Birds were chirping, and the sun was shining. You could practically hear laughter in the air. It is the time of the year when children all over the US look for a massive scavenger hunt. And what are they searching for? Well, eggs of course!
Easter, along with Christmas and Halloween, is one of the most egg-citing holidays that people of all ages can enjoy. What’s not fun about the opportunity to find candy, toys, and possibly a good egg to crack on someone else’s head? And in our little town of Huntsville we don’t disappoint.
One of the most anticipated events during the spring semester is the annual Wynne Home Arts Center Easter Egg Hunt. Alina Ward, an SHSU junior and the Wynne Home intern, organized this event, adding a fun little twist to it that cracked everyone up.
Alina prepared for months in advance, and the night before the big event, we gathered together for final preparation.
The next day, we arrived at the Wynne Home anxious to see what the day had in store for us. We set up our tables, put up signs, and began to hide the eggs around the Wynne home.
Before we began to welcome families, we decided to imitate the Easter Bunny and take some eggstravagant leaping photos.
As families began to arrive, we opened up our arts and crafts area, which was a popular destination for them; we had kids decorating plastic eggs and some made cascarones, or confetti eggs, to use later on. The children had many different ideas for decorating their eggs. One child made his egg into an Easter Bunny, while others painted their egg with their favorite colors..
We had about 75 children–and another 100-plus parents–attend this year’s egg hunt, all eager to hunt and play games. One of our more popular games was the donut game: the object of which was to eat a donut off of a string without using hands.
The game was a lot of fun but created a sticky situation.
Less sticky, but no less intense, were our sack races, which were also a big hit with the kids rushing and jumping to win!
All winners received a ticket that earned them a prize from the prize table that was managed by Victoria and Chase.
Before the hunt the Easter Bunny came out to say hello to all of the children. Some kids were excited to see her while others hid behind their parents or cried when she walked by.
The clock showed 11:30 and Alina Ward made the big announcement. The Easter egg hunt was about to begin. We split the kids up by age groups: 0-5, 6-10, and 11 and over. The LEAP Ambassadors helped things and hide about 2,000 eggs for the children to find. Each of the age groups had different locations around the house to search for their eggs; Alina yelled “Start” and all of the kids stormed onto the lawn to find colorfully shiny eggs. The kids were cheerful as they raced to gather as many as possible.
After the hunt, everyone lined up for hot dogs, grilled by Stephanie Fors, our team mom and a continuous supporter of the LEAP Center. Makayla and Ryan also helped to distribute chips, cookies, and drinks.
Our final event for the afternoon was the breaking of the piñatas.
We gave each child a chance to hit the piñata three times, and then give others a turn. It wasn’t long before the candy was falling like rain.
After cleaning up, some of the LEAP girls decided to have a mini photo shoot in the beautiful back lawn of the Wynne Home. This reminded some of us that we have four weeks until graduation and that we would miss being a part of community events like this.
We would like to thank the Friends of the Wynne and the LEAP Center for their donations, as well as the hard-working volunteers for coming out to help make all of this possible.
This event is a fun tradition that we hope to see everyone at next year!
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 