Easter Egg Hunt

This holiday game combines fantasy with fitness. It is easy and fun to play. To add to the fantasy, the players can pretend they are Easter Rabbits, children on the White House lawn, etc. There are more holiday games in my book, including an Easter soccer game: Fun, Fitness, and Skills - The Powerful Original Games Approach. Powerful Original Games

Equipment: 24 plastic Easter eggs in four different colors; 24 small traffic cones to hide the eggs; 24 index cards with exercises written on them. One piece of paper and pencil for each team.

The game:

• Place an index card with a written exercise and the number of repetitions under each cone. Place a colored Easter egg on top of the index card. If you have the kind of cones with an opening in the top, stuff some paper or place a tennis ball into the opening so that the students cannot look through the hole. Make sure the students know that they must replace the hole covering if it falls off or out.
• There should be a total of 6 different exercises. For example if one of the exercises is 10 jumping jacks, each color egg should have a card that reads 10 jumping jacks.
• Place the traffic cones with the index cards and eggs throughout the play area. Spread them out as much as possible.
• Divide the class into four or more teams. Each team will be looking for a specific colored Easter egg. If you have more than four teams, some teams can look for the same color. Line the teams up outside the play area either in a straight line next to each other, in the corners of the play area, or in a circular formation around the middle. Make sure there is a designated place for each team to do their exercises.
• On the 'go" signal, one player from each team runs out and lifts up a traffic cone making sure the hole covering remains intact. If the cone contains an egg that matches the color the team is seeking, s/he places the cone on its side, brings the egg and exercise back to the team. The team performs the exercise with the correct number of repetitions, writes the name of the exercise and the number of repetitions on their piece of paper, and that same person who retrieved the egg and exercise card returns it to the cone and stands the cone back up. S/he then runs back and tags the next player on line. That player runs out to look for another exercise.
• If a player turns over a cone with an Easter egg that does not match the team's color, s/he covers the egg back up with the cone, returns to his/her team and the next player goes out to find an exercise.
• Players must find and do all six exercises in the given amount of time.
• If a team completes all six exercises in the time allowed, for example ten minutes, that team may start over again and try for more exercises. Alternately, you can declare the first team to complete all six exercises the winner. However, I like the first choice because all the teams continue playing for the time limit and then try to do more exercises in the next round.
• Play additional rounds. See if the teams can do more exercises in the next round.

Variations:

1. Tell the students they are bunnies and must hop or jump to the cones.
2. Each index card contains a math example. The players must solve the example to be able to do the correct number of repetitions. The example depends on the age and ability of the class.
3. Vary the kinds of exercises under the traffic cones.
4. Instead of exercises, write different tasks or activities under each card. For example, "bounce pass a basketball around your group 2X."
5. Use equipment. For example, have the students dribble a ball while searching for an egg.