An Easter egg hunt made from your own garden

What is in this Easter printable set?

An egg hunt is the highlight of Easter morning for many families. Ready-made clue cards rarely match your own garden, so this maker uses your clues and your hiding spots. You also get a map grid to plan the hunt, name tags for the baskets and a game of bingo for later in the day.

It is free, works in your browser and needs no account. Choose A4 or US Letter, then print or save as a PDF.

• Egg hunt clue cards: six to a page, numbered, with a hiding key.
• An egg hunt map: a lettered grid to draw your garden or home, with a key for each hiding spot.
• Easter basket name tags: eight to a page, with a basket and each name.
• Easter bingo: two cards to a page, each one different, with a caller sheet.

When is Easter 2027?

Easter Sunday 2027 is 28 March for Western churches, according to the Farmers' Almanac, which makes Good Friday 26 March. The Farmers' Almanac gives Orthodox Easter as Sunday 2 May 2027.

Western Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March, so the date moves each year, between late March and late April.

How does the egg hunt work?

Write one clue per line and one hiding spot per line, in the same order. Clue 1 is handed to the hunters and points to the first spot, where clue 2 is hidden. Each clue leads to the next spot, and the last one leads to the Easter basket. The hiding key lists where every card goes, with a box to tick as you hide it.

The sample clues are for a garden with a bench, a flower pot, a big tree, a watering can and a gate. Change them to suit your space. Indoors works just as well: under a cushion, inside the bread bin, behind the curtains.

1. Choose up to 12 hiding spots and type them in order.
2. Write a clue for each one, in the same order.
3. Print the clue cards and the hiding key.
4. Hide each card with a small egg, ticking the key as you go.
5. Hand clue 1 to the hunters.

Using the egg hunt map grid

The map page has a grid lettered A to J across and numbered 1 to 12 down. Sketch your garden or home on it: the house, paths, trees and beds. Then mark each hiding spot with its number and write its grid square in the key below, such as C4.

The map helps you remember where every egg went, which matters more than you might think once chocolate starts to melt. Older children can use it as a treasure map instead of the clue cards, finding each spot from its grid square.

Making the hunt fair for different ages

When toddlers and older children hunt together, the older ones often find everything first. A few easy rules keep it fair. Give each child a colour and hide eggs in that colour only for them, or hide the younger children's eggs at their eye level and the older children's eggs higher up or deeper in the garden.

You can also run two trails: a short picture hunt for little ones and the full clue trail for older children. Count how many eggs you hide and write the number on the hiding key, so you know when the hunt is really over.

Easter basket name tags and bingo

Add the hunters' names, one per line, and each gets a tag that says "This Easter basket belongs to" with the name underneath. There are eight tags to a page. Punch a hole and tie them to the handles, so there is no arguing over whose basket is whose.

The bingo cards use a built-in list of Easter and spring words, such as bunny, chick, tulip, daffodil and hot cross bun. Add 24 or more words of your own for full cards (fewer than eight uses the built-in list). Choose 4 to 30 cards, each a different arrangement, and use the caller sheet to call the words.

It is a calm game for after lunch, and works for a mix of ages if younger children play with a grown-up.

Printing tips and privacy

Clue cards last longer on card stock, especially outdoors. The ink saver option gives lighter grey pages.

Clues, spots and names stay in the link after the # in your browser and are never sent to a server. Save the link and next year's hunt is ready to tweak.