Grammy on the Go
Spring is here… get ready for an egg hunt!
Many communities and churches usually sponsor egg hunts, but this year, things are definitely different with COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, look for updated egg hunt information in local news and on community websites. The grandkids love to run and hunt to find as many eggs as possible.
If not canceled, but maybe only postponed to a later date and you decide to take your grandchildren to an egg hunt, make sure that they are dressed appropriately for the weather, which can be so unpredictable in the springtime. Most venues will run their egg hunts, no matter what the weather happens to be, and some will decide to move the hunt indoors. Again, always check your city’s website for up-to-date event information. Past egg hunts for us have included wearing boots, hats and mittens.
Also, make sure your grandchild has brought a basket or bag to collect their eggs. If a small child, have a size-appropriate basket, or the eggs will fall out as soon as they stoop to pick up additional eggs! (This happens a lot at egg hunts, and the children get very upset!) Our children have preferred to take a small plastic bucket for their eggs, since the bucket’s steep sides hold the eggs in well.
If communities are still under shutdown, you can have an egg hunt in your own house or yard! Plastic eggs can be filled with candy, such as small chocolates or jelly beans. Candy alternatives can include stickers, small toys, or money. I have placed star stickers in a few of the eggs to indicate that the finders would receive a larger-than-egg-sized prize at the hunt’s completion.
When all the eggs have been found, you can then count each individual’s eggs and give a prize to the child with the greatest number of eggs. To increase the number of winners, you can award a prize to the child who collects the most of one specific color of egg. For smaller children, leave eggs out in the open where they can easily be seen and gathered. As they get older, you can hide the eggs in increasingly difficult places for a more challenging hunt.
But what if your grandchildren are widely spread in ages, such as 3- and 12-year-olds? To include both ages in the same hunt, and to ensure plenty of eggs and fun for all, use two different colors for eggs. For example, lay yellow eggs out so the young ones can easily find the eggs, and hide blue eggs, hidden in harder to find areas, for the older ones. Of course, you could also hold separate egg hunts for each of the age groups. You can allow the older children to set out the eggs for the younger ones. Even our 4-year-olds think it is fun to “hide” the eggs for their 2-year-old sisters.
Egg hunts are fun, even though they may take a bit of prep time and seem to be over within a few minutes. However, more than eggs are collected… good memories are, too!
