How To Organize Your Own Community Easter Egg Hunt
A Fun, Low-Cost Youth Ministry For The Whole Family
Prior to the Easter egg hunting season, Dr. Youssef began a sermon series on Discipleship. What was it? How did it work in this modern era? And were you doing enough of it? If you feel apathetic about your faith, I highly recommend listening to his Whose Disciple series. The answer to the last question, at least for me, was definitely not. This sermon series would be the final straw the Lord knew I needed to fully answer the twenty-plus-year call to be a more proactive Christian. To purposefully and intentionally seek out opportunities to bear witness, to complete strangers, to neighbors and acquaintances, to close family members, instead of waiting for someone else to do it. It was time for me to be that someone. And if you’re reading this, it’s that time for you too!
I already felt the conviction to do more with the blessings God had given me. I tried to placate it by tithing more and attending more church functions. Surely, I must be doing what Christ wants if I frequent those Wednesday Bible studies, right?
Why a Community Easter Egg Hunt?
As you may have guessed, that wasn’t *quite* right. It wasn’t until one early Spring sunset that the Holy Spirit revealed the answer in the form of a DIY Easter Egg Hunt. After a particularly exhausting day of Spring gardening, my wife and I were admiring our work in our modest city garden that just so happened to coincide with that majestic ‘golden hour’ of dusk that makes even the most novice of photographers' images look Insta-worthy. It was then I noticed my wife’s pastel tulips awash with a soft amber glow, and inspiration struck like lightning.
In a time where the re-emergence of civic pride and the word ‘community’ are levied almost as veiled threats, the idea of hosting a Community Easter Egg Hunt seemed like a return to the foundational values of what makes any society great; the worship of God (and the following of His Will). Our community already had a thriving community garden, and my wife and I would routinely converse with passing pedestrians and their kids about the plants and flowers in our front garden. Community gardens feed the body, but a Community Easter Egg Hunt could feed the soul.
After all, it was not lost on us how the community had changed over the years: fewer nativity scenes, fewer Christmas decorations as a whole, but Halloween celebrations seem to become more elaborate and grand with each passing year. Indeed, the community is alive on October 31st, but what about Easter Sunday? Could our community be encouraged to celebrate the resurrected Christ at least as much as a pagan, if not downright satanic holiday? Now, there’s an ambitious goal!
How To Build Your Easter Eggs
What You’ll Need To Assemble Your Easter Eggs:
- Amazon Prime
- Plastic Eggs - $15.99
- Candy - $22.99
- *Small Toys - $10.18
- Temporary Tattoos - $12.00
- Message Inserts - FREE
- Stickers - $10.99
- *Erasers - $14.99
- Quarters - Variable
Total (less Quarters & Taxes) - $87.14
*May Cause Choking Hazard
Our Easter egg prizes were thoughtfully chosen, part favorite childhood prizes: candy and quarters. The latter of which my wife vetoed as violating the ethos of Easter (which I couldn’t make a cogent argument as to how it did not, so…no coins). And part, “What could spark a conversation about Christ?” I was reminded of my favorite childhood SWAG, temporary tattoos, and stickers! As an adult, I thought these would be fun “conversation-starters,” as kids would likely put them on their binders or pencil boxes (perhaps more accurately, tablet covers and laptop cases).
Assembling Your Christ-centric Easter Eggs
Moreover, it was important for my wife and I to have Christ-centric Easter egg prizes and decorations. We avoided the temptation to include fun Disney characters and superheroes. But it was surprisingly difficult to find temporary tattoos and stickers representing an accurate cross-section of global ethnicities, compounded even further if you wanted a historically accurate representation of Jesus. It is essential for the recipients of these eggs to know that Jesus’ gift of Salvation is for all people.
It was my wife’s idea to separate the easter eggs into themes based on the ‘special Easter message’ inside. For example, Share An Egg With Someone Who Made You Sad might have the sticker for Ephesians 4:32 …” and be kind to one another…”. Another example is Jesus Loves You More Than You Love Candy, and the egg contains three pieces of popular candy.
If I could do the whole thing over again, I would have sent my image file to Fedex Kinkos with two double-sided lawn signs for approximately $50. But if you’ve got the extra time, you can create your own!
Creating Easter Egg Hunt Flyers and Special Easter Messages For Kids
What You’ll Need for the Signage & Special Easter Messages:
- Printer
- Cardboard Box (Pro Tip: Repurpose those Amazon Prime Boxes!)
- Single Sided Laminate Sheets - $16.33 for 10
- Hot Glue Gun
- Old Tomato Cage or 3/8 Inch Diameter Sticks
- Scissors or Razor Knife
- White Spray Paint (if you're OCD like me)
Total - $16.33
I created this Easter egg hunt ‘flyer’ using a modified Canva template for standard printer paper size, 8.5”w x 11”h at 300dpi. It’s a high-resolution design and should look fair if printed in a larger size (use the scale to fit print setting). I used a heavy cardstock paper that I had lying around for added rigidity, but the Scotch self-laminating sheets will do fine for sturdiness regardless of whether you use cardstock or plain paper. You can download a High Resolution version here
The cardboard and razor knife are for backing silhouettes and “structural integrity” for the stakes. There was some debate in our house about whether we wanted to hang them using twine or modified wire coat hangers, but, given it was a youth easter egg hunt, we wanted it to be at ground level.
I used pliers and twisted the tomato cage pieces I needed from an already defunct tomato cage (you know the one), but should you not have your own failed tomato growing experience yet, I imagine a couple of 3/8 inch diameter (index finger) sticks would serve well. Remember to carve the sticks to a point for easier insertion into the ground before gluing.
All that remained was to hot glue them between the two pieces of cardboard and place a series of hefty books atop them for maximum adhesion. Should you not have access to a hot glue gun, heavy-duty Gorilla glue that comes in the caulk gun sizes works equally well.
After a few hours, I saw the result and decided that adding a white finish via a can of white spray paint would help the presentation. Once that dried, I affixed the laminated signs using the same method as the books.
It did help the look, albeit only slightly. In hindsight, a sharper razor blade would have helped, as well as scoring both sides before cutting. However, this is another point for the 'print center lawn sign' in my book.
The Easter egg kids' messages were adapted from those of Children’s Ministry Deals. Big thank you to those folks because it saved me a ton of time on formatting. However, in keeping with our Christ-centric theme (instead of the pagan symbolism, such as chicks and eggs), we opted for some different Easter egg hunt clipart and switched out the egg for the Easter Cross and edited some of the messages to be more child-friendly. You can make your own edits in Adobe Acrobat or a similar PDF text editor. If you'd like to download our High Resolution Labels, you may do so here.
Cut your Easter egg kids’ messages into strips; now you’re ready to assemble your eggs! We separated our prizes into stations to make them more accessible and efficient to pack. It’s a terrific time with kids, as we were able to make it a bit like DIY Easter crafts, and feels like a wonderful new tradition we’ve started, similar to decorating the Christmas tree.
Promoting Your Community Easter Egg Hunt
One mistake we made was thinking a day of posts on Nextdoor and Ring Neighbors would be sufficient advertisement; it was not! Post at least a couple of weeks out, and when it comes closer, create another. That said, it really helps to have the ‘scene set’ for your community event. You’re welcome to use any of the photographs here to help market your DIY community Easter egg hunt event, and please share your own with us @thechristianmemegame
We posted the same post on both Nextdoor and Ring, but Ring’s moderation system flagged my post, which was never published. We’ll create a better buzz on our Instagram and TikTok using the content (photos and videos) we took from our inaugural event. It’s a great way to create awareness for spreading the ministry as a whole and your particular hunt. #CommunityEasterEggHunt #YourCity
Depending on the turnout we have from this, we may take it a step further and treat it like an actual ‘event’ and list it on all the event marketplaces that our city has, e.g., local papers, Eventbrite, etc.
The Big Day: Hosting Your Community Easter Egg Hunt
When the day came, we awoke just before sunrise. After praising God for His unconditional Love and Mercy and praying for His Blessing for our Community Easter Egg Hunt, we started setting everything up. It was a special time, full of excitement and anticipation. My wife was clever to remind me to hide the eggs thinking about the perspective of small children and in the reach of small hands. There might be something to this ‘better half’ thing after all!
Reflection and Improvement
After that, we tuned in to The Leading The Way livestream Easter service and loved that we could host this community easter egg hunt without missing our Easter service. We sat on the front porch and hung around the front of the house for the majority of the day to interact with our community, spread awareness of the true reason why we celebrate Easter (it’s not about bunnies and peeps), and replenish the eggs as necessary. It's important to remember that events like this build year after year. While we didn’t have the turnout we anticipated, we are not deterred and are excited to increase our Word of Mouth marketing efforts next year for a more successful event.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" - Matthew 28:19
Safety Considerations for Your Easter Egg Hunt
Safety should be a top priority when organizing a community Easter egg hunt. Here are some safety considerations that you should be aware of.
Egg Placement: Ensure that the eggs are placed in safe areas. Avoid hiding them near roads, bodies of water, or any other potentially dangerous areas. Also, make sure they are within reach of children and not placed in high or hard-to-reach areas where children might get hurt trying to retrieve them.
Allergen Awareness: If you're filling the eggs with candy or snacks, be aware of potential food allergies. Try to avoid common allergens like peanuts, and clearly label any food that might contain allergens.
Non-edible Prizes: If you're including non-edible prizes in the eggs, ensure they are age-appropriate and do not pose a choking hazard for younger children.
Supervision: Ensure that there is adequate adult supervision during the event. Adults can help manage the crowd, ensure children are playing safely, and respond to any emergencies that may arise.
First Aid: Have a first aid kit available and ensure that at least one adult present is familiar with basic first aid procedures.
COVID-19 Precautions: Depending on the current public health situation, you should consider COVID-19 safety measures. This could include encouraging social distancing, requiring masks, providing hand sanitizer, or even organizing a socially-distanced egg hunt where families search for eggs separately.
Sun Protection: If the event is held outdoors on a sunny day, remind participants to wear sun protection like hats and sunscreen.
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