Easter bunny goes virtual: Several pandemic-friendly Easter egg hunts organized this weekend

If you're looking for family fun this Easter weekend, you may be in luck in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic — there are several virtual Easter egg hunts organized in Manitoba this weekend. 

Janessa Dyck runs a scavenger hunt business called The Hunt Canada and has organized events in both Winnipeg and Morden, Man.

This weekend, she's organized Kidsquest, a digital bunny hunt that's happening in Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg and Morden Park in Morden.

Dyck says it works pretty much the same as an Easter egg hunt, and all you need is a smartphone or tablet to play. 

The idea is simple: there will be about 100 bunnies hidden throughout the park, and you can try to find them. Each bunny will have a name, and once you find a bunny, you enter it into an online form that you'll have after registering for the event, Dyck said.

"You don't have to touch any of the bunnies. All you're doing is trying to find their names," Dyck said. 

"It's a sense of normalcy for the kids," she added. "It's something for them to get out of the house and do with your family and be outside and just enjoy themselves and feel like kids again and not like they're trapped in a pandemic where nothing is normal."

Tickets for the event are $19.99 and people can register online at thehuntcanada.ca.

The egg hunt runs Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can play as a family or go solo.

Hunt for Easter eggs from anywhere

The St. Andrews Heritage Centre is also hosting a virtual Easter egg hunt this year that you can explore from anywhere, as long as you have a computer. 

The event is free of charge and allows guests to play individually or as a team.

As you take yourself through the museum virtually, you can explore exhibits, watch educational videos and, of course, find all the eggs, said Meredith Boerchers, program co-ordinator at St. Andrews Heritage Centre. 

The hunt is also a race. The first five groups to finish the hunt and find all the eggs in the virtual museum will win prizes. Even if you don't place in the top five, you'll be entered to win a draw for more prizes. As well, all the entries come with other downloadable activities for kids.

"We have this opportunity with our virtual exhibit to make something really cool. Especially with kids on spring break, you want to keep them busy," Boerchers said.

"It's just really delightful. It's a lot of fun, it's just very light-hearted,"

The hunt started on March 29 and will run until April 4. You can register for it online. 

And even if you don't want to participate in the hunt, the virtual tour of the museum is still free and accessible anytime.

GPS-led egg hunt

Meanwhile, Oak Hammock Marsh is offering a GPS-led Easter egg hunt Sunday.

Organizer Jacques Bourgeois says all the eggs will have letters on them, spelling words that can pay off with sweet treats.

"I think an event like this one is great because … people are craving those natural experiences, they've been sort of locked inside their house for so many months, so many weeks, so now it's a great way to go outside, explore, and do it in a fun way as well," he said. 

The egg hunt costs $10 and runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Families must pre-register online on the interpretive centre's website.