Teaching in April is HARD. Here’s how I incorporate a Classroom Easter Egg Hunt into my standardized testing review for the year. I use this activity in my classroom to keep students engaged while keeping the rigor high!
You’ll need some Easter eggs. (shocker, I know) I grabbed a bag of 48 at my local Wal-Mart, but you can get them at the dollar store, Amazon, really anywhere in the Spring! You can find them after Easter even cheaper, to use the next year!
Next, decide what subject area you’ll be reviewing. I like to do this activity for math because it is easy to quickly tell if the students’ answers are correct. You could honestly do it for any subject though, or for all subjects over a few days! I have an editable template here.
I use 40 questions for my math review. My premade math Easter egg hunts for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade cover all common core math standards, so it’s the perfect cumulative review for our state testing! I like to do 40 questions so that I can spread it out over a few days if needed, and students can take their time to work through all of the standards. If you’re crunched for time, you could certainly make this a quick review activity with 10-20 questions. This would also be perfect for just reviewing one unit or concept. I make an answer key as I’m making the questions so that I can check the students’ answers quickly. These Easter Egg Hunts have answer keys already included!
I print my numbered questions on small slips of cardstock (just small enough to fit into the eggs). Using cardstock instead of regular paper makes them just a little more sturdy since 20-something kids will be folding and unfolding each slip.
Next, I number my eggs. This is SUCH an important step. I do this so that when the students are searching for the eggs, they can easily tell if they’ve answered that one yet, just by looking at the outside of the egg. This REALLY speeds things up. Just make sure the number on the outside of the egg matches the number of the question on the inside!
Once the eggs are stuffed with the questions and numbered, I like to create an answer sheet for my students. Honestly, you could just have them number a piece of notebook paper and use that for an answer sheet, I just think an answer sheet helps them to keep their answers organized, and helps me grade faster! The questions I use have an answer sheet that matches the answer key.
The last thing to do is just to hide the eggs around your room! You could also do it outside if you have the space. During the activity, I have my students come to me after each time they solve 2 questions. I like to check their answers as they go so that they can go back and fix their mistakes. For my classroom, this is much more beneficial for a review and although it takes longer, it is SO worth it!
If you are focusing your questions on just one unit, you could totally take this activity for a grade. There are so many different ways to use an Easter Egg Hunt in the classroom! You could also make it a competition, to see how many answers they can get correct in a certain amount of time – there are soo many possibilities! Check out my premade math Easter egg hunts here.
Happy Teaching!