Do it your way: Find the right Easter activity for you and your family
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- People enjoy the Easter Extravaganza at University Place in Orem.
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- Dinosaur statues sit in the Courtesy Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park.
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- People enjoy the Easter Extravaganza at University Place in Orem.
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- People enjoy the Easter Extravaganza at University Place in Orem.
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- People enjoy the Easter Extravaganza at University Place in Orem.
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- People enjoy the Easter Extravaganza at University Place in Orem.
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- Dinosaur statues sit in the Courtesy Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park.
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- Dinosaur statues sit in the Courtesy Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park.
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- Dinosaur statues sit in the Courtesy Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park.
One of the annual traditions that heralds the arrival of spring in Utah is the Easter holiday.
The occasion, which is uniquely determined by falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, is religious in nature in its Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. While there are many worship services dedicated to the spiritual side, there are also many activities that everyone in our communities can enjoy.
One of the most common events is Easter egg hunts, which have become a traditional activity for many at this time of year.
Most sources indicate that the popular exercise likely has roots in ancient traditions tying eggs to spring, which became symbolic for Christians as they thought of the empty shell as a metaphor for Jesus’s empty tomb.
The custom of hunting eggs is attributed to having originated in Germany.
“Some suggest that its origins date back to the late 16th century, when the Protestant reformer Martin Luther organized egg hunts for his congregation,” says an article at English-Heritage.uk.org. “The men would hide the eggs for the women and children to find. This was a nod to the story of the resurrection, in which the empty tomb was discovered by women.”
Rabbits were associated with fertility and the Virgin Mary, as shown in art from central Europe. Eventually that became the tradition of “the hare would bring a basket of brightly painted eggs at Easter time for all the children who had been good, and these colourful eggs would be hidden around the house and garden for the children to find,” English Heritage said.
Egg hunts and the Easter Bunny have become part of the fabric of the holiday, things that children and adults enjoy during the celebration.
Many locations throughout Utah Valley either will host egg hunts this weekend or hosted them previously, but other venues are putting their own spins on activities for Easter.
Here are a couple of examples:
No hunt, but lots of other fun
Cindy Nguyen, Marketing Director for University Place in Orem, said that they try to make it clear that they aren’t hosting an egg hunt at their annual Easter Extravaganza.
“Every year without fail people come and the little kids come with their Easter baskets, assuming that we have an Easter egg hunt,” Nguyen said. “We just feel like the surrounding areas do enough of Easter egg hunts, with schools and churches and doing it as families. We wanted to focus on doing activities that everyone can do.”
Instead, University Place wants to have a wide variety of activities available.
“We’re able to do lots of fun things,” Nguyen said. “We have a petting zoo. You can come and ride horses. You can see the baby animals. We have shows on our stage. We have a magician show, and we have a reptile show. And then after the reptile show, you can go and also see up close the reptiles as well.”
She added that there will be a number of photo opportunities, including with the Easter Bunny, as well as an Easter market with 30 local vendors.
“We’ll have lots of good and treats for sale,” Nguyen said. “We have a wonderful DJ who will get the crowd hyped and dance with the kids and characters. It should be fun for everyone.”
Finding clues to earn the prize eggs
Ogden’s George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park also elects to put a unique spin on the traditional Easter activities.
“We’re just trying to create something fun here at the park for kids and families to be able to have something to do if they’re looking for it,” said Noah Erb, Director of Education, Development and Marketing at the park. “So we’ve put together a little scavenger hunt based on our different sculptures that we have here at the dinosaur park.”
As part of admission, families get a scavenger hunt list and then scour the park to find answers to the clues.
“Once they find all the answers to the different dinosaurs that we’re looking for, they bring it back into us,” Erb said. “We’ve stuffed all these little tiny eggs with a mini dinosaur sculpture they get to take home. The figures represent the park but are also in that same Easter spirit of getting a little prize in an egg.”
The park likes how the event incorporates both being part of the holiday and learning about dinosaurs.
“It’s something we regularly want to keep doing because it’s kind of a fun way to incorporate connecting with the dinosaurs, and almost a little bit of an education piece thrown in there for them to learn,” Erb said. “At the same time, it’s still in the same spirit of getting a prize and the eggs and things that goes on the scene with Easter.”
Celebrate the changing season
Both Nguyen and Erb are looking forward to the events because they enjoy seeing how much everyone gets to really get into the spirit of spring.
“We have these really fun community events that are free to the public, and are very family focused, focused on children of all ages,” Nguyen said. “If we’re not using the Orchard for events, you still can come out and take the kids to the kids play area, or just run around and be outside.”
Erb said: “I think it’s a wonderful way for families to get out. I think one of my favorite parts of being here at the park is –whether we are holding an event or we have different activities — just seeing how much fun that kids have here. It really is exciting for me and that’s a big reason why I enjoy working here.”
For more information on the Easter Extravaganza, go to UniversityPlaceOrem.com. For more information on the Easter Scavenger Hunt, go to dinosaurpark.org.
For other Easter events, check out the full calendar on L4.
