Easter Egg Hunts

An Easter egg hunt can be great fun for children as well as adults! In our neighborhood, several churches sponsor and plan Easter egg hunts each season, and all community members are invited. While your Easter egg hunt at home might not be on such a grand scale, you can plan your own hunt for your children. Or if you've an extended family close by, all of the cousins can get together at one house for one large Easter egg hunt.

Follow these guidelines for planning your next successful Easter egg hunt:

• Determine the number of participants. Several weeks in advance, send invitations to the hunt participants and require an RSVP. That way, you can determine an accurate count and dye enough Easter eggs so that each person may find several eggs.
• Dye enough eggs. Once you've determined how many hunters there will be, make enough eggs so that each person can have a chance at finding at least five eggs. So, if you've received ten confirmations, make sure that you have at least 50 eggs.
• Two days before the event, dye the eggs. If you're going to provide the baskets for the hunt, make sure you have one for each participant, with several to spare.
• The day before the hunt, hide the eggs. Have a helper—or several helpers—map out the area on paper and then hide the eggs. Make sure that you mark your map each time an egg is placed so that you will be able to find them if the participants don't.
• The day of the hunt, have all of the participants gathered in one place. Dole out the baskets, count down from three to one, and then yell, "Go!"

You can make your Easter egg hunt interesting by providing prizes for the participants who find the most eggs. You can also make "prize eggs" from plastic Easter eggs filled with toys, coins, candy, or other prizes. You could limit the amount of prize eggs to only a few, or one per participant. Be creative in how you conduct your Easter egg hunt. If your hunt includes adults only, the prize egg could hold movie tickets, coupons for a free dinner, or money. The possibilities are endless.