Scavenger Hunt Clue Ideas

Most of us are familiar with the tradition of hunting colorful eggs on Easter Sunday, but how many really know the origins of this tradition? You can turn your Easter egg hunt into a fun history lesson this year by incorporating these origins into your hunt.

Easter eggs are symbolic of new life, and this ties right in with the traditional Christian-based Easter. The eggs are representative of the rebirth of Christ on the day He was resurrected. Instead of being hunted, these eggs used to be given to children as gifts to symbolize this on the special day. It is believed that the hunting of the eggs came to be during a time in Europe when Christians were persecuted for their beliefs. Rather than giving the eggs directly, the adults would hide the eggs for the children to find instead, making it a tradition that has lasted for hundreds of years.

The legend of the goddess Ostara states that one year, she was late bringing in the spring weather, and as a result a bird’s wings were frozen by the lingering snow and ice. Ostara rescued the bird, but he was no longer able to fly. To compensate for the loss, Ostara turned the bird into a hare so that he would be able to quickly get away from hunters or other predators. As a special gift, she also gave him the ability to lay rainbow-colored eggs on one day of the year, and this is how the tradition and legend of the Easter Bunny began.

You can include fun facts and legends like this in your Easter egg hunt, printing them out and stuffing them into plastic eggs with other goodies. More ideas for Easter egg hunts can be found on RiddleMe.net, a great site with great software to customize all your homemade games and clues!