How to plan a successful Easter egg hunt
Timing and weather are crucial for any successful Easter egg hunt. Schedule it on a day when other groups are having theirs and turnout will be low and leftovers will be high. Even the Easter Bunny doesn't like to have a bunch of seasonal candy it can't get rid of.
That problem could happen if the unpredictable early spring weather is cold, snowy or rainy. With no backup plan, attendance could be just as low and leftovers can be just as high.
Ask the coordinators of Dundee Township Park District's hunt. Last year, Easter came early and winter wouldn't let go of its grip in Northern Illinois. Scrambling kids searched for the plastic eggs in the gym of Liberty Elementary School instead of on the lawn.
But they found then and no harm was done, said Helen Shumate, the park district's director of marketing and communications.
Coordinators of the Gilberts Easter egg hunt always had a backup plan to have the hunt in the Rutland Dundee firehouse, along Route 72. Fortunately, it was seldom used.
Another important ingredient to a successful hunt is a group of volunteers to fill the hundreds of plastic eggs with candy and prizes. Without them, the job could go on for days.
Gilberts officials expect to have hundreds of kids looking for eggs when they have their free hunt for residents on April 11 at 11 a.m. They expect each child to find a half a dozen eggs or so in Town Center Park.
Simple arithmetic says they will need more than a bunch of eggs, said Sabrina Hirschfeld. She's the community development director for the Taylor YMCA, which will coordinate the hunt.
"I don't know how many the volunteers will be filling, but I know there will be more than enough for each child," she said.
After the hunt, the kids and their parents will play games, eat hot dogs and meet the Easter Bunny. Registration is not required. Families should just show up at the Route 72 and Tyrrell Road park on the day of the hunt.
Dundee Township Park District officials can easily boast of having more children since they will hold two hunts. The first is a flashlight hunt at Friday, April 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Liberty Elementary School, along Huntley and Miller roads. It will be for children 8-12 years old.
"Before we look for the eggs, we'll decorate hard-boiled eggs," Shumate said. "People who attend must bring their own flashlights."
The fees are $10 for residents and $12 for non-township residents.
Park district officials will have another hunt for children 2 to 7 years old the following day, starting at 10 a.m. on the following day at Randall Oaks Park.
Fees for that hunt are $7 for residents and $10 for nonresidents.
For information, call the park district at (847) 428-7131.
The First Congregational Church in West Dundee will have a free hunt of its own on Easter morning, April 12 at 10. Plastic eggs will be scattered on the church's Route 31 grounds.
"This is the second year we've had this," said Diane Fuqua, the church's director of communications. "We didn't have room at our other church in downtown West Dundee.
"Last year was a lot of fun. It was like Halloween in spring."