Did you do Easter hunts growing up?

[Stomachfullofchocolate]

I was a child of the 80’s, teen of the 90’s…I remember going to one Easter hunt as a child at a neighbours across the road, I had no idea what to do.
My parents would get me an egg for Easter for the morning and my grandparents would get me one…I was happy with that as I knew no different. We don’t go over the top in our house but I do plan a lovely egg hunt for Dd, get her some bunny ears/t-shirt etc and we do Easter activities -paint eggs, make Easter nests etc.
I’m not trying to sound like I’m perfect, I just enjoy doing it and it isn’t a massive hassle…I didn’t do any of it..we painted eggs at school and did nests so I suppose my mum didn’t think we needed to do anything else. But when I think about it, it’s like that with so many things…I do so much more with Dd and I work, whereas my mum was a Sahm for years. She wasn’t an awful mum, I’m not saying that at all, but things seem so different these days…even dinners were easy and things you just bunged in the oven (fishfingers, Findus crispy pancakes, chips etc) then she’d maybe cook from scratch on a Sunday. Breakfast was cereal in a bowl, no fruits, avocado on toast, eggs etc really like a lot of people nowadays. I think of all the things I bust my ass over and wondered why it wasn’t like that then or why just she wasn’t (not sure if that was the case or all motherhood was similar back then)
The thing she did do differently to me was a lot more daily cleaning…I’m rubbish and hire a cleaner as a treat as I prefer to put effort into spending time with Dd when I’m home and make better meals in general than in the 80’s.
Why didn’t my mum or maybe it was lots of other mums? Do these things?

A child of the 1960s and 70s here and easter egg hunts were unheard of in our neck of the woods. Though I did get plenty of easter eggs bought for me from friends and family.

My mum was a SAHM too. And yes, definitely spent much more time on housework than I ever did . Though TBF things were different - coal fires making more dust, no automatic washing machine etc.

I don’t remember my Mum spending huge amounts of time trying to entertain me as a small child or in the school holidays. But I think that back then the expectation was more that children learned how to fill their own time rather than having an adult lay on activities for them all the time. No bad thing IMO.

That is not to say our parents didn't do some things to spend time with us. We had family outings and picnics. Dad was very involved in organising all sorts of village stuff that we benefited from. Halloween wasn't a big thing then but we always had a bonfire, built a guy and had fireworks to set off. And in the dark nights when we couldn't go out much we often did board games or played cards.

Following on from above..

Yes my Mum did cook from scratch every night. Actually there probably wasn't the opportunity to do anything other then as not so many convenience foods. My parents didn't even have a fridge until I was about 4 and the freezer wasn't acquired until I was about 9 or 10 I think.

I think your experience was fairly typical for that era.

these days, we have celebs and normal people on social media showing all their outfits, props, decorations, eggs etc. So there’s expectation/pressure to do this stuff. When I was little, it was unthinkable to buy an Easter t shirt - not necessary and would have been more costly than clothes are today. it would never have occurred to me to want an Easter T-shirt. I wanted a chocolate egg and got them from parents and other relatives so I was happy with that.

in my day, we had Easter eggs and a roast dinner. No mention of the Easter bunny. We did Father Christmas but not trick or treating.

When I was little, it was unthinkable to buy an Easter t shirt - not necessary and would have been more costly than clothes are today. it would never have occurred to me to want an Easter T-shirt.
There are Easter t-shirts now? I have somehow managed to remain unaware of such nonsense. Is this a common thing now?

It's only in the last couple of generations that all these extras have become a thing. It's all down to marketing, the clever 'ad men'. It's all to do with encouraging us to spend money on things we don't need but which they've managed to convince us are a necessary part of a good childhood, and makes us good parents. It's a trap

I'm a late 60s child but maybe not typical. My DM did nothing with me. I had an egg or two and that was it. She didn't work.

I've always done alot more with my DS. We had hunts or games when he was small. I've always bought him an egg or two and a present and we usually eat out over Easter. He is very much an adult and still has an egg and a present!

Just remember there wasn’t fast fashion then like there is online or cheap places to buy clothes on high street. Also in regards to crafts, crafting wasn’t cheap it was expensive items here wasn’t pound stores and the works to buy these items for a few pound.

Born in 84. Did not do a single Easter egg hunt as a child and both of my parents were at home for lots of my childhood. We got a few Easter eggs and my grandmother would bring bags of treats.

I've staged a few egg hunts for my children, and I've had some years where they've just been presented with far too many eggs and we've made cakes and done painting together.

This year, me and the littlest one painted rocks, made easter nest cakes and I had them hunt for little eggs through the house and garden. I made the teenagers do the same thing. It would have been nicer if they'd all done it together, but the teens are in their selfish sleep phase, even when it comes to pleasing their little sibling.

I also never did any clubs or extracurricular things. My friends did brownies and all learnt a musical instrument. I wanted to do both desperately and would ask all the time. So would my sisters. It was "too expensive." I think it was also that they didn't do anything like it when they were little and they were very young parents. But "too expensive" was the refrain.

Not too expensive for my dad to smoke 20 cigs a day though, we noted.

My children have done swimming lessons, beavers and cubs, St johns ambulance, army cadets, piano and guitar lessons, dance lessons, martial arts..... I let them try anything they want to have a go at and if they want to stick at it, I'll happily pay. I'm not flush with cash but making sure my kids would be able to do clubs was a hard line for me.

Grew up in 70s / 80s. Never did an egg hunt, wasn't aware of them. Would get a couple of eggs from parents/ relatives.
DD grew up in 90s. She never did an egg hunt (at home) either.
Seems to have survived.

Not in the 60s

I was a child in the 60s. I can remember my parents doing an incredibly complicated Easter egg hunt involving written clues, different clues for 3 kids hidden through the house. If you found another child’s clue you had to leave it. It went on and on. One and only time they did an egg hunt.

No and I’m not remotely bothered. If you were bought an egg and enjoyed some family time then that’s more than enough. My kids don’t do egg hunts or balloons either- they just get gifted eggs and a little cash and go for a day out or do some baking. Most of this stuff is for social media anyway- my Facebook yesterday was full of kids looking forced to stand in a line with forced smiles alongside their siblings with their ‘found’ eggs yesterday- not for me. If my children asked to do it then I’d sort it but they don’t seem remotely interested.

I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s and didn't know egg hunts were a thing until I started seeing them on American tv shows.

I vaguely remember making Easter cards at primary school, and when I was very little, my mum would make my sister and I Easter bonnets to wear at the local church service in the little village we were from. There was an Easter egg prize for the best bonnet!

80s kid, never heard of egg hunts till a few yrs ago. I did grow up in an extremely hot country where chocolate eggs were imported from the UK, so while we were bought one it was strictly one each and a modest size, not massive. That was it. My mum was also v strict with sugar so wouldn’t have bought us more than one anyway.