7 Steps to a Successful Test Prep Egg Hunt

Test prep is on the horizon and teachers everywhere are scurrying to get students ready.  Many are just coming back into the classroom, so let me show you how to make test prep fun this year! Let me show you 7 steps to a successful test prep egg hunt!

Growing up, I loved going to church every Spring to attend an egg hunt!  Plastic Easter eggs filled with candy and coins will forever be a favorite!  My own children experienced a good old fashion egg hunt every year until last year!

Since plastic eggs are filling up the store’s shelves this month, why not host a classroom Easter egg hunt with test questions filled inside.  We did this for several years and my second graders loved it!  It was definitely more fun than your normal 2nd-grade test prep worksheets.

 7 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL EGG HUNT:

1. Type up test questions in a document so you can cut them out.  We would also copy past assessments used in the class, as well as test prep study guides.
2. Ask parents to send in a dozen plastic eggs filled with individually wrapped candy.
3. During planning, cut out test questions from your normal 2nd-grade practice tests; empty the candy from the stuffed eggs and refill with a test question.
4. Go to a playground or field area and spread out all of the eggs.  Remember to mark the boundaries; we used traffic cones.  We also counted the eggs and the number of students to determine how many eggs each student could find.
5. Teachers line their chairs up so the students can bring eggs with test questions to their teacher.  They would form a line in front of the teacher when they were ready to answer questions.
6. The teacher opens the egg, asks the question and if they get the answer right they get to pick a piece of candy out of a large candy bucket.
7. Save a few pieces of candy for CLEAN UP!  We would have the students pick up all of our trash (test questions and candy wrappers) from the playground and reward with more candy!!

Egg Hunt Helpers

This is not a quick activity.  We would find Parapros, Administrators, Counselors, Media Specialist… anyone that could help to participate in this event!  Admin. loved the concept and would always send someone to help us out!

Mini-Lessons With Their Peers

So what if they keep getting the wrong answers?  We would do a mini-lesson right there and include other students standing around to listen.  We would also have another student explain the answer to the student.  The children typically ask friends before getting into line for help with the answers. That can be good and bad, but the way we see it, they are memorizing the answers.

Fun TEST PREP Ideas

After weeks of test prep, the egg hunt was a great way to have a little fun and incorporate review!  There are many ways to have fun.  Here are a few TEST PREP IDEAS:

1. 1. 1. 1. Kahoot: There is probably one already made with your standards included!
         2. Have students quiz each other in pairs with task cards, flashcards, or other test prep questions.
         3. Interactive Notebooks are a great way to host peer reviews.  They use their notebooks to ask the other questions.
         4. Review Jeopardy
         5. Trashcan Basketball
         6. Around the World

Testing can be stressful!  Remember to love on those students!!!  Remind them that testing is their chance to show off all they learned this year!!!

Finishing Strong

I have a great Fraction Craftivity that would be perfect for Spring and something fun to do in between all of the test prep!  The kites are super cute to hang around the room and the kids especially love the Instagram activity!!!

I also have a post on how to teach math constructed responses!  Check it out!

If you would like a great SPRING Freebie,  Click below for the Life Cycle of A Butterfly Text Features Page!