Many children around the world follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and exchanging
them for baskets of candy. In some countries, children put out empty baskets for the Easter Bunny to
fill while they sleep. When they wake up, kids find their baskets filled with candy eggs, chocolates, and
other treats.
Fun fact: since the rabbit is a pest in Australia, the Easter Bilby - a native Australian marsupial, is
available as an alternative.
Egg Hunting. Enjoyed by kids, teens, and adults of
many ages, Easter egg hunting is a gleeful spring
tradition, usually held for children to search for
hidden, decorated, or candy-filled plastic eggs.
The original, religious activity, started centuries
ago in Germany, initially symbolized finding the
empty tomb. Over time, its significance was
fundamentally altered and now it’s almost
exclusively centered on social gatherings with fun,
crafts, and games.
Typically, parents hide plastic or colored eggs,
about a dozen or more, in a designated, safe area,
like a yard, park or garden, easily accessible to
children. These hidden eggs are filled with small
treasures, such as candy, coins, stickers, or small
toys. Kids try to locate the eggs using clues for a
scavenger hunt, which may involve using letters
hidden in eggs to spell out prizes, with the final egg
usually leading to a larger basket.
There’s often a special, grand prize for finding a
specific, "golden" egg. Sometimes in a reversal of
roles, it’s the children who guide parents to hidden
eggs. This new tradition has been embraced by
members of other religions, as it caters to kids
from many different cultures who like to
participate in Easter egg hunting.
Fun fact: British chocolate company Cadbury
manufactured their first Easter egg in 1875
and nowadays it sponsors the annual egg
hunt which takes place in over 250 National
Trust locations in the United Kingdom.
Egg Coloring and Decorating. This centuries-
old custom reflects the long history of the
diverse populations living and practicing their
religion within and outside predominantly
Christian countries. Easter eggs are a widely
popular symbol of new life among the Eastern
Orthodox Christianity, but also in older folk
traditions within Slavic countries and beyond.
Originally colored in red, to symbolize the
blood shed by Jesus Christ at crucifixion,
nowadays Easter eggs display a variety of
nuances and designs, following wider cultural
trends and regional variations. Traditional
decorating processes produce intricate
patterns on brilliantly colored eggs. The
designs are deeply symbolic, featuring motifs
representing nature (leaves, wheat, sun), daily
tools, zoological representations, geometrical
shapes, and spirituality (the cross).