Easter egg hunt- for autistic children

I created this printable years ago when I realised that one of my nieces and nephews is autistic just like me. They had lots of fun with it, I hope you will too.

It's a simple game, just like a scavenger hunt with clues. The difference here is that the clues are not written, they are in pictures (PECS). And no, I've not used the ugly potato head PECS.

Why is this such a great game for autistic kids?

When you search “how to create an autism-friendly easter hunt, " many blogs suggest that you should make it sensory-friendly, or give your kid time to train easter egg hunting first. Nothing wrong with that, it's all good advice. But what they forget is that us autistics can have a hard time keeping a lot of information in our heads. Hunting eggs is all fun, but playing with a bunch of kids that are much faster than you…nahh that's awful. 

One way to make it easier for us is to make it predictable, and easily understandable, and allow us to take the time needed.

PECS are created just for this reason and I'm surprised that so few parents use them. It's an excellent tool to use.

To play the game

Simply place the clues in the order you want them to be where the treasure is in the end. That the treasure is in the end is also an important part of the game. We get easily overwhelmed, and we often hate surprises and presents. So just place the easter eggs with the different fillings in the end, believe me, it will be so much more bearable for your kid.

E.g. if you have hidden the treasure under the couch and your order is Kitchen- teddybear- couch. 

1 You give the first clue to your kid, the kitchen. 

2 Then in the kitchen, you've hidden the picture of the teddy bear. 

3 Then on the teddy bear, you've hidden the picture of the couch.

The easiest way, I've found, is to place the clues backwards. That way you don't have to memorise where the treasure is. You can also combine the clues to make it harder.

Hope you have a great time playing it.

//Adina

Resources

The images for the clues are downloaded from Flaticon. As it where so many years since I made this printable, I do not have the names of all the designers. But you can find them here. https://www.flaticon.com/all