# Easter Egg Hunt- I don't get it.



## confustication (Mar 18, 2006)

I took my daughter (7) to a community easter egg hunt this morning. There were about 100 kids present, divided by age (it's a small town). The eggs were scattered across the park, and areas were set aside for each age group. The eggs were a mix of chocolate, real eggs, and plastic with little prizes or bigger prizes like a token for a pizza etc. I thought it was a pretty cute set up and all the kids were excited...

Then they said, "go!"

Kids charged out knocking each other over, pushing, shoving, generally being very aggressive. The eggs were scooped up within a matter of seconds, and several kids were left eggless, or with one egg, while other kids had bags full of eggs.

I understand that this happens but I do not understand all the parents congratulting their kids who had TONS of eggs as the child walked past another very distraught kid in tears because they'd not been so successful.

Now, my daughter didn't get many eggs, but she knows we have our own egg hunt at home, so that was ok, but it really bothered her to see how upset some kids became, and how little compassion other children had for them.

Is this a common thing in egg hunts where you are?


----------



## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

No. At the egg hunt we went to yesterday, they sat all the kids down on haystacks beforehand and talked about the rules: no hitting, pushing, knocking down, etc., and each child could take as much of the scattered candy as they wanted, but could only take up to 8 eggs. The kids actually seemed to have fun counting out their eggs, and as we walked out there was still some candy left on the ground, so they didn't go nuts trying to wrestle over every last piece of that. It was fun!


----------



## Bluegoat (Nov 30, 2008)

Wow, that is really terrible! I guess teaching empathy isn't big at the moment.


----------



## momtokea (Oct 27, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *confustication* 
Is this a common thing in egg hunts where you are?

Nope. There should be a rule that they can only find a certain number and then stop. That sounds disasterous. The organizers need to rethink how they do things.


----------



## Green Eyes (Apr 10, 2009)

The hunts we've been to have had a rule of a six eggs (or whatever) maximum per child, after finding their eggs the bigger kids help the little ones find their quota.

Sounds like the hunt you went to wasn't very well thought-out; I'm glad it wasn't a problem for your daughter.


----------



## Lisa1970 (Jan 18, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *confustication* 
I took my daughter (7) to a community easter egg hunt this morning. There were about 100 kids present, divided by age (it's a small town). The eggs were scattered across the park, and areas were set aside for each age group. The eggs were a mix of chocolate, real eggs, and plastic with little prizes or bigger prizes like a token for a pizza etc. I thought it was a pretty cute set up and all the kids were excited...

Then they said, "go!"

Kids charged out knocking each other over, pushing, shoving, generally being very aggressive. The eggs were scooped up within a matter of seconds, and several kids were left eggless, or with one egg, while other kids had bags full of eggs.

I understand that this happens but I do not understand all the parents congratulting their kids who had TONS of eggs as the child walked past another very distraught kid in tears because they'd not been so successful.

Now, my daughter didn't get many eggs, but she knows we have our own egg hunt at home, so that was ok, but it really bothered her to see how upset some kids became, and how little compassion other children had for them.

Is this a common thing in egg hunts where you are?

No, this is not common. Usually, they will set a limit of eggs. They will say 10 eggs only and then enforce it. No one benefits by hurting others to get eggs.

If they do not put in a rule like that, I would recommend never going again. I am so sorry it was so bad for your daughter and the other children.


----------



## fresh_veggie (Jan 27, 2009)

That sounds barbaric, and should have been planned MUCH better. I'm really glad that your daughter is so mature about it - wow. (A lot more mature than the other "successful" children's parents are!)


----------



## JamieCatheryn (Dec 31, 2005)

I went to a public egg hunt like that once as a child, it was awful. No way I'd subject my kid to that since I know how it goes. You live and learn I guess. Something that can get so competitive like that isn't great to throw a huge bunch of kids who don't know each other into together.


----------



## mags (May 4, 2004)

That's how it was when my DH and I were both kids. Both of us had horrible experiences (DH got one egg, I got none) when we were children. So, my DH now refuses to take our children to any community egg hunts. He thinks they are traumatizing, b/c the other kids are so aggressive.


----------



## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

The two public egg hunts (two different towns) we took the kids to were like that. Not enjoyable at all. We have our own egg hunts now for our kids and their cousins, and it's much more fun. Even with a troop of small kids of all ages and a lot of excitement, they still shared finding the eggs and shared their treasures afterwards. The whole atmosphere is completely different.


----------



## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mags* 
That's how it was when my DH and I were both kids. Both of us had horrible experiences (DH got one egg, I got none) when we were children. So, my DH now refuses to take our children to any community egg hunts. He thinks they are traumatizing, b/c the other kids are so aggressive.

From the responses on this thread, it actually sounds like most are organized more thoughtfully these days. You could always check with the organizers beforehand to make sure they have appropriate guidelines, if doing an egg hunt is something you think your kids would enjoy.

ETA: The egg hunt we went to was intensely organized -- they had a hunt every half-hour for several hours, and only kids with a certain color wristband were allowed in for each hunt, so there was a manageable number of kids each time.


----------



## PassionateWriter (Feb 27, 2008)

wow how horrible


----------



## candipooh (Jun 22, 2004)

Sounds pretty typical to me. Sad but true. I have gone to a few over the years and it is pretty shocking. I stopped going and just had the hunts at home with my three. My kids were always the ones with just a few eggs because I was on them about not being pushy or rude. And well....polite kids never got the eggs.

Today we plan on going to one put on by our church. We don't have the funds to do a very nice one for my daughter at home (only some boiled eggs) So I decided to give it another try. I hope and pray that it is not like the ones I have been to in the past.


----------



## nolonger (Jan 18, 2006)

i remember that from my own childhood now that you mention it. There were prizes for the child who found the most eggs and also a prize for the child who found the golden egg. I was one of the younger kids in the neighbourhood, so i never won the prizes and tended to get shoved out of the way.

I am not raising my son in the Christian faith, but I do want him to respect our friends' beliefs. Secular Easter is something I'd just as soon opt out of. We call it "Resurrection Day" anyway and I think it's too violent for the littlest ones.


----------



## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *noordinaryspider* 
i remember that from my own childhood now that you mention it. *There were prizes for the child who found the most eggs* and also a prize for the child who found the golden egg. I was one of the younger kids in the neighbourhood, so i never won the prizes and tended to get shoved out of the way.

_Competitive_ egg hunting? That's awful.







What is wrong with people?


----------



## mooliette (Jan 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *limabean* 
No. At the egg hunt we went to yesterday, they sat all the kids down on haystacks beforehand and talked about the rules: no hitting, pushing, knocking down, etc., and each child could take as much of the scattered candy as they wanted, but could only take up to 8 eggs. The kids actually seemed to have fun counting out their eggs, and as we walked out there was still some candy left on the ground, so they didn't go nuts trying to wrestle over every last piece of that. It was fun!

This is exactly how it is in our town too. It seems the older kids get their quota in 2.2 so they are always willing to help the little ones out. When they say "ready, set, go" they do look like a flock of seagulls trying to get that last fry though lol


----------



## Igraine (Jul 1, 2006)

The one in our town was huge, but from my kids report (dh and friends took the kids) there was no pushing and shoving. It was also in a good sized, open park so there is no way only a few kids could get them all. The eggs were really spread out.

There was one egg with an extra special prize in, but my kids were so tickled with the eggs that they found, they were not upset they did not get the "big" prize.

My kids and their friends came home with way more than I expected!

Sorry your kids and you had that experience.


----------



## AlwaysByMySide (May 4, 2007)

The two we went to today (at churches, but public egg hunts), they split the kids up by ages.

At the first one, it was inside a church that houses a preschool/Parent's Day Out program. 18 months and under went to one room, 2's to another room, 3's to another, etc. Inside the eggs were tickets that you then took to the prize tables to get non-candy prizes (bubbles, temporary tattoos, pencils, plastic cups, stuff like that). I really like how that one was run, except if you had two different aged kids, I'd imagine it would be difficult. I brought my 1 year old in the 3's room, and some of the kids dropped eggs in his basket. They told us that there was enough for about 10 eggs per kid, and everyone made sure that everyone's kids had at least 10 before we all got more. That one is relatively small though...maybe 80 kids total. (They went up to 5th grade.)

At the second one, it was in a field, and they did 5 and under in one round, and then let the big kids loose in a much bigger field. Those had a mix of little prizes, candy, and then a couple of eggs had gift certificates to local restaurants and stores, and tokens for big prizes (like bikes). That one is touted as the area's biggest (20,000 eggs..maybe 200-300 kids total), so there was plenty to go around.


----------



## confustication (Mar 18, 2006)

I'm toying with the idea of volunteering to help with it next year, so I can establish (or suggest- at least!) some guidelines.

Thanks for all the feedback!


----------



## angie7 (Apr 23, 2007)

Just reading your post made me sad for the kids that didn't get any







Knowing my kids, they would have gladly handed over their eggs. Even at 3, they show a great deal of compassion for others...I've never taken them to a community easter egg hunt (and probably never will) and reading that just makes me want to avoid them even more.


----------



## SunshineJ (Mar 26, 2008)

At the annual egg hunt in a local (and somewhat affluent) town, they have it divided by age. Overall the kids aren't *too* terrible - there is some pushing to get to the eggs, but nothing major. However the worst part is for the little kids under 3 or 4. Since there are children there as young as 1-2 yrs old, the parents can go with them - and it's the _parents_ that are pushing, shoving and hitting the other parents *and* little kids to grab the eggs so their children can have the most. It is really one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen and we refuse to go to that one any longer because of it.


----------



## jt'smum (Apr 13, 2004)

This is what the one in our town is like..Mass confusion and chaos. We took DD when she was 3. She stood there and looked at everyone like they were crazy(we did too). She walked over to an egg that was left "behind" went to scoop it up and some other child tried to snatch from her. DD stuck it in her basket and we hightailed it home. No more community egg hunt for us.


----------



## ~Megan~ (Nov 7, 2002)

Actually, it sounds like every egghunt I've ever seen. The kids weren't malicious just weren't paying attention due to excitemennt. I've not been to one that had a limit before.


----------



## Oonah (Jul 28, 2004)

ick - we've been to one like that...well there was a limit but it wasn't enforced


----------



## LittleBlessings (May 26, 2008)

If that was my child who got more eggs them others I truly believe she would give some to the other children that did not get any or a few.

That is terrible what happened and I am sorry your DC had to go through this.


----------



## A Mom's Love (Sep 21, 2008)

confustication, thank you for posting this. It makes me feel good about our choice to not take dd to egg hunts. I feel even better about our decision now.


----------



## mbbinsc (May 8, 2008)

We went to an Egg Hunt this am that is more like an Egg pickup. They have empty plastic eggs in fields based on ages. After you get the eggs, you turn them in for a bag of treats. I think the parents had fun taking pictures of the little ones, not having to worry about the treats. I was also able to replace items in my 3 yo DDs bag with non-allergic stuff. At another egg hunt, my DD picked up her eggs. Out of a dozen or so she could only have the stuff in 2 due to allergies. We took the handful of candy to an older child who was crying over not having enough candy. The look on the other mom's face when my DD happily offered up her candy was priceless.


----------



## Liquesce (Nov 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *confustication* 
I'm toying with the idea of volunteering to help with it next year, so I can establish (or suggest- at least!) some guidelines.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Good luck! I was just going to suggest this exact thing ... no sense in just leaving it be, especially if the current organizers really don't see a problem with a "fun" event that leaves participants in tears. Sounds like they could use some added help.


----------



## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

Everytime we've done egg hunts at the church or in family settings we've had rules... Kids are divided into age groups and the younger children usually go first. Once it's seen that they have a few eggs each the next group is given the okay. I've never done a community thing so I've never seen a hunt get aggressive (even when I was hunting and there was money in the eggs at a family thing)


----------



## nolonger (Jan 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *A Mom's Love* 
confustication, thank you for posting this. It makes me feel good about our choice to not take dd to egg hunts. I feel even better about our decision now.

















:


----------



## Mama2Xander (Jul 3, 2004)

THe one we went to was okay. Before it started they told the kids there was a limit of 10 eggs per kid, but they should have made the limit lower than that - there were several kids that did find 10 (and stopped, the parents seemed to be pretty good about enforcing the limit for the most part), but lots of kids had less than that and there didn't seem to be any eggs left. DS1 found 8, and DS2 (who had kind of lagged behind and started a minute late) didn't find any... but DS1 gave him a couple of his and he was happy with that. He mostly just wanted to play on the playground anyway, lol.

Anyway, the actual hunt was for the plastic eggs, which were empty, and then the kids took them inside and traded the eggs for a small bag filled with chocolate eggs. It didn't matter how many plastic eggs they found, they all got the same amount of eggs to take home. I thought that was a good way to do it (and there didn't seem to be much shoving/aggression, at least not that I saw).


----------



## mazajo (Nov 3, 2004)

We went to 2 very very different ones this year. Last weekend, a big waterpark near here had a huge 'Egg-stravaganca'. All free, egg hunts, prizes, petting zoo, ect. It was SO crowded. They had the kids seperated by age, but there was still just so many. Me and my 3yo DS were towards the back of the crowd and the eggs were all picked up in two minutes flat, DS never even had a chance. We found two that I'm pretty sure had fallen out of somebody else's basket and we kept one and gave one to a little boy next to us. *The parents were way more competative than the kids*. Some had these huge baskets filled to the brim and some other kids were sobbing because they didn't have any at all. My DS just seemed confused by the whole thing.

Today we went to a smaller one that was held by a church right down the street. They didn't have a limit on how many eggs kids could get, but what they did was tell everybody to 'recycle' their eggs by putting them in this big bin afterwards, and then they all got a prize, which was a small Easter basket or bucket with a couple candy items and a little toy in it. Everybody who participated got a basket, whether they found one egg or 20. DS found about 10. Everybody was really nice and I'm pretty sure if some child had not found any eggs at all, there would have been plenty willing to share.

I know which one I'll be returning to next year!


----------



## Siera (Nov 11, 2008)

This sounds almost exactly like the one we went to in our neighborhood. DH and I went with DD (10 months old, so "in arms"). Those kids were competitive!! DH and I had to hurry ourselves to just try to grab a couple so DD would at least have a couple in her basket! I've never seen such fierceness before. I don't remember egg hunts from my childhood like this, but maybe I was one of those frenzied little kids, who knows?!? But, it was fierce. I wish they would have set some rules or limits but they didnt'. At least I'm prepared for next year when DD will actually be able to participate.


----------



## MommytoTwo (Jun 20, 2004)

Yes. We went to an egg hunt 2 years ago and it was exactly like you described. We dont go to that one anymore. It was horrible.


----------



## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

Sounds like the community easter egg hunts I went to as a kid. I was the kid that never got more than 1 or 2 (if that many). I wasn't that good at searching. Sure, I'd be upset for a bit. But I got over it. It was all in fun after all.

I haven't found a community hunt here, but I would love to take DD2 to one. Not sure how I feel about egg limits though. Seems like that would ruin the competitive nature of the hunt.


----------



## laohaire (Nov 2, 2005)

We went to our very first egg hunt today. I was similarly disheartened. DD isn't physically the strongest or quickest. I did not see any acts of barbarism or anything shocking but after 2 minutes, DD didn't have any eggs yet, and some kids had seriously about 50 eggs in huge baskets. I hated myself for it but I made a decision to be more assertive on DD's behalf. I didn't do anything horrible but I picked up DD and ran up to the front of the line and DD managed to get 3 eggs and then it was all over. A madhouse.

And yes, we were a little stunned to see kids strutting by with incredible amounts of eggs. DD is not very competitive but I saw in her face that the fun was diminished for her. She would have been more than happy with 3 eggs - except for looking around and seeing that she in fact did so poorly (and only got the 3 eggs because I resolved that she would get at least one).

I don't want to go to another egg hunt. I didn't see the fun in it.


----------



## expecting-joy (Sep 15, 2007)

Quote:

Is this a common thing in egg hunts where you are?
From what I hear, It's pretty common, which is why we don't go.







:


----------



## Porcelain Interior (Feb 8, 2008)

We've never gone to one.

I was so traumatized from childhood that we just decided to never take our kids to public egg hunts.

I was shamed by my parents and grandparents because I wouldn't be "meaner, rougher, and more competitive" at egg hunts.

My brother and I were very shy and polite kids. Very very quiet. The type of kids that weren't assertive at all.

We didn't want to fight over Easter eggs. We didn't want to have to push, shove, get mowed down to get to a half cooked egg (yes in the 80's they used real eggs-gag).

I still remember my grandpa calling us "losers" for not going to the egg hunt after having been previously traumatized the year before.

My dad would nag and chide us "you just need to get out there and stop being a baby!"

So embarrassing. I never understood why they cared so much. I never understood why I was ashamed because I didn't want to go find eggs.

Some kids just aren't tempermentally suited towards these types of activities.

We egg hunt at home.


----------



## karemore (Oct 7, 2008)

We went to one last weekend and there was an egg limit.

We have one tomorrow at church and the child gets a number, and they can only take the eggs with their number on it.

We do it at home on easter morning so we wouldn't go out of our way to go to a public one.


----------



## EVC (Jan 29, 2006)

We've gone to two and they were fine.

One, sponsored by a church, did as one PP described: you found some plastic eggs and then turned them in for little prizes. The eggs would then be re-hidden for other kids to find.

The other one was run by a local pre-school. They divided kids by age. Each part had little chocolate eggs lying around. They would let in 15 kids at a time, give them five minutes or so to gather, then they would re-fill the space with more eggs for the next group. Dd only ended up with 3 eggs (her friend must have found about 20!), but that was fine. First of all, I don't really want her having all that chocolate







And second, adjacent to the the egg hunt area they had mini-carnival games set up. Dd was WAY more into those anyway, and with those games every kid who played got a prize.

So she ended the day very pleased with herself









The one the OP described just sounds HORRIBLE. I was almost in tears just reading about it


----------



## Jennifer3141 (Mar 7, 2004)

We did one today. It wasn't a total disaster but it was a total waste of time.

They had kids divided into groups of 0-3, 4-6, and 7 & up.

I took DS into the 0-3 (his last year there) and all the eggs were just thrown onto the ground in a circle. It was so crowded that when someone said, "Go!" you could only move about 2 feet and collect what was right around you. DS got 5 eggs and we noticed some of the 1 year olds around didn't have any so DS picked up a couple more and gave them to the babies or pointed them out to the babies.

4-6 was STUPID though. There were probably 200 kids all raring to go as soon as they could. Parents were not allowed to go into the circle and my DD wasn't going without us. So she got no eggs. It was total chaos and as we were leaving, I heard that they were looking for a lost child.







No wonder!!!

I have no idea what the 7 & up was like. We didn't stick around.

I'll be getting up before the kids tomorrow morning and hiding eggs and candy outside. The Easter Bunny will be making it all up to them.









I hate egg hunts that aren't actually "hunts" either. What's up with just throwing the eggs on the ground in a circle? Is it too much work to hide some behind a few bushes at least? This hunt was on a private resort with a golf course in April. It's not like there was any trafic on the course or anything. Heck, there are still snow patches there.


----------



## emmasmommy (Feb 26, 2004)

We went to one today, and it was fairly organized. There were no actual eggs to collect, just Hershey kisses and small chocolate eggs. They were divided into groups 0-3, 4-7 and 8-10. The 0-3 group had their hunt on the baseball field, and it was pretty tame. Each child ended up with more chocolate than they will ever eat. Same with the 4-7 age group, though they were spread over a wider area. Parents were allowed out there with their kids, but dd is 6 and found a friend from school that she ran off with. She also ended up with more chocolate then she will ever eat. From reading other's stories, it seems that it works better with just searching for chocolates rather than eggs since it seemed each child walked away with a lot of candy. There was also no competitiveness or fighting that I saw.


----------



## MusicianDad (Jun 24, 2008)

The public hunts around here are pretty tame. For one thing, most of them have an egg limit. I can't see any reason to make an easter egg hunt competitive, might be my upbringing though. With me and my brother, when we hunted eggs, you find one it goes in the big bowl on the table and go look for more the end result is a giant bowl of easter candy you share with the whole family. It's how things went at my dad's how this year two (though step-sis didn't want anything to do with the egg hunt till DD talked her into it). Everyone had a blast and DS even found an egg (by accident, I was holding him and grabbed for a book and knocked an egg to the ground.







)


----------



## operamommy (Nov 9, 2004)

Your story is *exactly* why we don't go to egg hunts.







I went to one when ds1 was small, and thought "never again." We tried again with ds1 and dd a few years ago in our small town and it was just horrid. Even though the kids were divided into age groups, there was no egg limit. My dd cried because she only got one egg. NO WAY am I subjecting any of my kids to that kind of thing again!


----------



## Norasmomma (Feb 26, 2008)

No ours was really nice today. They were broken into age groups and there were tons of eggs. Most kids had a basket/bucket full. They also had a community BBQ after, but we couldn't wait for eating so we went and had lunch instead. We live in a pretty kind small community, so I don't think that it was that way. My dad said when my sisters were littler that the pushing and shoving was commonplace, but today was really mellow and just plain fun. We will definitely do it again. DD and DH are blowing up the beach balls that came in the eggs, they also had it set to give the eggs back and recycle them for next year.

I'm glad we live where we do.


----------



## tuppence (Feb 18, 2005)

I really wish I had read this thread before our community egg hunt this morning! My son was not at all prepared for the mad dash and scramble for eggs.







He thought it was going to be an actual egg hunt, where the eggs are hidden and you walk around and look for them. Instead, they lined the 3/4s up behind a rope, waited until just before saying GO to tell them that parents couldn't go with them, and then let them loose to grab eggs off the ground. So many kids were sobbing because they didn't get any eggs at all, that they redid the 1/2s and the 3/4s. My son collapsed sobbing from the start because he was overwhelmed by the running and shoving. But lots of kids were very nice--he was offered several eggs but was too upset to take them.







Luckily, one of the rec people saw him crying (along with several other little kids) and hid some eggs just for them. All in all, I can see how some kids would love it, but it was not a good fit for my super sensitive, easily over-stimulated little guy (and yes, that does seem obvious now, lol). We're hiding eggs for him tomorrow to make up for it.


----------



## *Erin* (Mar 18, 2002)

that was our egg hunt today, too








no limit on how many eggs, and THE PARENTS were jumping into the kids areas grabbing eggs. it was awful. my dd got 3, because, thank goodness, she did not feel the need to push other children out of her way to get more.

there were SO MANY rude people and kids in the park, too. my poor little ds almost got smushed several times just trying to sit in a little toddler ride, and he wanted to explore and walk around like normal (it's our neighborhood park, and we go there almost daily), but forget it.

it was BEDLAM.


----------



## newbymom05 (Aug 13, 2005)

I've never been to a community egg hunt b/c I've heard that they're all awful. In fact, our paper ran a story today about how our local cities try to organize the egg hunts but there are always waaaay too many kids and shoving, pushing chaos, despite their best efforts. However, we've been to very nice family egg hunts, and our playgroup has an awesome one. Our playgroup limits it to 12 eggs (everyone brings 12) and under 3's get a big head start.

I need to get off the computer now and hide eggs for tomorrow morning. Playgroup hunt was for trinket toys (due to food allergies), Easter morning is chocolate time!


----------



## phathui5 (Jan 8, 2002)

The one at our church was really nice last year. The little kids went first, then the older kids. There was an egg limit and the kids all helped each other out.

We'll be doing it before church tomorrow.


----------



## momof2kiddos (Dec 24, 2008)

I so understand. I help with the Annual easter egg hunt in our town and it is the same way. 100 or so kids and there are some that get more than others and it drives me crazy that if a child has a ton of eggs and there is a child that is cry with no eggs not one parent will stop and give the one with not eggs one. I have always made my children stop and share if there there is that is without and I get so many strangs looks but I figure I was teaching my kids to share with other and that it is not always about having the most.

I read a few post and wanted to add, I even make my kids stop and help up others of they get knocked down and if they run into someone I make them stop and say sorry. Ok so call me crazy.


----------



## oceanbaby (Nov 19, 2001)

Minus the pushing and shoving, this sounds a lot like to the stupid egg hunt we attend every year. Dh's parents belong to a shi shi country club, and every Easter we do a brunch and egg hunt there. If the kids didn't love it and look forward to it all year, we would not go, but they do.

I wish they had a limit on the number of eggs for each kid, because there are always the few kids whose baskets are overflowing, and then other kids with one egg. Plus, there are never enough freaking eggs! My inlaws have actually complained about this. I mean, come on, this place costs like $100,000 to join, you think they could spring for a few extra plastic eggs stuffed with junk candy.

Although, I will say that I have seen parents tell their kids who have a lot of eggs to give some/hide some for other kids who don't have any, so that's nice at least.


----------



## stormborn (Dec 8, 2001)

Oh yes.







We went last year and it looked like a scene from Lord Of The Flies....with plastic eggs. Although there were a LOT of kids (incl. ours














sharing eggs with the little ones who didn't get many so that was all good! But whoa; the whole thing was just too much.

Setting up our own with a few other families is the way to go.


----------



## Kirsten (Mar 19, 2002)

Only read the first page.

We've been to quite a variety of egg hunts over the last 12 years!

When you provide the eggs (please drop a dozen filled eggs per child you will bring to the hunt to X's house by the Thursday before) - like my MOMS Club does, you know how many kids you'll have, you have enough eggs for each child to get 12, they CLEARLY announce this multiple times. There is still a mad dash when the "GO!" is announced, but it doesn't end in tears as as soon as each child has 12, they stop. Usually. I've been known to loudly "remind" my own kids to stop at 12 when I notice someone else's kid with an overflowing basket - which usually is effective in that kid replacing some eggs to be found or being told to by his or her parent.

When it is a true community egg hunt, they have NO idea if they'll get 200 kids or 800, so there isn't really a way to tell them a stop number. These are usually separated by age, but it is still pretty competitive usually. Some parents are nuts and scream and point out eggs to their kids. I stood nearby mine when they were young (four and under) to be sure they didn't get trampled or trample anyone else and that they found at least a few eggs. Plus I had to be fairly close to get the darling egg hunt pix for their scrapbooks!







One egg hunt we frequent every year (in my dp's hometown - same one we went to as kids) does a cool thing. All the egg hunt volunteers keep a half dozen prize eggs in their pockets. So if a kid has fallen or not found any eggs, the volunteer will "plant" an egg very near and subtly point it out. Happened to my dd one year, and she was so grateful - not nearly as much as I was. I still remember that man.

Like anything else in life, some people show you the worst and some the best. I've seen kids take eggs right out of the basket of another kid when they were reaching down to get an egg. I've also seen kids give eggs from their basket to forlorn kids who didn't get any or only a few eggs. Not everyone gets the prize eggs - which is pretty real world. Over the years, my kids have sometimes gotten them and sometimes not. They always get killer Easter baskets (our bunny was spoiled by her parents), and the kids are now old enough to remember the year they got the gold egg or a particularly great prize egg.

If you prep your kids that some kids go overboard, and you can run but not push, once you have a reasonable number to stop, to help younger kids too, that prize eggs are a luck of the draw - well, it usually goes pretty well. I like the egg hunt.


----------



## Kirsten (Mar 19, 2002)

Forgot a helpful tip in case others hadn't thought of it. If the age category is 5-8, and I have a kid who is 7 or 8, I tell her not to touch the eggs closest to the starting line. Run right past them to the back of the section and start there. Because the 5 year olds aren't as fast, leave the close ones for them.


----------



## queenjane (May 17, 2004)

I havent read all the other replies.

Our city has a marshmallow drop. I havent actually witnessed this but apparently a helicopter drops a giant load of marshmallows onto a large field, and the kids go collect them. They arent for eating. You only need to find ONE marshmallow and you get a prize. I dont think you get MORE prizes the more you find, thats just for fun. I think they wanted to avoid the pushing/shoving scene.

We've never done easter egg hunts, except in our own backyard, for my son and my niece when they were little. We'd fill little eggs with candy and my sister and i would go and *really* hide them (to the point that WE would be out there looking for that last couple that we forgot where they were) and it was more about the searching than the getting candy bit.

Katherine


----------



## Bug-a-Boo's Mama (Jan 15, 2008)

Wow! That doesn't sound like a fun egg hunt at all! I would never tolerate pushing and shoving.

We are in a large Mother's group and last weekend we had our Easter pinic. The egg hunt was set for 2 and under and one for the over 2 crew. At the beginning each could only get a certain amount of eggs. When it was obvious that there were plenty and that everyone was getting eggs, the limit was eliminated. Everyone had a great time and was fair and friendly.


----------



## darien (Nov 15, 2005)

Yuck. I remember egg hunts like that when I was a kid.









One year, we went to a hunt where there were 2 divisions (little kids and bigger kids), but only ONE "golden egg," in the little kid area. My parents did not appreciate me (repeatedly







) pointing out that this was totally unfair to the bigger kids.

Our town has a hunt, with 3 age divisions. Parents go with the youngest kids, and there are volunteers to make sure the 2 older groups don't get too crazy.

The kids turn the eggs in for identical bags of treats, so no one goes home devastated.


----------



## confustication (Mar 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *stormborn* 
We went last year and it looked like a scene from Lord Of The Flies....with plastic eggs.


This is the best description I can imagine! It was quite a scene!

I do think it's nice for the kids to have a big community thing, but I am hoping that if I volunteer to help next year we might be able to tone down the absolutely out of control competitive aspect...

If not, maybe I can arrange for some of the kids to be delivered to a remote island....







(ok, that was wrong.. but... it's so tempting!)


----------



## Treasuremapper (Jul 4, 2004)

It sounds awful. There is something weird going on in the world outside of our little handpicked circle. Kids are permitted, and even encouraged, to win against other kids, with rough larger kids shoving toddlers aside for whatever it is they want.

Our dd went to an egg hunt, and it was a waste of time. But they had a 12 egg limit. I doubt she will ever want to go to one ever again.


----------



## AniellasMommy (Aug 4, 2006)

We've never done it with our kids. I went to the horrible pushing shoving competitive ones when I was little and always hated it. I remember staring at everyone going crazy thinking "Wow they are going crazy" and never actually getting around to finding eggs, then I was always sad and disappointed. I think my mom caught on to this actually because we just started doing our own in the backyard on Easter and making up our own rules. That's what we did this year. We just hid eggs around the house and the girls ran around to find them. (DD found the majority but every time she found one they would open it right away and share.














Fun, Cute and no one got hurt


----------



## poiyt (Jul 6, 2008)

I went to a community egg hunt when I was about 6, actually I would go every year - but I started that year. We grew up kind of poor, and this was our egg hunt - we didnt have one at home. I dont say this for sympathy - I had a great childhood. But i remember being soo disappointed when I would get like one chocolate egg, and get pushed out of the way. Other kids would have TONS..and I had none, I was so sad. What ended up happening, Im sorry to say now, was that when I was older (like 13) I would not push other kids out of the way - but I was really greedy...

Its made me not look to fondly on easter egg hunts


----------



## rainbowmoon (Oct 17, 2003)

I'm really glad we decided to forgo the community hunt and had our own at home!


----------



## NinaBruja (Jan 19, 2004)

i was excited and planning to take my kids to a local hunt.

in my old town our hunt was awesome, the first year i took my then 1yo dd i had time to take pics and she toddled around in her pretty dress finding eggs









im really glad i got crazy sick and had to send the kids to thier grandma's because i just saw the hunt i was planning to take them to on the news and omg! it was insanity. i had forgotten some hunts got like that!

were doing a late hunt when all the things are on sale







:


----------



## craftymom (Jun 27, 2005)

We stopped going to community egg hunts several years ago.

The kids were one thing. The parents were worse. Over 3 years we went to our neighborhood hunt, one in a wealthier area, and one on the beach. The parents were the same.

The organizers all do a countdown: when they'd get to 3, parents would start SHOVING their kids (I'm talking 3 year olds!) "Go! GO!" to get in there first. Some parents would go in WITH their kids, which is prohibited over like age 2 (ours are all grouped by age, the youngest kids go, then staff restocks, then the next age group, and so on).

I saw a father yell at a staff person who told him he could not help his kid get eggs because he was in the 4-5 group. I saw parents yell at their own kids to get more and hurry up. I saw parents yell at other people's kids to move or whatever, I saw parents scooping up eggs for their kids, I saw kids get knocked down by grownups. Pure insanity. For too much candy.

I also saw a lot of bored kids, and even embarrassed kids, and parents eating candy.


----------



## amandaleigh37 (Jul 13, 2006)

I haven't read the other replies yet....

but that's so sad







I can't believe some kids got NOTHING. Definitely not fair at all.

We went to an egg hunt yesterday, and DS was the youngest child (he's 2 1/2). There were about 20 kids total, and the organizer gave the little kids a "head start" (maybe 30 seconds) so they could be sure to at least pick up a few eggs. But even after the bigger kids were told "go!" there were SO many eggs that everyone left with a bag full. One older kid found the last egg (when everyone thought they were all gone) and came over and gave it to DS, which really was super sweet... DS had so much fun just watching the other kids, he would have been happy with just a few eggs anyway









For our family easter egg hunt (9 children, ages 1-9) each child has an assigned color or type of egg that are only for them. So nobody has to worry about things getting nasty or unfair. Everyone gets the same amount, and the little kids can take as long as they need to find their eggs.


----------



## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

Yikes, this thread is exactly why we just have our egg hunts at home (and yesterday our neighbor also had one that he invited our kids to). My kids would be the ones sitting on the side lines crushed that they didn't get many eggs...I just can't do that to them over something that's supposed to be fun. I'll stick to the home egg hunts. It's more fun anyhow.







:

ETA: I label our eggs too so they are only allowed to gather the ones with their names on it. Not only is it fair to the 2 year old (so the 5 year old doesn't take them all.







: ), but it helps our food allergic daughter to get things she can have. It was awesome watching them give eggs to the other person if they found one that didn't have their name on it.


----------



## claddaghmom (May 30, 2008)

Well after the last egg hunt where my poor brother was on the toilet when everyone else forgot him and started w/o him














we decided to try a new idea.

Now, we have an egg color assigned to each kid. So M will get green, B will get orange, etc. That way everyone ends up with the same number of eggs, but they still have fun scavenging for them. It also helps to figure out what is still hidden lol.


----------



## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

I've never heard of limits before. That is a good idea.

When I was a kid, it was as the op posted, except no pushing and shoving. Just a mad dash, with some getting many and others getting none. My sister got many and I got none, lol. I hated it, but would have been happy to watch my sister do it. I just didn't want to do it myself, yk? I hated it when I knew that my parents felt bad for me









In our previous town, it was a mad dash (divided by ages), but there were SO MANY eggs that the huge group of kids actually got bored after a minute or two and had to be coaxed to pick up the remaining eggs. So I am guessing that it was rare for a child to leave with no eggs.

Our current town divides by age, but simply doesn't scatter enough eggs. Some kids don't get many or any, even if there isn't shoving or hoarding. We went last year, and dd helped a younger child get some eggs after she got a couple. But we didn't go back this year, because it just wasn't much fun.


----------



## cedoreilly (May 21, 2005)

I have done three Easter eggs hunts this year (1 public event, one playgroup and one family). With the public one and playgroup one, they limited them to so many eggs. The public one announced once the young kids were done that if some kid did not get his number of eggs (I think it was 15) to come and see them because they had had extras. My oldest son had taken too many accidently and gave some of his to a toddler who had only a few. My youngest only had like 5 but he was still happy (He thought you picked up the egg, ate what was inside and then move onto another egg).

The playgroup one, they strictly limited to 7 eggs and checked all the under twos to make sure they got their fair share.

Our family is a free for all but it is only two families involved. My kids lump all their loot together so they never realize who got more (we do make sure their cousin did get her fair share).


----------



## indie (Jun 16, 2003)

I went to one once when I was a kid where another kid tricked me by telling me that certain eggs were only for the little kids so when I found them I put them back then later found out she was going behind me and taking them.

Our church one today seemed good. There were plenty of eggs for everyone as far as I could tell. They split it between little (0-4) and big (5 and up) kids with the teens as helpers. They did have special prizes for finding the gold and silver eggs. By some miracle, each of my girls got the golden egg in their age group. The little kid one was not well hidden and it still sat out for a long time. I do kind of wish they didn't do the special prizes, but its a long tradition and the teens organize the whole thing.


----------



## NinaBruja (Jan 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AllyRae* 
I label our eggs too so they are only allowed to gather the ones with their names on it. Not only is it fair to the 2 year old (so the 5 year old doesn't take them all.







: )

we dont label but i found that telling my eldest dd that if an egg is easy to find its for her sister, and to try to look for the harder 'big girl' eggs, has sufficed.


----------



## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Its the same way at our hunt. I had my almost 3 year old and the younger group he was with was packed full of parents and grandparents who would run ahead and claim the egg for their kid. It was disgusting.


----------



## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Is pushing little kids out of the way for a bit of candy that'll be marked down 90% in 3 days part of the "real world" that people say kids have to learn to cope with by putting up with bullies?

How do these people not see how stupid it all is?


----------



## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *poxybat* 
we dont label but i found that telling my eldest dd that if an egg is easy to find its for her sister, and to try to look for the harder 'big girl' eggs, has sufficed.

I'm 5 years older than my little brother, so after the year he was 2 and I was 7 and I found all the eggs before him (but left them there or moved them where he could see them better), I took over hiding the eggs at home. I'd even dress up using socks for ears just in case he peeked out.


----------



## bdoody11 (Aug 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mazajo* 
We went to 2 very very different ones this year. Last weekend, a big waterpark near here had a huge 'Egg-stravaganca'. All free, egg hunts, prizes, petting zoo, ect. It was SO crowded. They had the kids seperated by age, but there was still just so many. Me and my 3yo DS were towards the back of the crowd and the eggs were all picked up in two minutes flat, DS never even had a chance. We found two that I'm pretty sure had fallen out of somebody else's basket and we kept one and gave one to a little boy next to us. *The parents were way more competative than the kids*. Some had these huge baskets filled to the brim and some other kids were sobbing because they didn't have any at all. My DS just seemed confused by the whole thing.

Today we went to a smaller one that was held by a church right down the street. They didn't have a limit on how many eggs kids could get, but what they did was tell everybody to 'recycle' their eggs by putting them in this big bin afterwards, and then they all got a prize, which was a small Easter basket or bucket with a couple candy items and a little toy in it. Everybody who participated got a basket, whether they found one egg or 20. DS found about 10. Everybody was really nice and I'm pretty sure if some child had not found any eggs at all, there would have been plenty willing to share.

I know which one I'll be returning to next year!

I know! The parents were worse than the kids. We were in the 0-3 section and parents were running ahead and scooping up all the eggs. It was insane!! I mean, is this really the point? DD really could have cared less. She just wanted to go the slide and see the giant Easter bunny. It was just so sad that these parents are teaching this selfish behavior to their children. We hid eggs for DD in the backyard on Sunday and had a great time. We may try another hunt in town next year, but will definitely not go back to the community hunt.


----------



## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AllyRae* 
ETA: I label our eggs too so they are only allowed to gather the ones with their names on it. Not only is it fair to the 2 year old (so the 5 year old doesn't take them all.







: ), but it helps our food allergic daughter to get things she can have. It was awesome watching them give eggs to the other person if they found one that didn't have their name on it.

We don't do labels, but we hid a dozen, and each child could collect four. I was pleased to see that both ds1 and dd were finding eggs and leaving them, if they thought ds2 would be able to find them. It was really sweet that they both left them for their little brother.









DS1 took a long time to find the last one, which was good. He likes a challenge. I always hide one or two really well for him.


----------



## AVeryGoodYear (Mar 31, 2009)

This sort of thing sounds absolutely miserable. The "organizers" must not have any children... who would want to encourage that kind of competitiveness and cruelty?


----------



## Evan&Anna's_Mom (Jun 12, 2003)

Our church hunt (well, gather -- nothing to hide them behind) always has a limit as well as age divisions. Our private hunt is just 4 kids and my older kids are pretty good about sharing with their littler godbrothers.

Our upset this year was a a public park where a (private) playgroup was hosting a hunt. They had apparently scattered eggs around the grass early, making it totally unuseable for others. Then when DD (6) fell off her bike and accidently crushed an egg, someone started screaming at her for messing up their egg hunt! "Get away from those eggs! Those are for our playgroup, not for you!" Um... I'm sorry, this is a public park, it was an accident, and why are you yelling at my child?


----------



## Julia'sMom (Mar 12, 2007)

We took dd to her 1st easter egg hunt last year, when she was 1.5 years old. That one was nice. They had it divided by age, so she was in the under 2 category. All the chocolate eggs were tossed in the grass in a roped off area. The little ones were let in and parents couldn't joint them for 3 minutes (mostly to allow picture taking time without the parent's butts in all the shots














. Then parent's could come in and help. DD stood stock still for the full 3 minutes, even as volunteers put some eggs in her basket for her and tried to engage her. It took a while, but dh was finally able to get her engaged and she collected some.

Now, this year we are in a different town. The "egg hunt" was not divided by age and had no set start time. All the kids collected plastic eggs, then turned them in for candy. DD was only able to get 1 egg, since the older kids were so much faster and aggressive. I felt like a horrible parent, but I ran in and grabbed two eggs, just to throw on the ground for her to find once the mob passed. Regardless, all the kids got the same prize. While she didn't mind much this year, being only 2.5, I'm not doing it agin as I can see how easily feelings are hurt.







:


----------



## Jennifer3141 (Mar 7, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Evan&Anna's_Mom* 
Our upset this year was a a public park where a (private) playgroup was hosting a hunt. They had apparently scattered eggs around the grass early, making it totally unuseable for others. Then when DD (6) fell off her bike and accidently crushed an egg, someone started screaming at her for messing up their egg hunt! "Get away from those eggs! Those are for our playgroup, not for you!" Um... I'm sorry, this is a public park, it was an accident, and why are you yelling at my child?

You did a good job, mama. I'd have been making suggestions to the other person about where she/he could put that particular egg.


----------



## bmcneal (Nov 12, 2006)

I was *JUST* going to post something similar to this! The main difference was, it was the *parents* who were being so competitive! DD was in the 0-3 group, and a lot of the kids the parents were picking up the eggs, and some kids even had 2-3 adults picking up the eggs for them! DD got 1 egg. One mom even grabbed an egg she was reaching for! I was frozen with shock, and the mom was moving so fast... I couldn't say anything. The parents pushing DD around, shoving her, yelling at her... I heard one mom telling her (my guess, around 2) daughter "Get all the eggs you can, it doesn't matter how... If you have to hit/push/shove, get them!" Then she turned to me and said "Competition... You have to start them early."







I'm about in tears at how heartbroken DD was







They had candy around on the ground as well, and after I saw all the eggs were gone (when she had *finally* made it onto the field...) I encouraged her to get the candy, but by then, the parents were running around getting all the candy! What happened to easter egg hunts being fun?!?!?! (Of course, DD perked up when she saw the easter bunny and I let her have some candy, but dang if people can't be considerate of *kids*.) I think I'm going to write the newspaper and let them know. There were no rules at. all. So sad.







(We came home and DH, my sister and brother and I went out and got some eggs, and toy fillers and made her her own, which is what we'll be doing next year if we still can't go to a church held one.)

One thing I can recommend, though, is, if you aren't too opposed to it, go to a church easter egg hunt. I notice those tend to have more rules and at least they try and make it more fun (kids can still be nasty, but rules help a bit.) DH had to work and take the vehicle, otherwise, I would have taken DD to one of the church ones...


----------

