Egg hunt
Encyclopedia
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
during which decorated eggs, real hard-boiled ones or artificial, filled with or made of chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
candies, of various sizes, are hidden in various places for children to find. The game may be both indoors and outdoors. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
in Pagan celebrations of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the rebirth of man at Easter. The egg symbol was likened to the tomb from which Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
arose. Traditionally the game is associated with Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
and Easter egg
Easter egg
Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans...
s (Easter egg hunt), but it has also been popular with spring time birthday parties.
When the hunt is over, prizes may be given out for various achievements, such as the largest number of eggs collected, for the largest or smallest egg, for the most eggs of a specific color, consolation prizes, booby prize
Booby prize
A booby prize is a joke prize usually given in recognition of a terrible performance or last-place finish. A person who finishes last, for example, may get a booby prize such as a worthless coin. Booby prizes are sometimes humorously and jokingly coveted as an object of pride.Booby prizes, however,...
s, etc.
Real eggs may further be used in egg tapping
Egg tapping
The egg tapping game or egg fight is a traditional Easter game. The rule is very simple: to hold a hard-boiled egg and tap eggs of other participants to break them but to keep your own undamaged...
contests. If eggs filled with confetti
Confetti
Confetti is a multitude of pieces of paper, mylar or metallic material which is usually thrown at parades and celebrations, especially weddings . Confetti is made in a variety of colors, and commercially available confetti is available in imaginative shapes...
left from Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
(cascarones
Cascarones
Cascarones or confetti eggs are festive, hollowed-out chicken eggs filled with confetti or small toys, originating in China.In Spanish, cáscara means eggshell. Cascarones are similar to the Easter eggs popular in many other countries....
) are used, then an egg fight may follow.
Nettle
Nettles constitute between 24 and 39 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby...
s or thorn
Thorns, spines, and prickles
In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...
s.
Egg hunts are a subject of the Guinness Book of World Records. For example, Homer, Georgia
Homer, Georgia
Homer is a town in Banks County, Georgia, United States. The population was 950 at the 2000 census. The city of Homer has a mayor, Doug Cheek, and five City Councilpersons, Sandra Garrison, Jerry Payne, Chris Tucker, Keven Cape. and Betty Boarders...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was listed in 1985 with 80,000 eggs to hunt in a town of 950 people (no longer a record).
See also
- Egg rollingEgg rollingEgg rolling, or an Easter egg roll is a traditional game played with eggs at Easter. Different nations have different versions of the game, usually played with hard-boiled, decorated eggs.- History :...
- Egg tappingEgg tappingThe egg tapping game or egg fight is a traditional Easter game. The rule is very simple: to hold a hard-boiled egg and tap eggs of other participants to break them but to keep your own undamaged...
- Egg and spoon raceEgg and spoon raceAn egg-and-spoon race is a sporting event in which participants must carry an egg or other roundish object on a teaspoon, tablespoon or wooden spoon and race to the finish line without dropping the egg or without running while the egg is not on the spoon...
- Egg danceEgg danceAn egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them damaging as few as possible...
- Pace Egg playPace Egg playThe Pace Egg Plays are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme, in which St George smites all challengers and the fool, Toss Pot, rejoices...