[LM_NET] Easter Egg HIT

[Elizabeth Kyser <kyserfamily@GMAIL.COM>]

Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for all the WONDERFUL responses I received about my library Easter
egg hunt.  There were many requests for a HIT, so here goes!  I hope I
included everyone's ideas.  I tried to put spaces in between the responses
so you could tell one idea from another.

THANK YOU AGAIN!
*************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Could you divide them into teams?  Then you'd only have a few students going
out at once.  If the teams were limited to no more than 4 or 5 students,
they wouldn't have to wait long for their turn.  Also, if a team member gets
stuck, the next person in line could go to assist.

Divide them into teams.  Each member of the team gets an egg and do it relay
style.  When one team member comes back with an answer to their egg question
then the next goes.  You could even have the winning team get a prize, like
an Easter bookmark. Have your assistant do one team and you do the other.
It also keeps the other students involved because it is a competition.  If
you have a lower student pair them with a higher student so it is more fair.

Our Easter Egg game has always gone over well.  tGet a basket full of
plastic eggs and fill them with strips of paper with the following.  Type a
list of each Dewey catagory and on a separate piece its number.  It is also
fun to throw in specials like 398.2 and a separate piece for fairy
tales....  The possiblities are endless.  We used to give candy, but with
the new wellness policy give out carrot sticks and the kids love it.....
Last year I kept buying a nd buying bags of carrots....  Students draw and
egg and give the answer.... correct and carrot... they listen well because
each question and answer are in there twice.... once for question and one
for answer.....  Am I rambling or do you understand???????????????


Hi,
You could set this up as a relay race.  Have two or three teams and as each
brings the answer back, the next would get their egg and go.
Good evening:
      OK--I don't know if this is something you have the time to do
or not, but I thought I would throw it out.
      What i have done in the past for Valentine's Day (and also with
3 little kittens where they have to find the lost mittens) is make 2
copies of each heart with the title, author and call number for the
book. The first copy is hidden within the book and the 2nd is given to
the child and they have to find the book and get the copy out of it.
The person who accumulates the most "hearts" wins. I have also done
this with groups and they have a relay race going in that there is a
kid from each group off searching and once they return the heart to
me, the next person on the team gets a heart to find. They get points
off for their team (or individually) for any books that are just
dumped on the table or floor and if I have enough people, they even
follow the kids around to make sure that the sticks are used and books
are put back in the right place or points are taken off.  It is total
chaos -- but the kids love it and it does get them moving around the
library and they might find something that they never saw before....
         You could probably do something similar with an egg design....



Here's what i do:
First: color a bunch of different eggs with distinctive colors, patterns and
simple pictures.  Cut them apart, and tape them to shelves throughout the
library.
Next, print several small (quarter page) worksheets with about 8 different
call numbers on each sheet.  Each call number should have a space below for
drawing.  Be sure that each call number you use is located on a shelf with a
decorated egg taped to it.
Finally, distribute the worksheets to kids.  Explain that all the sheets are
different, and that they must find the "right" eggs to successfully finish
the egg hunt.  Kids then attempt to locate the shelf that cooresponds with
the call number(s) on their sheet, and copy the picture of the egg they find
taped on it.
You, of course, will have a key, with the answers to all the various
versions of the worksheet. (I make 4-6 different forms)
If kids bring you the successfully completed sheet (I usually have them work
in pairs),  They get a small candy egg.
I hope these instructions are clear.  It takes a little time to set up, but
with some modification, you can use the same set up fpr almost all the
grades, just by varying the worksheets.  For example, 3rd graders just do
Fiction call numbers.  4th & 5th graders do fiction and nonfiction, as well
as more obscure call numbers like audio visual, reference , or biography.
The kids LOVE this game, and are always very excited.  Sometimes I do it for
Christmas, and use Christmas ornaments to copy,
Good luck!

What is you divided the class into teams and have one member from each team
go at a time - sort of like a relay race. When one gets back with a correct
find, the next member of the team can go search.
I'd like to know any ideas that you get - sounds like a fun activity.

 have tables in my library, so I would consider having one child from each
table search for the egg.  That way you are only watching (in my case 6 kids
at a time).  After they share the answer with you, they could go hide the
eggs for others to find.  So they don't use the same eggs again and again,
each table could be given an color order to find the eggs.  For example,
table one could have green, purple, yellow, red, etc.  then table two could
start with purple, yellow, etc.
Would that help you?


-- make it a relay.  one child from each table is up.  When you issue the
next egg, they have to pass it off to a team member.

What about a relay race?  That way you could have only three of four kids
running around at one time, but their whole team has to each answer one of
your "Egg-cellent Questions".  You could say that the whole team can help
with the answer, but only one member of the team can be the searcher at a
time.  Then, you could have three or four teams that had six kids each.
And, I wouldn't give each team the same clue at the same time, or they'd all
be running to the same location.


Elizabeth,
we do many of these types of things, but we put the kids in teams, and have
one searching, while the other checks.  For instance, we will have a cut out
shape, like an easter egg, cut in two with the call number & title of a book
on both sides.  One student must find the book, and put his half in the
book, then the second student must go and retrieve the matching half.  That
way, I only need to check them when both have done their thing.  This idea
may help.  Good luck,

Put a basket of eggs on a table and have the students work in teams.  One
could go and if they can't complete the task they could take their egg back
to the table for help from their team.  When they are finished with one task
the next student takes an egg and completes the task.  If you didn't want
one person from each team coming to you with an answer then you could have
them write out their answers on paper the team with all the answers first
wins.

Nice idea! I put my kids in pairs, but I have a larger library. I give them
subjects or authors to find matching books. You could mix the questions up
and include some that would send them to the encyclopedia or almanac. Some
that would require finding an answer rather than bringing you a book, ie.
list three thing in the picture on page 26 of  (insert title). I also have
my students put their shoe in the hole left by the book on the bookshelf, it
makes getting things back where they belong easier and they enjoy the time
in their socks during library class.


I have put a basket full of Easter eggs on each of my six tables ---in each
of the eggs is a clue to a particular book/author.  Each table must figure
out the title of the book --- they write it down and then we swap baskets
from table to table.  After we have passed all six baskets ---we talk about
the clues and the answers.  The team with the most correct wins a small
prize - a piece of candy or bookmark, etc.    I would appreciate it if you
would post a hit if you receive a lot of ideas.  Thanks!


Do you have a lot of eggs available?  If so take your idea and make it into
a bingo type game.  Have a large basket with "filled" eggs.  Students can
come up one at a time and take an egg and open it.  They will see if they
have the answer on their game board.  Have empty baskets on their tables,
they put their papers back in their eggs, seal them and put them in the
basket on their table and then can come up and get another egg.  You can
name a winner when someone calls out BUNNY!!


You could divide the 25 into 2 teams and make it a relay.  You and the
assistant could then accept answers and thereby control the mayhem fairly.


Elizabeth,

Here's a similar thing I did with pumpkins that you could use with the
eggs.  Instead of giving the students eggs, give them an index card with
title & spine # of a book.  Ahead of time, hide the eggs in the books.  (I
told students to find the title page of the book on the card.)  Students
then follow directions, locate the book(s), and gather Easter eggs.  To take
it a step further, when students have several eggs, they could arrange them
in Dewey order - even draw a basket, put them in it, etc.

Good luck!

What a neat idea...here's my suggestion: Why not have them do it in groups?
Put the clues in the eggs not the prizes. Divide each class into three or
four groups depending on the size of the class. In each group have some who
have a good grasp  of Dewey and some who don't. Each group will let one
person pick an egg and go look for the clue and bring it back to the group.
The group will decide if it is right or wrong.  Then that person will come
to you for confirmation at which time you can give the group  points. Then
another person of the group goes looking, and so on.   At the end of the
exercise the group with the most points gets to choose prizes first, then
the second and so on.  They will all have had a chance to find a book.  You
will only have three or four people moving at a time and have to answer only
three or four at a time. Since the prizes will be approximately the same,
and each group will have a cross section of students,  all should be happy.


 don't know what you would think of this, but here's an idea or two:
1) You could divide the kids up into small groups and have identical/very
similar baskets/eggs.  The groups could locate the materials and have one
child responsible for reporting while the other 4 (or so) are hunting for
the next egg clue.  The reporter would have to switch among the kids so
everyone is assured to participate at least in reporting.
2) You could do it like a relay:  Divide kids into small groups (of 5?) with
equal eggs in each of 5 (?) baskets.  Groups sit together with basket in
front of them.  First kid in each group gets egg, locates material, races
back to give you the answer (you'd have 3 groups; assist has 2), next kid in
group gets egg and hunts.  They can't get the next egg until the reporter is
either reporting or finishes---your choice.   Process repeats.  Winning
group is the first group who answers all of their questions.  Or alternate
winner:  First group to answer the most questions correctly--this would
assure that all groups finish most of their questions before the final
winner is announced.
I hope these ideas generate more ideas for you.  Personally, I like the 2nd
idea as each kid has to participate to find at least their 1 egg and you'd
only have 5-6 (or so) kids running loose at a time.  The group could give
some directions from their seats without getting up if you want to allow
that kind of group support.
Good luck with your project.  I hope I've helped some.

Hi,

What about splitting the kids into teams? That way you only have a couple
kids running around at one time and only a couple of questions to answer at
the same time.

Just my $.02

Hi there -

I'm just thinking off the top of my head here but how about if you tie this
idea into an Almanac lesson? Have the kids find answers to questions using
the almanac - do you have a class set (or can you borrow enough?). I'd have
a worksheet of questions - divide them into teams - maybe different sets of
questions for each team - and the team with the most correct answers after a
given period of time wins a candy bar or something.

Some of the questions could be from books other than the alamanc - even an
internet question or two.


Have the kids stand at the spot where the book is in the shelves and you go
to them to see if it is correct and then they can get another egg if it is
correct.  You could also have them on teams with different colored eggs for
each team.  Like pastel for one and primary for the other.

Hi,
When I do scavenger hunts with some of my larger classes I break them
into teams.  I have 5 tables that can seat up to six kids each.  I give
one person at each table a task/clue and send that person on their way.
When they have found and verified their book the person to their
left/right (what ever I decided that day) goes next and so on.  I
generally advise that the teams have XX minutes to have everyone
complete their tasks and this tends to keep things moving.  If someone
can't complete their task they can pass to the next person.  The table
is then short a task so once everyone else has had a turn the person who
passed needs to try another task.
I have the kids who are at the tables working on something else.
Sometimes something fun like a word search or crossword.  Sometimes I
have themes to the books I have the students find so the job of the
people at the table is to figure out what all of the books have in
common.
Good Luck.


I do something similar in the fall. I don't even try to have them answer
their questions in person.  I just number the questions and as they draw a
call number/question they write down the number and the answer (title,
author ect).  Then, I can look over them after class.  In addition, we do a
bit of a manners lesson at the beginning...If another group (I do this in
groups) is in the area you need to be in you must wait your turn, say excuse
me, ect.  I am then free to help kids find books that they may have
difficulty finding or to circulate and make sure everyone is following the
library manners.  Good luck...it sounds like fun!


This is what I've done in the past in both the elementary classroom and as a
librarian.  (I never used eggs.  Just put slips of paper in the
books/objects, but I can see eggs working, too.)
1) Put kids in small groups.  Only one kid up from each group at a time
(unless you want to allow two so there will be a helper).
2) Have clues to different books/objects hidden in different parts of the
room.
3) When find the answer, they also find the next clue, which they pass on to
the next member of their group.
4) After correctly answering 5 questions, the last question leads to hidden
candy (or you can have the last question lead to a paper --or egg-- they can
use to collect candy from you.
Example:  Pass out the first clue to one kid in each group.  Find a book on
Folktales.  Behind the folktale books would be an egg, inside is the next
clue they can take back to the group.  (To save yourself time, you could
have them read and memorize the clue, or write it down, and then put
egg/clue back where they found it.)  It's also a good idea to color code.
All the clues for one group would be printed one ONE color of paper --or one
egg color-- so they know they are on the right track, and this limits the
cheaters, too, who just want to grab any clue they come across.


You could make some of the questions require the student to sit down and do
something.  Write questions that require them to look something up in an
encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, almanac or thesaurus...or use the OPAC to
figure something out...or go to a specific website to find information.
That way they aren't all moving around at the same time.
I have done something similar before and had a different color or pattern of
egg for each student.  That way they all get the same number and a variety
of questions.  This is really good if you need to differentiate the
questions by ability level...make all the primary colored eggs more
difficult, all the spotted ones average and the pastels easy.  The kids
won't notice and they will all be successful.

Hello,
   I did an egg/subject hunt with encyclopedias last year.  I have 4 sets of
encyclopedias.  I have 4 tables.  Each table gets an easter basket with
eggs.  On "GO" the kids open their eggs, send a designated encyclopedia
grabber to get the correct book...they then look up their subject (inside
the egg).  The first table to finish finding all their subjects wins!  I
make sure that every kid has a chance to open an egg..the kids use the
subject strips to mark their spots in the books so they can prove it to me
later.  If we play again, the kids put the strips back into the eggs and I
just switch baskets counter clockwise...so they get a new set of subjects.
If time allows we can play 4 times!


Hi, Elizabeth!!!

Why not set up centers???  Divide the class into 3 or 4 groups (or more,
depending on the size of your groups, age of your kids, etc).  Students
perform a library-related task at each center. After a set amount of time,
have the kids rotate to the next center.  Repeat this until all students
have rotated through all centers. The amount of time at each rotation would
depend on 1)How long your class is & 2)What type of activities you provide
at each center; for your sanity, each center activity should require the
same amount of time to complete.

You'll really have to be on your game for this.  Take the last 1 min of each
rotation to reset the center for the next group. Set clear expectations for
behavior & rules during the centers.  Get a reliable timer; students need to
know that they only rotate when you give the command. Have an instruction
card at each center so that students can get started on their activity, even
if you are not there to give oral instructions.

Some center suggestions, in addition to your Easter Egg idea:
        Have them read and/or illustrate spring/Easter related poetry
        If you have access/capability, have one station do an internet
activity
        Print bookmarks, and let them color/decorate bookmarks
        If Dewey is your main focus, set up station activities to illustrate
the dewey categories.
        If you have the equipment, use a listening center set up (one tape
recorder/multiple headsets) to listen to an (exerpt from?) audiobook

I do this with my 6th graders at the beginning of each year.  They are new
to our building and therefore, new to our library.  I set up stations all
over the library and rotate the groups through each station. At each
station, they learn about that part of the library.  They enjoy the
activity; the movement keeps them involved, and at the end, they know LOTS
about our library.





Elizabeth Kyser
Librarian
Providence Elementary School
Chesterfield County, Virginia
kyserfamily@gmail.com

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