BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

I know you all have heard of Egg Hunts, but have you heard of an Audible Egg Hunt? It is exactly like a regular egg hunt but with beeping eggs which make it accessible for students with visual impairments! The beeping eggs allow student’s with limited sight to auditorially track and locate the eggs by sound instead of sight. I love promoting these events because there are so many important skills and concepts that are easily incorporated into this fun activity. It is also a wonderful time for students with visual impairments to get together to meet, converse, and make friends.

In Virginia, we are very fortunate to have several Audible Egg Hunts all over the state. Most hunts are hosted by local Teachers of the Visually Impaired by region. Local Teachers of the Visually Impaired, Allied Instructional Services https://www.alliedinstructional.com/ and The Department for the Blind https://www.vdbvi.org/ help to host two of the hunts here in Virginia. We are hosting our 3^rd annual this April, so I wanted to share how easy it is to put on an Audible Egg Hunt of your own. Below is a how-to on hosting your very own hunt, but please feel free to customize as needed.

Please feel free to contact me with questions and let me know if you started your own or have hunts in your area! gsuttell@alliedinstructional.com

Happy hunting!

Gwyn

Materials Needed for the Audible Hunt:

Beeping Eggs 

  Where to buy:

·         Amazon: Amazon Beeping Eggs

·         Bomb Squad Mad Beeping Eggs: http://www.iabti.org/ (The Bomb Squad assemblies the eggs and donates them; these are the ones we use; Link to order form https://fs22.formsite.com/adminiabtiorg/form43/index.html).

·         Hidden Tweets Amazon: Hidden Tweets

·         Also looks at Michaels, Hobby Lobby and AC Moore around Spring for more varieties of beeping eggs. 

Baskets Plastic Easter Baskets ($1 at the Dollar store; we prefer the bucket kind)
Candy  Candy Oriental Trading  (Oriental trading is a great place to get candy)
Non-candy Egg filler Toys (Oriental trading is where we get our non-candy items)
Plastic Eggs Plastic Eggs Oriental Trading (Eggs are probably the easiest things to get donated)
Craft materials (this will depend on the crafts you choose). 
Blindfolds and simulators (for parents, siblings, and friends to use to hunt with). 

Budget: 

Roughly about $200 per hunt including donations. Your budget may increase or decrease : 

based on the size of the hunt and donations received.

·       Many businesses and organizations are willing to help or donate, so ask!

·     Check out your state AER chapter; they sometimes give out scholarships or grant that you could use toward your hunt.

·    Don’t forget to ask for donations via social media, it a free, easy way to get items you need.

Hunt Activities for 2018:

·         The Hunt

·         Sack races

·         Bunny toss/roll

·         Petting Zoo or Service Animal Meet and Greet

·         This year’s crafts:

1.   Face painting

2.   Bird feeders

3.   Earth Day composting activity

4.   Spin Art

5.   Garden craft

Agenda:

1. Welcome and greet students and parents as they arrive. 

2. Have students mingle or have come together to introduce themselves and say where they are from or go to school. 

3. Have students play a game or start crafts. 

4. Have volunteers turn on and hide the eggs (the hiding can be indoors or out; we prefer out if the weather is okay). 

5. Pass out baskets for students to collect eggs with. 

6. Pair student with a human guide if needed otherwise invite them to start the let the hunt begin.

7. Once students have collected their beeping eggs, have them trade in the beeping eggs for prizes ( we recommend you consider having both candy and non-candy items as prize options). 

8. Here is a great time to allow parents, siblings, and friends put on blindfolds and simulators and have them try searching/hunting for the eggs. 

9. Petting zoo time (This year we have a petting zoo coming to our event, but years past we have had service animals or animals from local petting farms visit). 

10. Finish crafts and activities.