This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, MARS Incorporated. All opinions are mine alone. #SpringMoments #CollectiveBias It’s time to build an Easter Basket with Clues!

When my daughter was a little girl, we always had a normal Easter egg hunt for her, but as she got older, and she no longer wanted this kind of hunt, we prolonged the fun of Easter by giving her a more challenging hunt. To do this we let Jess Build an Easter Basket with Clues.  Each year, at Easter time, I came up with printed clues to lead her from one Easter egg to the next.

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. 

MARS® Mixed Mini Bags are the perfect mix to use for this type of hunt. I found a big display rack of them on a recent shopping trip to my local Sam’s Club. The bag has 165 pieces in it that are the perfect size for placing inside of plastic Easter eggs.  Their festive wrappers add a lot of color to the Easter Basket as it comes together. I really love the assortment of treats in this bag, filled with Jess’ favorites such as M&M’S®, TWIX®, SNICKERS®, MILKY WAY®, and 3 MUSKETEERS ®.  

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. Then, 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 stays hidden until the morning of the Easter egg hunt.  Overnight while she is sleeping, I put the basket on her bed and the first clue gets tucked into it with a hint about where to progress next.  I make the clue ambiguous enough so that she has 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. Start with a challenge.

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 continues. Each time Jess finds an Easter egg, she adds it to her basket and then moves on to the next place that is hinted at in the clue.

A mix of hard and easy is good.

2. Don’t make the clues too hard.

I like to move around the house, back and forth as we build an Easter basket with clues.  Jess knows that if she sees an egg anywhere but doesn’t find it with a clue, she has to wait till later. Still, I keep most of them hidden out of plain sight, so it’s a challenge pretty much all the way through.  Even though I lead her to the bathroom sink, the treat is still hidden behind it, not IN it. A little manicure and pedicure set is hidden here as a special teen treat.

3. Move 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 MARS® Mixed Mini Bags are 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 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 is 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 is a great hiding place to use during the hunt. It’s 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 makes 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.

Time for a tricky one!

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

This clue is 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 are hidden in the 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?

Head on over to your Sam’s Club. It is a great Easter destination to shop early and stock up for this fun holiday.  I found my MARS® Mixed Mini Bags Spring Mix in a center aisle with a large candy display. You can’t miss it with the fun spring colors!  Some ribbon and a basket, a few non food treats, and some card stock or photo paper will be all that you’ll need to do your own hunt.

Print out the Clue sheets.

If you want to copy my Easter egg hunt, 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.
If my clues won’t work for you, you can use these blank Easter Egg cards and make your own 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?  

Are you looking for other ways to decorate for Easter, or for some inspiration for Easter Egg Hunts for teens?  Be sure to visit the #SpringMoments page by MARS®.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored post." One of the companies who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."