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“5 Favorite Easter Games”

 

1)      Bunny Tag (K-2^nd)

• When Tagged- crouch down and jump around like a bunny (have them use their hands to make bunny ears)
• To Be Freed- a student “pets” the bunny on the shoulder
• Remember- I use noodles (cut to about 12 inches) to identify the taggers. This is also safer because taggers cannot push when tagging.

 

2)      Egg Tag (3^rd-6^th)

• Set-up Options-
  • Type fitness exercises on a piece of paper and put inside a plastic egg. Place the eggs around the boundary hidden under cones.
  • OR… Draw an egg on a piece of paper and write fitness exercises inside the egg. Tape the pieces of paper around the playing area.
• When Tagged- Leave the play area, find an egg and read the exercise. After performing the exercise, return to the game.

 

3)      Easter Basket (K-2^nd)

• Set-up-
  • Put out a bunch of random equipment that your students love (balls, jump ropes, balloons, paddles, etc.).
  • Place enough hula hoops or poly spots in the general space. Spread them out so that each student has personal space.
• How to Play-
  • Tell students that they are going to get to fill their Easter basket with their favorite toy. There are “baskets” (hula hoops/poly spots) spread out.
  • On “Go” students can select one piece of equipment and bring it to an available “basket” and play with it.
  • Every couple of minutes, have students trade the piece of equipment they are using.

 

4)      Egg Delivery (3^rd-6^th)

• Equipment- 4 hula hoops, ~20 plastic eggs, cones, and pinnies (or a way to identify two teams).
• Set-up-
  • If you are using a gym with basketball lines put a line of cones about 6 feet (2 meters) away from each end of the gym to form end zones. If you do not have a gym with lines, make a large rectangle with cones and then make end zones.
  • You will also need a line dividing the area in half, so if you do not have one, use more cones.
  • Place 2 hula hoops just outside each of the end zones inside of the boundary area.
  • Evenly divide the eggs in the hula hoops.
  • Divide the class into two teams. One team on each side of the gym. Give each team different colored pinnies or a way to distinguish themselves.
• Objective- Deliver the eggs from your ‘basket’ (hula hoop) to your opponents ‘basket.’
• Rules-
  • The game is similar to “Capture the Flag,” with one big difference… instead of attempting to capture something, students need to deliver the eggs from their baskets to their opponent’s baskets.
  • Students are safe if they are on their side or in the end zone on the opposite side.
  • If students cross the center line, they can be tagged by an opponent.
  • If tagged, that student must sit down where the tag happened.
  • To be freed, a teammate must safely make it to them. Once freed, that player gets (and must take) a free walk back to their half of the gym.
  • Eggs must be delivered without the eggs breaking/cracking. If a student drops or otherwise causes an egg to crack, they are tagged.

 

5)      Egg Hunt (K-??)

• Material Needs
  • Enough plastic eggs, strips of paper, and pencils/crayons for each student.
  • Note- If you have a tight budget and cannot afford plastic eggs, you can cut egg-shaped eggs out of construction paper instead.
• Set-up- Put some materials/equipment around the gym where eggs could possibly be hidden (cones, mats, etc.). If you live in warmer climates (I’m jealous!), simply identify the playing area outside.
• To start the activity, have students write something on the piece of paper. Some ideas include:
  • Write a compliment (affective domain)
  • Write an exercise.
  • Write a fact from a unit they are studying (cross-curricular integration!)
  • Write numbers (e.g. 5 + 4, 20 – 10, 45 ÷ 9, etc.). This is easiest for younger students that might have trouble with spelling.
• Once students have an egg with something written in/on it, give them 1-2 minutes to hide the egg inside the area. Even though they will see some of their classmates hiding eggs, it is impossible for them to watch everyone.
• After hiding their egg, they return to the starting spot that you identified.
• When all students are done hiding, tell them that the egg hunt is about to begin. They are allowed to find just one egg. When they find an egg, they bring it back and read what is inside.
• Note- If it requires action, they should complete the action and then wait for the others to finish.