Growing up in rural Missouri, we all know the true meaning of Easter — that Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day. But our young children have another interpretation of the Easter holiday — candy and the Easter Bunny.
The amount of money spent on Easter candy is increasing every year. In 2017, Americans spent $2.4 billion on Easter Candy. This year, we are projected to spend $3.3 billion on candy.
That’s right up there with Halloween — $3.9 billion during the 2025 Halloween season
It seems the Easter Bunny has been delivering eggs in America longer than I would have imagined. With a little research on the Internet, I found it dates back to the 1700’s when, according to History.com, the floppy-eared bearer of candy came over with German immigrants.
After our photographers attended several community Easter egg hunts (using the term ‘hunt’ loosely) over the last couple of weeks, I started wondering just how many plastic Easter eggs are handed out each year.
You can now buy plastic Easter eggs in bulk, empty or filled with prizes or candy, making it easy for organizations to hold Easter egg hunts, giving away thousands of eggs at each event.
I remember Easter egg hunts when I was a child with my sister, and sometimes my cousins. We had to hunt for the prized eggs, taking about 20 minutes to find 10 each.
At one hunt I attended, it took the mob of four- to seven-year-olds just 45 seconds to swoop down and snatch the prizes, which were scattered on the ground for everyone to see.
At another Easter egg gathering (let’s call it what it really is), I took a photo of a young girl and her mother with their basket piled high with eggs. In addition, the mother had her coat full of eggs, and the little girl was stuffing more eggs in her own coat, giving this mother/daughter duo what must have been over 50 prize-filled plastic eggs.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging those who take advantage of this egg/candy grab. It’s a contest, and to the winner go the spoils.
Just because I didn’t have that same opportunity when I was young doesn’t mean I’m jealous.
At least on Halloween, the recipients of the candy have to dress up in costume and go from house to house — or trunk to trunk — to be rewarded with candy.
On Easter, it’s all sitting on the ground in plain sight for everyone to grab in a big race.
Like a horse race with the thoroughbreds prancing nervously before the start of a race, the children stand just a few feet away from the prizes, waiting for the signal to start. This was the case one Easter, when several eight and ten-year-olds spotted a golden egg on the course. It was a race that should have begun with a starting pistol.
I watched some parents of two and three-year-olds physically holding their children back before the beginning of their age group.
Connie hated to see that time in our lives come to a close, so after our three children were too old to attend organized Easter egg hunts, Connie and I started another tradition for them, from middle school through high school and college.
We — mostly Connie — would fill each of their Easter baskets with candy and prizes. Then the basket was hidden someplace in our house. To find the basket, our three children were each given one plastic egg — color-coded for each participant. The eggs held a clue that, when solved, led to another egg.
Usually, each child had to solve around five clues before the basket could be discovered.
That was a real Easter egg hunt.
After searching the Internet, I found that approximately 250 million plastic Easter Eggs are sold each year.
According to childstats.gov, there are around 45 million children ages 0-11. Most Easter egg hunts are for children ages 2 to 7. A rough estimate would be 25 million in that age group.
During my research, I did learn a lot about Easter. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after March 21, which is when the Christian church marks the spring equinox.
It can fall between March 22 and April 25. So this year Easter is in the middle.
Easter occurs in March only about once every four years, or only 9 times during the first 35 years of the 21st century. One of those will be next year when it falls on March 28.
In 2030, Easter will be very late, on April 21.
In 2038, Easter will fall on the last possible date, April 25. I wonder how much money Americans will spend on Easter candy in 2038?
