat.

3. Move the Easter clues around the house and yard.

Be sure to have a mix of both indoors and outdoor clue areas.  This makes things more interesting and also makes sure that there is some fresh air as part of the hunt.  Since the candy bars were all foil wrapped, having them outside is fine.

I placed three treats in a plastic Easter Egg behind a planter near the outdoor candle so it is a bit out of sight.

4. Have a really easy Easter clue now and then.

Throw in some really easy clues.  Don’t make them all hard, or there is sure to be frustration.  

This mailbox clue was a great one to have about now, since it’s a big enough place to put something really special like this coffee mug filled with candy treats.  

The mug has one of Jess’ favorite cup shapes and the colors are perfect for her basket.

Behind closed doors are good spots when you build an Easter Basket with clues.

5. The pantry is a perfect indoor hiding spot.

5. Even though Jess walked right by the pantry earlier, she didn’t see the egg because I closed the pantry door.  

Since I had a few cake mixes, she had to look a little to find this treat! A purple plastic egg held 2 more sweets to add to her basket.

6. Out of sight, out of mind.

The oven was a great hiding place to use during the hunt. It was big enough to add a plastic egg with Easter treats that will start to fill up the basket, but the closed door keeps everything well hidden.

Just be sure no one decides to make a breakfast casserole today!~

7. Time to head back outside again.

The family car is a great place to hide Easter eggs.  There are lots of nooks, crannies and places where they can be placed to make the hunt challenging.

I used the glove compartment as a hiding place for the hunt today. Even though she had been out there earlier, this clue was hidden from sight.

Time for a tricky one!

8. What do you keep in the dining room hutch?

This clue was a challenge for Jess, since there is a big hutch filled with plates, glasses and bowls as well as a large credenza in our dining room.  

I hid the treats and the clue inside one of the soup bowls in the hutch!

9. Have a really easy clue near the end of the hunt.

No matter how much your teen likes the hunt, they will be getting eager for it to be over now, so throw in a clue that basically gives the location away. Now is the time for another teen treat.

This time, some emery boards, a small bottle of perfume, and pink nail polish were hidden in the clothes dryer.

10. Keep the biggest stash of treats until the end.

Just like fireworks, a good Easter Egg hunt builds momentum.  I started with one egg, moved up to a couple, and left the big stash of treats until the end of the hunt.

It made it like having all the fireworks come at one time at a fireworks show.  The last stash of Easter eggs got placed in a fun colored bucket near her old playhouse along with a cucumber melon candle. My girl loves candles!  

I love the mix of candy and teen things in the basket.  

Doing this kind of Easter Egg hunt with clues is something you can do right through the high school years, just by adding new items that they like in each teenage year.

Would you like to build an Easter Basket with clues?

This project is geared to turning an Easter Egg hunt into a different experience by using treasure hunt clues for around the house and garden.

Preparing for this project to build an Easter basket with clues is as simple as taking a shopping trip to gather your goodies, treats and teen things.

You’ll also want to gather some ribbon, decorative items and a basket and some card stock or photo paper to make your clues.

Print out the Easter Egg Hunt Clues for building an Easter Basket.

If you want to copy my Easter egg hunt clues for an older child, you can print out the filled in clue sheet that I used here in PDF format. 

It is a high resolution 8 1/2′ by 1 1″ file. I printed mine on photo paper so the wording stays intact outside.

To print your Easter treasure hunt clues, be sure to choose “fit to page” in your printer settings to fill a whole sheet of cardstock.

If my Easter scavenger hunt clues won’t work for you, you can use these blank Easter Egg cards and make your own Easter Basket hunt clues for by hand printing them. You can print the PDF file here, or click on the image below.

What other things will you hide as well as Easter Eggs to Build an Easter Basket with clues for your teenager?  

Pin The Build an Easter Basket with Clues project for later

Would you like a reminder of this project to build an Easter Basket with Clues?  Just pin this image to one of your Easter boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

Admin note: This post for the DIY Easter Basket Project first appeared on the blog in February of 2017. I have added a printable project card , new photos and a video for you to enjoy.

Yield: A fun Easter project for a teenager.

Build an Easter Basket with Clues

Print

This fun Easter project will keep the fun of an Easter egg hunt going long after your teenager has decided she is too old for a baby activity.

Active Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour

Difficulty easy

Estimated Cost $25

Materials

• Candy and other Easter treat goodies
• Toiletries for a teenage girl
• Coffee Mug
• Large Straw basket
• White spray Paint
• Green paper tape
• 2 green silk butterflies
• Paper straw
• Plastic Easter eggs
• Card stock or photo paper

Tools

• Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions

1. Spray the basket with white spray paint and allow it to dry.
2. Wrap the handle of the basket with green paper tape and attach it in place with a dab of hot glue.
3. Glue on the two silk butterflies on the handle.
4. Add some paper straw in the bottom of the basket.
5. Print out the clues using my sample above, or print out the template for clues and add your own.
6. Place the basket on your child's bed overnight with the first clue in it.
7. Each clue leads to a new spot, which has a new clue and treats.
8. Alternate between candy treat, toiletries and other items for the basket.
9. Have the last clue lead to a treasure trove that will fill up the basket. Perhaps it's time for a more expensive gift here.
10. Enjoy!

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