Easter Egg Hunts Offer Lessons of Sharing

Easter Egg Hunts have been a loved tradition of both children and parents for generations. My family is no exception.

What started off as an attempt to continue some of my own childhood traditions has turned into a lesson of giving from my children. It's a beautiful thing to watch two kids previously unknown to each other reaching out to pick up an egg. Then, handing it over to the other, both smiling. In the end, it wasn't about who had the most. We tend to forget that. It was and should always be about neighbors coming together to share a memory and the simple pleasure of a smile on a child's face.

As my kids grow up, I'm suddenly faced with the realization that they aren't babies anymore and things are quickly changing. This is especially true of the holidays. I'm not ready to give up the fun stuff of them being young. I'm sure, I'm not the only parent who feels this way. Keeping kids active is a hard job, finding activities for the whole family is even harder. So, when you find something you can do together, hold onto it with both hands.

Years ago, I started having egg hunts with my children at Cook School Park, in Bridgeville. They were always very impromptu. We called up friends and said "Do you want to join us?" Whomever were available, were the lucky ones who shared the fun.

My kids would stuff the plastic eggs long before the hunt day. Adding random amounts of stickers, candy, coins, basically whatever we collected the weeks prior to the event. They always got excited when they were allowed to put multiple items into a single egg.

We brought juice boxes and cookies and made it a small party. This went on for years, despite the weather.

As the kids got older, I expected the appeal to fade. This proud mom is happy to say it has not. Now, the kids who used to run excitedly into the baseball fields to pick up their own half melted chocolates, look forward to putting on the egg hunt for younger neighbors.

Every year, we had only a few rules. 1: Each child at the park was invited whether we knew them or not. We asked the adults with them if it was okay first. 2: The older kids had to help out the younger kids. Believe it or not, this worked out really well. 3: They got to keep the contents of the eggs but had to return the plastic eggs for use the next year. Not only was this economical, it allowed the kids time to interact.

As the number of participants grew, so did the number of eggs for them. Last year, we had 2,000 "eggs" and 26 kids. We got smart and used large vending machine capsules.  This year, like always, it's a surprise as to when and how many. Consider sharing your own egg hunt with your neighbors. Or if you and your children happen to be in Cook School Park in Bridgeville at the time, please join us!