When should I put out the eggs for an Easter egg hunt?

[wencit]

This weekend, I am organizing an Easter egg hunt for a group of families. There will be about 50 people in total, and we will have it at a local park. I am having a hard time deciding when to put out the eggs (23 dozen of them). My husband suggested roping off an area of the grass with a sign and putting the eggs out before people arrive. My concern is that all those brightly colored plastic eggs will be so tempting to other little kids who may be at the park at the same time, and that their parents might have difficulty keeping them away. I know if my kids were younger, I'd have a hard time explaining to them why we can't touch those eggs.

I also thought about waiting until everyone arrives, then taking a few minutes away from the party to spread the eggs out, call everyone over, and do the hunt then?

For some reason, I am having a hard time picturing how to do this! I've attended egg hunts before, but never had to organize them. Thanks in advance, BBB! :)

[bostonsmama]

I would rope it off and put a few signs up to the effect of "Private Easter Egg Hunt at 11:30am (___). Hosted by Erica X."

I think most park-goers would respect that. It would be really hard to coordinate everyone's arrival while concurrently trying to hide them. I think 1hr prior to arrival should work.

[gatorsmom]

We always put the eggs out a few hours before the party. Any earlier and the critters could get them.

I have DH and my older 2 sons put them out. They love hiding them (and finding them during the hunt!) and they can spread the eggs out quickly.

I don't know if you will have toddlers there, but I suggest you have the kids dress in play clothes (our kids get muddy every year) and I'd start the hunt by giving the toddlers a 15 minute head start. If you send the older kids out at the same time as the toddlers, the older kids in their excitement will grab the obviously hidden eggs first and the todddlers won't be fast enough or smart enough to find the well- hidden eggs.

The other thing I'd suggest is having the kids collect the eggs in cloth bags or just plastc bags. Eggs fall out of baskets and nice cloth Easter baskets get dragged on the ground and messy. Also, little chocolaty hands will
mess stuff up too. :)

[crl]

Unless you have some kind of permit, I am not sure you are really allowed to rope off part of a public park and keep other people out?

Catherine

[Pear]

Unless you have some kind of permit, I am not sure you are really allowed to rope off part of a public park and keep other people out?

Catherine



:yeahthat:

[wencit]

Unless you have some kind of permit, I am not sure you are really allowed to rope off part of a public park and keep other people out?
There is a huge grass area to the back of the park. I'm just planning to rope off a small portion of it, maybe 20 ft x 20 ft.

Lisa, your Easter egg hunt sounds like fun, but I'm planning to just spread the eggs out over the grass - no real "hunting" per se. I'm going to tell all the kids to pick up 12 eggs only. That way, there won't be shoving and pushing by the older kids to get more eggs. I would say a majority of the kids (80%) will be under the age of 5.

[crl]

There is a huge grass area to the back of the park. I'm just planning to rope off a small portion of it, maybe 20 ft x 20 ft.

Lisa, your Easter egg hunt sounds like fun, but I'm planning to just spread the eggs out over the grass - no real "hunting" per se. I'm going to tell all the kids to pick up 12 eggs only. That way, there won't be shoving and pushing by the older kids to get more eggs. I would say a majority of the kids (80%) will be under the age of 5.

I don't think it matters how big of an area, I think you legally need a permit to block off access to part of a public park. When we have had birthday parties at parks, we have paid the fee to have access to the clubhouse limited to our guests, otherwise it is open to the public. Same thing if you want to reserve outdoor picnic tables.

I wouldn't deliberately intrude on your egg hunt, but I would not be happy to have to keep my kid out of a part of a public venue when you hadn't obtained the proper permit and paid the associated fee for that exclusive use. I would also be pretty confused as to whether it was an event open to the public or not.

Catherine

[Seitvonzu]

we have an easter party every year the saturday before easter-- it's a brunch/egg hunt. we use a public park for the egg hunt (we live in a townhouse so there's really no choice) and have never had problems with other people even being around... perhaps we've gotten lucky? anyhow-- our schdule is like this:

people arrive/get champagne punch/pink lemonade

brunch is served (i try to have it out as people are arriving actually)

dad's go out and put out eggs... someone calls when the eggs are "hidden" (or a dad comes back to let us know, other dads stay at park)

i put the coffee on for dessert

we all go let the kids "hunt"-- if it's warm, we'll also play on the playground a bit...we try to keep the kids from opening eggs so things don't get messy...

we go back to the house-- kids empty eggs and mom's/dad's eat dessert/coffee...blissful quiet of occupied children and full mouths :)

kids play/eat dessert.. people start leaving- very staggered.


i think that "hiding" in your case will be REALLY fast (since it's basically just spreading the eggs on the grass)-- do it RIGHT BEFORE. especially if you have a sense that the park will have other people. i wouldn't rope off. we've never done something like that and i wouldn't feel right about it unless it was a private or rented venue OR a public event with a permit

[wencit]

i think that "hiding" in your case will be REALLY fast (since it's basically just spreading the eggs on the grass)-- do it RIGHT BEFORE. especially if you have a sense that the park will have other people. i wouldn't rope off. we've never done something like that and i wouldn't feel right about it unless it was a private or rented venue OR a public event with a permitGot it. I think I will do this.

Thanks for all the responses. The permit issue honestly never even occurred to me. This particular park does not issue permits, it's just a small neighborhood park, so to avoid any problems I'll just spread out the eggs right before and call people over for the "hunt" (which is really more like an egg "pick up" :)). Should be done with in 5-10 minutes.

[maestramommy]

There is a huge grass area to the back of the park. I'm just planning to rope off a small portion of it, maybe 20 ft x 20 ft.

Lisa, your Easter egg hunt sounds like fun, but I'm planning to just spread the eggs out over the grass - no real "hunting" per se. I'm going to tell all the kids to pick up 12 eggs only. That way, there won't be shoving and pushing by the older kids to get more eggs. I would say a majority of the kids (80%) will be under the age of 5.

In this case I will tell you IME that it will take you only minutes to spread out those eggs. So even if you rope it off, you can hold off spreading the eggs until closer to hunt time. Are they going to do the egg hunt right away, or do you have some other activities first? If the former, then spread them just a few minutes before the start of the party. If the latter, then maybe a couple of parents could help you spread the eggs while the kids are doing the last activity.

[belovedgandp]

I've done many of these. As long as you are removed from where lots of kids are playing I've never had a problem in a park. I think roping it off will make it more obvious that you are doing something. If you have some tables close and it looks like a gathering people give other groups space.

While it seems like it should be fast to just do the drop on the ground method when "hiding". It does take a while. Dropping them leads to them breaking, so you do a lot of bending over. Great for elementary school kids who are closer to the ground.

If you are stuffing them or having others do it encourage wrapped candy or items. The whole jelly beans in the dirt is nasty.

Do have 2-3 dozen buffer eggs - that many more than kids you have coming. I've done these things with 40 dozen hidden in my small yard and it has been weeks before we've found them. So have some extra. Once all the kids have their dozen you can send the big kids out to hunt down one or two more each.

Do have the smaller kids start first for their parents to get their photo ops without being trampled. With a set number limit the rush isn't as big of a deal, but kids still get hyper.

[Pear]

I never hide DD's eggs until we wake up and I know if the weather is good enough to do it outside. If we are going outside I just stand on the deck and throw them. It is a good distance and some of them are thrown fairly hard and I have yet to have one break.