When I was younger, my parents hid the traditional plastic eggs filled with candy. I loved it, and so did my dentist. Skip the cavities this year and give Easter Gift Cards instead. Great for nieces and nephews, this gift won’t melt in the car or send the kids on a sugar high. There’s still plenty of traditional games and egg hunts you can do without involving candy.
Easter Traditions Around the World
Egg Rolling
Children in the UK roll decorated eggs down English hillsides, competing to see which child has the egg that can roll the furthest without breaking. A similar tradition is upheld in Germany where a prize is given to the contestant whose egg rolls the fastest on a track made from sticks. In the US, the racer is an active participant pushing hardboiled eggs across the lawn towards a finnish line using a long handled spoon. Egypt has a different take. There, children try to crack a row of eggs by rolling red and yellow eggs toward them. The contestant who cracks one gets to keep them all. Instead of awarding the winning racer with candy, give them a gift card they can spend on new clothes, toys, or whatever their little heart desires.
Egg Decorating
I knew about painted and dyed eggs, but I didn’t realize some egg shells are strong enough to carve. Egg decorating has become so popular, there’s an International Egg Art Guild where artists promote “egg artistry.” Techniques include wax resist and drilling to create high relief images from the egg shell. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard enough time carving pumpkins for Halloween.
Egg Hunt
The Guinness World Record for most entrants in an egg hunt competition is 12,773, achieved in London in 2012. Entrants texted a code found on the individual eggs hidden all across London, raising their chances of winning with each code texted in. This egg hunt lasted ten days! While most egg hunts are not this elaborate, it’s one of the most popular Easter traditions in the United States. Hide painted eggs or plastic eggs with notes inside. Award a gift card to the participant who found the most, or discovered the egg with the winning note hidden inside.
Egg Tapping
This game involves players “tapping” hard boiled eggs against each other, eliminating contestants until the winner is the last person with an egg still intact. It’s played in Austria, Bavaria, Ukraine, and several other European countries.
I’m probably going to skip the egg tapping this year, but I’m excited to give out Easter Gift Cards. GiftCard.com makes it so simple, mailing everything for me in colorful Easter greeting card. Once I’ve decorated my eggs, I can share them with my friends and family in the US and overseas by snapping a picture and creating a custom gift card or after the hunt.
Start a new Easter tradition of giving
Easter Gift Cards or
design your own to spread some Easter cheer without the sticky mess or cavities.
Rebecca Killam
Marketing Associate
