Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt

Easter is tomorrow, and the chaos monster has hit us full force the past month, keeping us from really celebrating it the way we’d love to. From losing two beloved grandmothers in two weeks,  sinus infections, unexpected car repairs, an emergency trip to the vet for one of the guinea pigs, and so on…we just haven’t had much time or energy to focus on traditional easter celebrations. There’s been no dying of eggs. No egg hunts. No visits to the easter bunny. None of those things that add just a touch of magic for kids this time of year. I know my kids understand, but I miss those events too. There’s nothing like seeing that delight on your child’s face!

So tonight when I stumbled upon an idea on Pinterest for a glow-in-the-dark Easter Egg Hunt, I decided to try it right away. We needed just a little fun around here! I gathered a few simple ingredients needed and got to work. It wasn’t quite as simple as I had thought it would be, but in the end it worked pretty well and the kids were thrilled. The hardest part was keeping them away from the glowing eggs long enough for me to hide them and for the sun to set. And who can blame them? Look at how cool these eggs turned out:

What You Need:

• dozen plastic easter eggs
• a dozen glow bracelets, or small glow sticks
• scotch tape
• gloves and paper towel

Instructions:

1. Put on the gloves to protect your hands in case any of the glow sticks leak. (The cheap dollar store sticks do tend to leak when bent.)
2. Break the glow sticks and get the chemical reaction process started.
3. Begin with one glow bracelet/stick, fold it into a shape that will allow it to fit into the egg. This took a little trial and error, but eventually I figured it out.
4. Tape around the glow stick, locking it into that shape. If you don’t tape it, it will push on the egg and force it open.
5. Drop into egg and snap shut.

Total project time: about 30 minutes for two dozen eggs

Because we live in a heavily wooded area that snakes seem to love, we decided to do this egg hunt indoors instead of out.  We hid the eggs around the basement, then waited for the sun to set. To throw a little fun into it for the adults, we added a few half-circle blue led lights scattered about the room. They helped my son feel more secure in the dark, but also helped fool them a bit, because of their color and shape. (Yeah, we’re evil like that.)

By the time 8:30 arrived, the kids were pacing at the basement door, waiting for me to start the hunt. My eleven year old tried to pretend he wasn’t that excited, that it was just some flashlight egg hunt, but I knew better! He was pushing to be in front, so I knew he was excited. Some eggs glowed stronger than others, which was perfect–it added a degree of difficulty for the eleven year old to keep it interesting. The hunt was over in only ten minutes, but the dancing and giggling lasted a lot longer. I’ve been told that this is a MUST DO for coming years. Success!!!