Avoiding Easter Candy Contention
by Rachel Webb Copyright ©2001

Easter Eggs hunts are a wonderful opportunity for parents to sit back and enjoy seeing their beautiful children dressed up in spotless, new Easter attire with their new tie or Easter bonnets. 

The children's excitement sets the perfect mood for the glorious spring day and offers award winning picture taking moments to treasure. The birds are chirping, the flowers are in bloom...ok, reality check! If you have children and you have candy up for grabs - you have just created a potential disaster or at least a heavy dose of conflict. Here are some tips for preventing Easter candy contention. 

ASSIGN COLORED RIBBONS
If your children are varied in age, try hiding their eggs, candy and other loot according to their ability to find it. For example, I assign each child a different color with the instructions that even if they find loot tied with a colored ribbon that is not their color it belongs to someone else - keep searching. By color coordinating the Easter egg hunt I can alter the degree of difficulty per child. Its also a fun way to teach younger children their colors!

A CHALLENGING HUNT
Avoiding contention can be as easy as keeping the whole family involved and busy in the activity - regardless of age. I believe that you are never to old to participate in an Easter egg hunt. To make the hunt a real challenge for the whole family consider holding the hunt in a location the kids are unfamiliar with. Our family had Easter picnics in the mountains, lakeside and even at the sand-dunes. The older kids were given a 1/2 mile radius where the goodies might be hid. Mom would always count the amount of treats so she could send us back out to find the renegade eggs we missed. It was not unusual to find left over Easter candy at our Forth of July picnic though.

AVOID THE SUGAR HIGH
Eating a ton of candy in one sitting is not healthy for kids and can be especially damaging to their teeth - not to mention the hyper activity it can cause in some children. Letting the kids choose a few pieces of candy per day is one option but I like to suggest letting the Easter bunny deliver alternative items. http://www.partywithJanel.com has lots of Easter basket stuffer ideas. E-Mail Janel@partywithjanel.com and mention this article for a 10% discount. Easter is the perfect time for the Easter bunny to give new spring sandals, Easter outfits, new school supplies, games or small toys and they are just as much fun to hide and seek!

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