Easter Egg Hunting
We weren’t Easter Egg Hunt-ers at my house. In our family we got Easter candy, and went to Easter services (often in a new Easter dress) but the hunt eluded me until I became a grown-up. Now each year I help organize a massive hunt for 12 of the little cousins and it’s one of my favorite parts of the whole celebration.
The past few years the hunting cousins have ranged in age from just a few months old to well into their teens. We keep asking the older ones if they still want to hunt, expecting that some time soon they’ll decide that it’s for kids. But no one has sat out the hunt yet. Our basic rule is that you have to be able to walk to be able to hunt. Once you’ve mastered that skill, you’re in.
With the huge range in ages we had to come up with a system to make sure that all the kids get a fair shot at the eggs. Our best trick so far has been a sticker system. Before the hunt we divide the eggs evenly and put matching stickers on each child’s share of the bounty. Then on the day of the hunt each child is given one of their own stickers so they know what to hunt for. The kids know that if they find an egg that doesn’t have their sticker on it, they have to put it back.
The stickers mean that we can hide the eggs age-appropriately. The eggs for the 1 & 2 year olds are left in a big pile a few steps from the back door – just far enough for the Moms to get their photo op — while the teens have to really hunt for theirs. At the end of the day, everyone has the same number of eggs and there are very rarely tears. Maybe next year the grown-ups will get in on the hunt too.
Do you have a favorite Easter tradition? How do you celebrate Easter?
