How to Throw an Egg Hunt

This tradition has been a huge hit in my neighborhood for years. I've simplified it to the point that I ALMOST just show up myself. :) Well, maybe that's a little exaggeration. But, I've made it pretty easy. Here's how I do it.
1. Pick a date. I always choose the day before Easter. Many people go to church on Easter Sunday or spend the day with family. You could also choose the week before.


2. Find a bunny. Shhhh...don't tell my kids, but Grandpa Mike volunteers every year. He shows up for coffee and doughnuts and with all the excitement, no one notices that he disappears for the egg hunt. Just to make sure, I ask him in front of some of the older kids if he'll run to the store for cream for the coffee. I invested in a bunny costume that hides all year long in an unmarked box in the garage. The costume can be a little pricey, but you can price hunt online and share it among friends or a local organization that might use it as well.

3. Send out your invitations. I use evite. I tend to misplace paper these days. I like online systems that I can check regularly. You can print it up for friends that might not have email, but you can't be my friend if you don't have email. Its my main way to communicate.

4. Get some friends to help out. I have a friend who runs out to pick up doughnut holes for our breakfast. My friends love to help. So, I ask someone to bring a couple cases of bottled water, someone to bring creamer, sugar packets and stir sticks, someone to bring napkins and little paper plates, some years I feel like having cut up fruit. You get the picture. I'm the organizer, I offer up my house, I don't feel obligated to do ALL the work.

5. Pick a craft. Okay. This part is the most work for me. And while I'm up all hours of the night one night getting it done, I'm a little grumpy. But, when we deliver them and the kids are so excited to get them, I forget all about the work involved. And when the egg hunt is going on and these adorable crafts surround my yard, it brings a smile to everyone's face.

6. Designate a set up crew. Don't do it yourself! Some moms on my street send the hubby's up to help set up tables and clear out my yard while they get the kids ready.

7. Show time. It runs a little something like this:
9:30-10:00 Guests arrive and we eat doughnuts.
10:15 Bunny waves from a balcony that overlooks our courtyard. The kids are giddy with excitement. We do the egg drop. Dads are around the back scattering eggs.
10:30 I go over a few guidelines with the kids, we walk around the corner, they see the eggs scattered, we line up around the grass. I let the youngest go first. Its over in about 5 mintes. :) All that work! Then, the kids sit around open their eggs and enjoy. I have a friend that I designate as a photographer and she takes pictures of all the families with the bunny.

It's one of my favorite days of the year!

Neighborhood Traditions

Breakfast with Bunny

Traditions are such a big part of growing up and many traditions we have belong to our families. But, neighborhood traditions are a great way to form life long friends for both kids and parents. We moved into our neighborhood as one of the original owners. The first year we were here, there was a community egg hunt and we decided to take our son, who was a year and a half old at the time. It was so incredibly crowded that when the finally counted down and sounded the signal to begin hunting for eggs, it was over in a matter seconds and our son never got a single egg. So, the next year, we started our own neighborhood tradition. We bought an Easter Bunny costume and my dad has been the good sport every year to wear it. We invited most of our neighborhood (as many as our yard could hold). We put out an Evite for an event we named Breakfast with Bunny. We served coffee, water, and doughnut holes which are an incredibly inexpensive way to feed a large group of people. I bought supplies for a craft that I deliver to the kids a couple days in advance to get them excited about the egg hunt and to have them help me decorate the yard. The craft is a foam egg with the letters for their name and some other foam stickers. They make it and drop it off in my mailbox the night before. I glue a stick behind it and they border the yard around the hunt. Last year we also added an egg drop because the kids are getting older and I wanted a little challenge for them. Surprisingly the parents were just as into it as the kids were. The morning of the hunt, we mingle while people arrive, eat some doughnut holes, and then hunt for eggs. All the parents that attend bring 1-2 dozen eggs and I throw in a ton myself. I know its one of those things my kids look forward to all year and I'm pretty sure the rest of the kids on the block feel the same.