Easter Bunny Treasure Hunt with QR Codes

Here is a fun Easter Bunny Treasure Hunt with QR Codes. This treasure hunt is outside and culminates in a hidden treat in the trunk of a car.

Here are the places you will hide your QR Codes:

#1 Put this QR Code in a plastic egg and give it to your child.

#2 Hide this QR Code in a plastic egg up in a tree.

#3 Hide this QR Code in a plastic egg in a flower bed.

#4 Hide this QR Code in a plastic egg in a garden area.

#5 Hide this QR Code in a plastic egg near your front door.

#6 Hide this QR Code in a plastic egg near your back door.

#7 Hide this QR Code in a plastic egg in the mailbox.

#8 Hide this QR Code in the trunk of the car with a treat or with your child's Easter Basket.

You can use your child's Easter Basket as the prize at the end of the treasure hunt or you can include another fun Easter treat such as a chocolate bunny or Cadbury Eggs (my favorite!)

All you need is to print out the QR Codes and make sure that your phone or tablet has a QR Code reader. You can download one if you don't have one already. I like QrafterPro but there are lots of great QR Code readers out there.

Find the QR Codes here.

Find the Treasure Hunt pictures here if you want to do this same treasure hunt without QR Codes.


Easter Bunny QR Code Treasure Hunt


Easter Bunny Pictures

Have fun impressing your kids with your techno-savy parenting style!
Happy Easter you Modern Mom you!

Thanks to Sweet Clip Art for the cute Easter images. 

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Spring Break Staycation with QR Codes

We have three different Spring Breaks around our house with different colleges, high schools and elementary school schedules. So going away for Spring Break isn't really possible this year. But I still want to do something to make the time off fun for my kids. Thus the Spring Break Staycation was born!

I have created 6 different theme day ideas.
We have:

Wizard Day

Pirate Day

Knight Day

Super Hero Day

Drama Day

And Pajama Party Day

You can choose to do all six days for your stay-cation or just a day or two to enliven your week. The idea is simple. On the morning of your special day, just put the QR code in an envelope or wrap it up in a fancy box. Let your kids open it and scan the QR Code with your smart phone or tablet. That's it!

I am serious! When the kids scan the day's QR Code, the fun picture will appear announcing the theme of the day. Then after they scroll down they will see a list of possible activities they can participate in that day. They can pick and choose the activities that they want to do or create some of their own and the fun begins! I wouldn't get anything ready ahead of time. This isn't some massive six-day birthday party that Mom has to put on for the kids!

Here is a list for the Wizard Day:
Make Magic Wands
Mix Magical Potions
Learn some Magic Tricks
Perform in a Magic Show
Create some original magic spells
Watch a movie about Wizards
Try some Trick Photography and make someone disappear
Make a fairy house outside with objects from Nature
Read a magical book
Write with magical disappearing ink
Make a wish on a magic star

Each list contains 10 to 15 possible activity ideas. The list is just a jump-start and some inspiration for having fun together. Don't shop ahead of time for any special foods or supplies. Taking the kids shopping to find the perfect foods for Pajama Party Day (in their pajamas, of course) is half the fun. Let the kids own it. Let them figure it out. Let them take it away. Trust me. That is half the fun.

If you don't have all the supplies needed, that is okay. Let them improvise. You will be amazed at what they come up with on their own. Good luck creating a memorable stay-cation at home this year. You may have so much fun that it becomes a tradition every year. Enjoy!

Staycation QR Codes for all six theme days

Theme Day Pictures
(Use these if you don't have a QR Code reader and want to put the pictures in envelopes.)

Here are the lists of Activities for each day if you want to go directly there without the QR Codes:

Wizard Day

Knight Day

Pirate Day

Drama Day

Pajama Party Day

Super Hero Day

*Thanks to Phillip Martin for the cute free clip art used in this post. Pin It

Toddler Activities: Earth Day Photos

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

This Earth Day Photo Shoot was inspired by the sign held by Martin Richard, the 8-year-old victim of the Boston Marathon bombings. I was so touched by his call for peace. There is something so powerful about an innocent messenger of truth. A child's simple words can resonate far beyond an adult's eloquent speeches. Their words are so simple and so true.

I had planned our outdoor photo shoot with Anniston today. Unfortunately the weather in Utah didn't cooperate. It was so windy and cold. It was all Anniston could do to hold the signs and stand there shivering. She was such a good sport and reminded me how much I love her.

I had hoped the message of these signs would remind us as parents to be more patient with our precious children. We do need to nurture and care for the earth. But we also need to nurture and care for our little ones. Earth Day can be a reminder to slow down, think before we act, consider our valuable resources, and use them more wisely. This is also good advice as we raise our children. 

   

If you want to add some sweet signs to a spring photo shoot you can find all the signs I created here. 

(Note: I should have zoomed in with the camera to get a close-up of Anniston so we could read her signs. But I wasn't about to make her go back outside again!) 

I think it would be even more meaningful to have your child write a message to the world of his or her own. Happy Earth Day. May peace be given to the family of sweet, innocent Martin and all those who suffer around this world. 

Earth Day Signs

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Bonus Post: Easter Chicks

By Deborah Pace Rowley

I know that I have said that I don't like coloring Easter Eggs but when I was shopping at Walmart yesterday I found this kit for $1.99 and I couldn't resist.

Funnest Egg Decorating Project EVER!  And well worth $2.00. I thought our chicks turned out so cute.

Quiz: Can you tell which chick was created by my teenage son?

Yes, you guessed correctly! This is Sam.

Of course, Katie named each chick and gave them a personality.

Above are Joy and Tom. Not pictured are: Sam, Olivia, Charlotte, and Ricki. She was so proud that she had to show everyone in our house what we had done.

Happy Easter everyone!! Love, Olivia.



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Preschool Activities: Classic Easter Crafts

By Deborah Pace Rowley

I have been spending my spring break cleaning out our attic! It has been fun to discover some long-forgotten treasures from the past, including some classic Easter Crafts. Like this Rainbow Rabbit:

Or this bunny with a cute tissue paper egg.

I especially fell in love with this reversible bunny that doubles as a chick when you flip it over. How cool is that?

Here is the pattern in case you want to make one of your own.

My daughters loved getting new dresses and bonnets for Easter and they loved decorating their homemade paper dolls in fancy Easter clothes too. I simply traced the outline of a girl on a piece of a paper and then set out glue and scraps of fabric, scrapbooking paper, ribbon, and lace as well as googly eyes, crayons, doll hair and whatever else I could find.

My daughters would spend hours gluing on ribbon and lace to get their dolls ready for the big day. I even traced a bunny shape on paper for my son to dress up and he really enjoyed this project as well. Have fun with these Easter crafts from the past! Pin It

Elementary Activities: Easter QR Code Treasure Hunt

By Deborah Pace Rowley

We had such a great response to our Leprechaun QR code treasure hunt for St. Patrick's Day that I knew that I needed to do one for Easter. This treasure hunt is based on my book The Easter Walk.

In the story, a grandfather takes two of his grandchildren on a treasure hunt for the real meaning of Easter. He gives them 6 clues of things they need to find in nature that relate to the Easter story.

Here is a beautiful illustration from the story where Grandpa asks them to find something made of wood. This is to represent the cross that Jesus carried. Tyler and Amy find a birdhouse made of wood to show Grandpa. The gorgeous illustrations were drawn by the talented artist Dan Burr. He has illustrated several of my books and I absolutely LOVE his work.

I have taken the idea in this picture book and adapted it to QR codes. Each of the six clue QR codes lead to a picture like the one below that tells your children what they should run and find.

I thought it would be fun to put the QR codes in eggs so that the kids would have to open each egg to retrieve the QR code.

Once they have scanned the QR code with a smart phone or tablet, they can run outside to retrieve the item. (*Note:  If you don't have a QR code reader on your smart phone, it is easy to download a free app that can read QR codes. I use Qrafter Pro but there are lots of good choices out there.) 

After they have found the item on the clue, the next QR code they would scan is the reward that goes with that clue. For Clue #1 the Reward QR code leads to this picture of the crown of thorns and a scripture that tells this part of the Easter story from the Bible. 

Here Anniston is holding the QR code for Clue #6.

It leads to this picture that tells her to find something alive. 

Then Reward Code #6 leads to this beautiful picture of the Resurrected Savior appearing to Mary Magdalene outside the open tomb. 

I hope that this treasure hunt will provide a unique way for you to tell the Easter Story to your children and share your faith in Jesus Christ. I have included all the QR codes below. 

Easter QR Code Treasure Hunt

The document below includes just the Treasure Hunt Clues without QR codes if you want to take an Easter Walk without a smart phone.

Easter Treasure Hunt Clues without QR Codes

Also, if you would like to order my book Easter Walk you can do that here.
Here's wishing you a meaningful, simple and peaceful Easter. Pin It