Keep A Record

Always make a note of how many eggs you’ve used and where they’re hidden. There’s nothing worse than smelling a rotten egg in July or finding melted chocolate under the couch cushions!

Set Boundaries

For safety, establish borders when planning an outdoor hunt, suggests Jane Brown, mother of four in Whitby, Ont.. Tell kids to stay between the house and the first maple tree, for instance, or to go no farther than the mailbox. “I forgot one year and the kids were in the woods behind the house for ages,” says Brown. “They came back very upset that they hadn’t found anything.”

Draw A Map

Keep things interesting by setting up a treasure hunt for kids, says Brown. Give each child a map using picture clues for non-readers. Cut out a picture of a chair, for instance, or draw a coffee table to show them where the eggs are. Then be a bit sneaky by hiding another map at one of the clues. Use riddles for older kids and lead them to more difficult places, such as a specific novel on the book shelf.

Add A Piñata

If you’re using plastic eggs, place them in a piñata once they’ve been found. Have the children take turns hitting it with a plastic bat while blindfolded. The one who finally bursts it open wins something special.

Planning a neighbourhood or church group hunt? Here are a few tips from the organizers of the Guinness World Record holder for the largest Easter egg hunt. More than 1,500 children searched for over 292,000 eggs at this hunt in Rockford Park District in Illinois.

Set A Limit

Figure out your maximum number of participants before the hunt and stick to it. Hand out only that number of egg collection bags in the beginning to help keep your hunt under control. Ask a local store to donate the bags—it’s free advertising for them!

Use Plastic Eggs

Real eggs can crack and it’s time-consuming to cook and dye a huge batch. Instead, choose the plastic variety and ask everyone to return them at the end of the hunt so you can reuse them next year.

Supply Good Prizes

Every child should get a candy prize for participating. As well, have small prizes such as free ice cream cones, arcade passes or popcorn donated by local shops. For the grand prize, choose something that kids will really love, like a bike or DVD player.

Hide The Prize Inside

Go for random winners, rather than the children who have the most eggs. Simply place a note inside a certain number of eggs to declare the victors.

Stay Safe

Think about your location carefully beforehand, and be aware of hazards such as water and traffic. An open space such as a football field is ideal. Make sure everyone knows where the boundaries of the hunt are, and if you have a large number of kids, have parents be responsible for keeping an eye on them.

$1.9 Billion Of Easter Candy Bought

Easter is the second most important candy-eating occasion of the year for Americans, who consumed 7 billion pounds of candy in 2001, according to the National Confectioner’s Association.

• In 2000, Americans spent nearly $1.9 billion on Easter candy, while Halloween sales were nearly $2 billion; Christmas, an estimated $1.4 billion; and Valentine’s Day, just over $1 billion.
• Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.
• Chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first, according to 76% of Americans. Five percent said bunnies should be eaten feet first, while 4% favored eating the tail first.
• Adults prefer milk chocolate (65%), to dark chocolate (27%).

• Each Easter season, Americans buy more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps, shaped like chicks, as well as Marshmallow Bunnies and Marshmallow Eggs, making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.
• As many as 4.2 million Marshmallow Peeps, bunnies, and other shapes can be made each day.
• In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today it takes six minutes.
• Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white.

• Americans consume 16 billion jellybeans at Easter, many of them hidden in baskets. If all the Easter jellybeans were lined end to end, they would circle the globe nearly three times.
• Jellybeans did not become an Easter tradition until the 1930s. They were probably first made in America by Boston candy maker William Schrafft, who ran advertisements urging people to send jellybeans to soldiers fighting in the Civil War.
• 70% of kids aged 6–11 say they prefer to eat Easter jellybeans one at a time, while 23% report eating several at once. Boys (29%) were more apt to eat a handful than girls (18%).
• Children indicate their favorite Easter jellybean flavors are cherry (20%), strawberry (12%), grape (10%), lime (7%), and blueberry (6%).

• Each Easter season, Americans buy more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps, shaped like chicks, as well as Marshmallow Bunnies and Marshmallow Eggs, making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.
• As many as 4.2 million Marshmallow Peeps, bunnies, and other shapes can be made each day.
• In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today it takes six minutes.
• Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white.

• Americans consume 16 billion jellybeans at Easter, many of them hidden in baskets. If all the Easter jellybeans were lined end to end, they would circle the globe nearly three times.
• Jellybeans did not become an Easter tradition until the 1930s. They were probably first made in America by Boston candy maker William Schrafft, who ran advertisements urging people to send jellybeans to soldiers fighting in the Civil War.
• 70% of kids aged 6–11 say they prefer to eat Easter jellybeans one at a time, while 23% report eating several at once. Boys (29%) were more apt to eat a handful than girls (18%).
• Children indicate their favorite Easter jellybean flavors are cherry (20%), strawberry (12%), grape (10%), lime (7%), and blueberry (6%).

• The wolf is the ancestor of all breeds of domestic dog. It is part of a group of animals called the wild dogs which also includes the dingo and the coyote.

• Most wolves weigh about 40 kilograms but the heaviest wolf ever recorded weighed over 80 kilograms!

• Adult wolves have large feet. A fully grown wolf would have a paw print nearly 13 centimeters long and 10 centimeters wide.

• Wolves live and hunt in groups called a pack. A pack can range from two wolves to as many as 20 wolves depending on such factors as habitat and food supply. Most packs have one breeding pair of wolves, called the alpha pair, who lead the hunt.

• Wolf pups are born deaf and blind while weighing around 0.5 kg (1 lb). It takes about 8 months before they are old enough to actively join in wolf pack hunts.

• Wolves in the Arctic have to travel much longer distances than wolves in the forest to find food and will sometimes go for several days without eating.

• When hunting alone, the wolf catches small animals such as squirrels, hares, chipmunks, raccoons or rabbits. However, a pack of wolves can hunt very large animals like moose, caribou and yaks.

• When the pack kills an animal, the alpha pair always eats first. As food supply is often irregular for wolves, they will eat up to 1/5th of their own body weight at a time to make up for days of missed food.

• Wolves have two layers of fur, an undercoat and a top coat, which allow them to survive in temperatures as low at minus 40 degrees Celsius! In warmer weather they flatten their fur to keep cool.

• A wolf can run at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour during a chase. Wolves have long legs and spend most of their time trotting at a speed of 12-16 kilometers per hour. They can keep up a reasonable pace for hours and have been known to cover distances of 90 kilometers in one night.