When I was a child, I had no idea that I had low vision, as I assumed that everyone else around me also had double and blurry vision. Since I didn’t have a file with the Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired until I was in high school, my family and I had no idea that adaptive Easter egg hunts were a thing, and instead the people around me figured out how to make Easter egg hunts accessible for low vision through trial and error. Here are my favorite tips for how to make Easter egg hunts accessible for low vision people, with a focus on adapting existing Easter egg hunt materials.
Use bright-colored eggs
One of the most useful tips for learning how to make Easter egg hunts accessible for low vision is to use bright-colored eggs that easily pop against surfaces. Instead of putting green eggs in green grass, it’s helpful to use colors that provide more contrast against the surface so that they are easier to see.
Related links
- Decorating Easter Eggs With Low Vision
- Choosing High Contrast Color Schemes For Low Vision
- How To Order Custom Colors for Blindness Canes
Tie balloons to the eggs so that they are easier to find
One of the posts on the Paths to Technology blog from Perkins School for the Blind suggests tying balloons to Easter eggs so that they are easier to locate, and easier to pick up as well. Using balloons with Easter eggs not only helps people who are low vision or blind, but also helps people who use mobility aids or that have trouble bending over to pick up eggs- the eggs can be picked up by lifting the balloon string. It helps to have the eggs at eye-level so that they are easier to find.
Related links
Have people partner up
When I was younger, I would typically partner up with my brother or friend so that they could help me find eggs more easily, or I would follow other kids so that I could get an idea of where the eggs were. When my friend’s church hosted an Easter egg hunt when we were in college, they had everybody partner up so that we could find more eggs. It helps that there was a limit to how many eggs people could find- I think each person was allowed to find 10 eggs total for the activity.
Related links
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
- School Field Trips And Low Vision
- How Do People With Visual Impairments Guide Each Other?
Put eggs at eye level instead of on the ground
One of the Easter egg hunts hosted in my neighborhood took a different approach to hiding Easter eggs that was inclusive of people with low vision. Instead of having eggs hidden on the ground, they hid eggs at eye level in various locations so that the eggs were easier to spot, but still in unexpected locations. Prior to the event, I found one egg on top of a tree/bush while on a walk, a few eggs on top of mailboxes on the street, and sitting in chairs that had been set out specifically for the event, among other locations. The Easter egg hunt I attended in college also had several eggs hidden indoors so that people would not have to bend over- they were in places like couches, classroom desks, on music stands, and even a few resting on the piano.
Add glow sticks or tea lights to the eggs
Another option for making Easter egg hunts accessible for low vision is to add glow sticks or tea lights to eggs so that they are brighter and easier to find in low-lighting conditions. When my friend hosted an Easter egg hunt, they added small glow sticks they had found at the dollar store to the inside of the egg, along with candy, and then hid the eggs in their backyard on a cloudy day for family members to find. The kids still had to look around for the eggs, but they were much easier to find when they were glowing brightly in the grass.
Related links
Label allergens with a colored sticker
Some Easter egg hunts I have observed required that candies with peanut butter, milk, or other common allergens be labeled so that people could avoid eating candy that would trigger a reaction. Instead of using a written label, I had the hosts add colored stickers to the eggs, and had a chart set up so that kids who were allergic to certain foods could see which color corresponded to their allergy- for example, red sticker for peanuts, blue sticker for milk, green sticker for coconut, etc. This was also helpful for parents, as they could look in the basket and quickly identify if a candy was not safe to eat, even if the wrapper was otherwise obscured.
Check out beeping Easter eggs
For people who want to add another element of fun to an Easter egg hunt, consider buying beeping Easter egg hunts or attending a beeping Easter egg hunt for blind and low vision children. These Easter egg hunts are a great way to practice sound localization and other orientation and mobility techniques.
Summary of how to make Easter egg hunts accessible for low vision
- Use bright-colored eggs that provide good contrast against the surface area
- Tie balloons to the eggs so that they are easier to locate and pick up
- Have people partner up to find more eggs, and consider setting a limit for how many eggs can be found
- Put eggs at eye level instead of on the ground
- Add glow sticks or tea lights to the inside of eggs
- Label allergens with large print or a colored sticker so they can be quickly identified
- Consider trying beeping Easter eggs for a different type of Easter egg hunt
