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Easter egg hunts are an annual favorite. Easter falls on a Sunday so it's a weekend for The Whole Family.
The weather is warming up, fresh spring chickens are chirping, and it's time to get out of the house for some fun.
Today, I'm sharing my senior-first playbook for an Easter egg hunt that's safe for all ages and especially accommodating to the needs of elderly people with mobility challenges and memory loss. People like my dad who has Parkinson's and dementia.
Since Grandma and Grandpa were little, the ideal setting for an Easter egg hunt has never changed.
You want a bright, sunny, warm day with a perfect blue sky, fluffy clouds, neon green grass, and lovely tulip petals. Bunnies should be bouncing around, and the entire family should be hunting for colorful, sparkly, tie-dye, contrasted, glossy, matte, big, small.
If the weather forecast is miserable, you can choose a pavilion. Most localities allow you to reserve a party pavilion in a park. Fresh, festive indoor decorations for in-place seniors.
For those with more advanced mobility challenges, you could even arrange the Easter egg hunt around them.
These are all ways you can make sure the temperature and atmosphere are nice for your annual Easter egg extravaganza.
You could literally hide the eggs in curious little places within arm's length of the living room chair where people like my dad spend most of their time.
Grabbing a couple of eggs at your next trip to Meijer and placing them around your loved one's living room throne might be the easiest way to celebrate Easter with a family member who's well into aging.
I've really opened my eyes to shaking hands with local communities and organizations. I was able to look up Easter events in my Central Michigan County, and I found more than one church organization plus a children's-focused event on the very day of Easter.
Even if you're not religious, if you join in, you'll probably have fun!
If you are religious, it's a nice reminder of the true meaning behind Easter holiday.
If getting out of the house to an Easter egg hunt is enough without planning the Easter egg hunt yourself, you could just join a local Easter egg event that's already taking place. I live in rural Michigan, and I found three within 20 minutes driving distance.
The core idea is to provide instructions or conditions that make it a cognitive challenge, like a scavenger hunt for dementia.
And let's not overcomplicate things.
You exercise the memory and cognition by reading words, photos, or clues, as needed, and on Easter Sunday, those had better be holiday-appropriate.
You could print out a picture of a hatched chick or put the word "Chick" on a piece of paper.
You can find memory cards and themed cards for children available on Amazon. Incorporate them into your Easter egg hunt so you have to remember all the things that Easter is about.
For seniors with dementia, it might be crossing a line to dress up in a bunny costume.
As my dad's perception of reality drifts further and further away from my own, I'm not sure if dressing up in a bunny suit would help or hurt the situation, and I'm not trying to find out.
Remember what happened when my dad got trapped watching Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio on Netflix…
In 2023, there is no shortage of variety in Easter egg decorations, party favors, and stuff you need to organize an Easter egg hunt for your family or an entire community.
For seniors in particular, you can buy accessible Easter egg hunt equipment that'll help people of all ages find eggs and put them in the basket without getting yolk on their faces.
Bigger eggs are easier for people to pick up with their fingers. They're easier for people to see with their eyes too.
The same goes for bigger and lightweight baskets. A basket with a flat bottom will be much easier than one with a rounded bottom. A tipsy-turvy basket is never the easiest way to get an egg into the right place.
When you're choosing your color scheme, go for the contrast. I know those soft pastels are nice and modern, but the high contrast glossy bold eggs are the way for people with eyesight challenges to more easily spot those eggs and their hiding spots.
Make the hiding spots easier for crying out loud. For aging seniors with achy backs, bending down is a bother.
For at least a dozen eggs in your repertoire, why not place them in an elevated egg hiding spot so that nobody has to bend down and risk back, heart, or respiratory problems. When you bend over, it puts pressure on your body.
Accessible seating areas will be an absolute must, as at some point, everybody's going to want to sit down to have some picnic snacks.
If you're inviting people to come to your Easter egg hunt, it would be a good idea to choose a venue with paved and flat surfaces.
You could even provide wheelchair ramps or walkers and canes for guests to use if they choose to.
If you're organizing an Easter scavenger hunt and inviting people outside your family, you could pick volunteers to pair with seniors.
These exceptionally able-bodied volunteers can partner up with seniors with one common mission: to find the most eggs of any other pair.
Pay attention to members' dietary restrictions. My dad has diabetes, what does your mom have? My wife has a Ninja juicer and makes him real healthy stuff. I highly recommend it for Easter. It works well.
Picnic sandwiches with some hard-boiled egg salad sandwiches, hot dogs, and hamburgers or however you may run your own particular Easter egg delicacies.
Imagine the Easter Bunny came for a visit and brought you a basket full of his favorite munching nubbins! To my generationally integrated family’s delight!
