I remember when my daughter was a toddler, and we took her to a friend’s house for the annual Easter egg hunt her family had held for decades. I never saw so many plastic eggs spread along a piece of property like that before, and this was long before the helicopter egg drops that seem to be popular now. If you’re like me, there’s no helicopter at my church to make the egg hunt happen, so I need to be strategic with planning and preparing for a church Easter egg hunt in our community.
Planning a church easter egg hunt doesn’t have to be complicated.
Set the event date, location, and time.
Create shareable graphics for social media postings
Add the event to your church bulletin, website, and app.
Request and sign up volunteers for the event.
You know your facility and grounds better than anyone. Build upon what you provide volunteer-wise on a Sunday holiday service, and then don’t forget:
Egg hiders
Parking lot attendants with wagons to help families
Greeters throughout the grounds
Registration table workers
First aid stations (who knew egg hunts might require bandaids?)
Clean up crew
Collect the plastic-colored eggs.
If you didn’t purchase clearance-priced plastic eggs at the end of last season, make note to do that this year so you’ll have even more on hand.
Ask congregants to donate one dozen plastic eggs per child in their family.
Assign a drop-off location and due date
Collect candy.
While you can’t combat every food allergy, you can request individually wrapped candy pieces to minimize cross-contamination.
Assign a drop-off location and due date.
Collect and/or customize goodies.
Silicone bracelets, bouncy balls, stickers, and scripture tattoos are all great additions to the candy in plastic eggs, especially if you’re incorporating a children’s message prior to the beginning of the egg hunt.
Fill the eggs.
Get the youth group involved by providing them with pizza and fellowship after they fill the eggs for the event.
Still have more eggs to fill? Great! Host a senior group’s coffee hour and put them to work.
Hide the eggs.
Be mindful of the children’s ages and scatter/hide them accordingly.
If you’re expecting a large turnout, rope off or mark the areas by age groups with the oldest group finding the furthest away eggs and the youngest group being right near the starting line.
Colorful flags and volunteers at the designated areas will make all the difference once the hunt begins and is high up on the list of best tips for planning an easter egg hunt for churchgoers and the community.
Decorate.
Your welcome table should be just that: welcoming- balloon archways, bright colors, and smiling faces will let people know they’re in the right spot and you’re excited to have them.
If you are asking parents to sign in, remember that their family is excited to be there- keep it short and sweet so they can connect with others before the hunt begins.
Create a photo backdrop and have a designated photographer on the premises to help attendees get the photos they want.
Our smartphones take incredible images, so make sure you capture them for social media and your website to share.
Tip: Instagram and Pinterest are chock full of ideas if you need more inspiration. There are 1.6 million posts found under the search bar for #easterdecor and almost as many for #easteregghunt on Instagram, for example.
Clean up.
Accessible trash cans are the easiest way to encourage people to clean up after themselves and to be proactive in helping out. Making it easy and convenient is a clean-up win-win!
Volunteers are a must here. I’m sure there are members in your congregation who are all about the setup and clean up versus the greeting and facilitating of the events, much like my own Dad. Lean into that and utilize their gifts.
Evaluate and follow up.
What went right? What went just okay? And what went wrong? Send a survey to your staff and volunteers about their experience. Run the data. This honest information will go a long way in planning future events.
Following up with your attendees lets them know you recognize their presence and you’d welcome them back. Include a personal email address (not info@churchname.com) to communicate a personal interest in building a relationship. And if these children are anything like our daughter, all those many moons ago, we continued to hide eggs around the house for her to hunt and discover for m-o-n-t-h-s after her first eggstravaganza. It was a reminder of the fun day she had. This is about more than simply implementing easter egg hunt ideas for church events. It’s welcome to a life transformed! Seize the opportunity to do a little more to make a bigger impact- Easter is the Good News which makes all the difference in our lives and eternity. He is risen!
SIMPLE STEPS TO TURN THE BIG DAY INTO A BIG YEAR FOR YOUR CHURCH.
Your church will see an influx of visitors this Easter. Use these tips to ensure you keep them coming back. A well-thought-out plan gives your church the best opportunity to leverage Easter into sustainable growth.
This free resource will cover:
- Preparing for your Big Day
- Making your Big Day Special
- Easter Follow-Up That Works
- Customizable Outreach Templates
- And More!
Donna is ACS Technologies’ Chief Customer Officer. Her focus is on strategic planning and operations of the customer experience organization. This includes Implementation, Ministry Success, Learning, Training, and Customer Service. Donna’s focus and passion have always been for our ministry partners as she has worked in the service part of the organization her entire career. Donna joined the company in 1985 as a Customer Support Representative.
