Easter Treats for Older Kids

My parents always bought one bag of really good, individually wrapped candies (or you could use coins) and hid them throughout the kitchen/ dining room/family room. We kind of felt silly "hunting" for treats as high schoolers, but the reward of yumminess was worth it! That, and my mom loved it!!! There were always a couple we couldn't find for days~fun times!

My son is now 14 and what I have done to keep the Easter fun going for him is to place coupons in the eggs for things like: He gets to control the car radio when we go out with that coupon. Or he gets to choose what night we have pizza. He decides what game we play for family night. etc. I try to get creative and gear things towards stuff he likes. It's fun for him because he gets to make choices and have some control.

Scavenger hunting for Itunes cards is a nice plus, I'll have to add that this year!

How about a scavenger hunt w/a twist? Get a $10 iTunes gift card for each of them. Put some coins & a message in each of a few well-hidden eggs (message will give them the opportunity to keep looking for more clues & eggs or give up & pocket the cash they have)... throw in a dollar here or there. If they chose to keep the cash you've got a Christmas stocking stuffer, if they chose to keep going they give up the along-the-way cash (your choice to let them keep it at the end) & get their grand prize. My 14 y/o still likes the basket of goodies.

You could have the egg clues lead to their baskets. We always do new swimwear and sandals in our kids baskets.

My kids are 8 and 3. We do the egg hunt with plastic eggs. Each kid gets 12. We put coins, dollars, mini chocolate, jelly beans, etc.

I do Easter bags not baskets. That way when the day is over, I just fold the bag up! For my 8y I do a video game, some tattoos, bubble gum, fruit snacks. For the 3y old some play jewelry, nail polish, bubble gum.

M.

My parents, even when we were in Junior High and High School (obviously too old for Easter bunny...we did have a really younger brother, but even after he found out...), would still put out baskets like the Easter Bunny had come anyway and we thought it was funny and nostalgic. In our baskets would be things we could use (tooth brush, floss, hair things, little candy and chocolate, beach towels- often things we might need for our summer trip- like water shoes, sunglasses, cash (or Vacation Bucks we called them...mom kept track on a piece of paper how much everyone "made" and that was how much we had to spend on things while on vacation...this was in place of an allowance)...I'm sure if times were different back then, we would have gotten Music Download cards, but instead we got calling card for when we were at our other parent's house for the summer (no cells for kids yet...)...but maybe things for the cell phone if they have it...like a new skin, case, car charger, extra minutes).

My parents also did scavenger hunts around our house and land...often the prize was a bigger share prize...like a new game or movie or gaming system or something for the house or yard...those were fun too!

I put candy or coins in the eggs. I agree that you don't need the treats, but a few candies aren't so bad.

A little expensive, but you could put movie tickets in the eggs (I look at this way, I know I'll have to pay for a movie ticket at some point anyway). You could also make up your own gift certificates.

The scavenger hunt is a great idea. I did that one year and had it lead to their baskets. Maybe it could lead to a cd, a dvd, or a gift card.

I agree with the gift certificates for things they would like. Make your own. They could have a night when they can choose dinner, or go out with mom or dad. One where they can pick a movie or go to a movie. Maybe a day off of chores. Staying up an extra hour with mom and dad, etc. Just think of stuff they would like. I-tunes gift cards are always good. You could also make them a little book about them with some pictures and why you love them and what makes them special. Yes its more stuff but who wouldn't treasure something like that from their mother.

My husband's family always did coins of different amounts...with just a couple of the eggs having a dollar bill in them. (Of course, this was the 80s..:o) ) The kids always raced around trying to find the one with the most $ in them!

Other good ideas are jelly beans, M&Ms, stickers, tattoos, homemade gift certificates for something they would really like (ie, choose family dinner, dessert of their choice, movie night of their choice, individual outing with mom or dad, extra TV/video game time, etc...)

I love the idea of putting coins in the eggs for iTunes, if that's what they're really into. However, since you can't use coins on iTunes, you could put scavenger hunt clues which leads to the ultimate egg which could be an iTunes card from the grocery. You can get them in various increments.

my grandma did (and still does, sort of embarrasing for a 29 year old to hunt easter eggs, but it makes her happy) put dimes in the little eggs and quarters in the big eggs, with a limit on how many of each you could get. (for example, 5 big eggs and 10 little) with one "special" egg that would have a cute pair of earrings or a toy car, depending on the kid. We all knew mine was the purple, my bro's was the blue, sis red, etc. so we only hunted our own "special" eggs.

And like Megan, we also do bags, with the same amount of easter candy per kid/adult. (although to be fair, me and my sister are the only adults who still participate.....and we give our money to our own kids)

my children get a toothbrush and toothpaste, clothes (a dress for the girls and a outfit for my son) and a little bit of candy because even if you don't need treats they are fun. We've also given a washcloth and towel, sunglasses, cash, journals, discount tickets to the movies. Gift certificates for itunes, extra cell phone minutes etc.

yeah i like the clue idea....gift cards are good..mcdonalds, itunes, movies, etc whatever they are interested in.

another suggestion - Everybody Loves Money is a DVD that gives you creative ways to gift cash - no clutter, etc. I think you can google it.

When my kids were older, I baked sugar cookies in large egg shapes (just used a cardboard template and cut around the template in the dough). Then I set out lots of icings, sprinkles (pastel colors and Easter shapes from the craft store cake decorating aisle), and let the kids decorate to their hearts' content. When we had lots of pretty cookies, we delivered them to pre-arranged places (a home with a sick child, a home-bound elderly friend, a neighbor or family friend going through a stressful time, the church pastor, a fire station, nurses who'd be working long hours at a local nursing home, a family with a deployed dad -- our Easter egg cookie recipients varied each year). They had the fun of being presented with a basket full of plain undecorated cookies and things to decorate them with, along with names of the people we'd be making the deliveries to. Sugar cookie dough is not very expensive to make, and a few tubs of icing and a few containers of sprinkles and tubes of colored gel aren't very expensive. And dollar stores have cellophane bags that cookies can be packed in. If you're set on a hunt, you could hide all the icings and gels and glitters and sprinkles and spreaders and the names of the recipients. Let the kids find everything and plan your "spread the Easter joy cookie decorating party".

I love the hunt idea, i think it is really fun: I actually did that w/ the hubbie when we were dating. if they like itunes you can have it lead to a gift card that will deff not clutter your house and it sounds like they like it too. The clues you put in are the best bc you can be really creative and it can be really fun.