Ticketed Easter egg hunt

Outdoor: weather matters

Sell tickets for an Easter egg or token hunt at a school, farm or park, with age-group sessions, a prize swap table and food stalls.

Typically raises

$1,000

$300–3,000 per eventest.

About $63 per organiser hour

Based on 150-300 children at $5-$10

Is it right for us?

Money: $500–2,000
Work: A few evenings
Helpers: 7–15 people
Lead time: 1–2 months
Red tape: Some

Fairly common: common community event, less often ticketed

People: 8-15 for hiding, gate, age-session marshals, prize table and stalls (estimate)
Organiser time: 12-20 hours (estimate)
Lead time: 4-6 weeks; book the park early as Easter weekends are busy (estimate)
Up-front cost: $400. Chocolate eggs or prizes, tokens, signage; bought after ticket sales close if possible (estimate).
Risk: Low if tickets are pre-sold; chocolate keeps if numbers fall short.

Suits: Kindy or early learning, Primary or intermediate school

Less usual for: Sports club or team, Church, Community group, marae or service club

When: Autumn (Mar–May), Easter, School holidays

How big a job: A few evenings, 7–15 people

How it works

The money, as an example sum

Take about $1,400, pay about $400 of costs, and you keep about $1,000 per event: the typical result for 150-300 children at $5-$10.

From the typical figure on this page. Your result will differ.

Where the money figure comes from

No NZ benchmark for a ticketed hunt found; most NZ council and charity hunts are free (Wellsford, Northern Helping Hands; Tūpare, Taranaki Regional Council). A UK school charged £4 per child including a bunny trail and prize (Friends of Great Chesterford). Totals assume 150-300 children at $5-10 less egg costs (estimate).

Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.

Step by step

Pick the date: Easter Saturday or Monday, or the last week of term.
Book the venue: school grounds, a friendly farm or a council park.
Hide numbered tokens rather than chocolate, so eggs don't melt and every child swaps for a fair share at the prize table (Wellsford capped it at five eggs per child).
Run age sessions (under-4s, 4-7, 8-12) of 20-30 minutes.
Sell tickets in advance with a session time; set a price that covers eggs plus profit, e.g. $8-10 (estimate).
Buy eggs after sales close, or ask a supermarket for a donation.
Add stalls: hot cross buns, coffee, face painting and an Easter hamper raffle.
Mark the boundaries and put an adult at each corner; brief helpers on lost-child procedure.
Have a wet-weather plan (hall hunt) and post it the night before.

Getting the word out

Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.

Ask for help: Helpers for the day or night, and local businesses for prizes.
Ask people to buy: People to book tickets or tables, and turn up.
When to start: Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 3–4 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.

Where to put it

School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
PostersPosters at the school gate, the clubrooms and shop windows, with the date, place, price and how to pay.
Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
Billboards and roadside signsYour school’s or club’s own sign by the road, a banner on the fence, or a sandwich board on the day for passers-by.

The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.

What you’ll need

Place: NeededYour own grounds or hall
Landowner’s permission: NeededYes, in writing
Council permit: CheckCheck with your council
Food rules: CheckNo registration if you sell food to fundraise for a good cause up to 20 times a calendar year. It must still be safe and suitable, and your council may need a stall permit
Alcohol: Not neededNo alcohol sold
Gambling rules: Not neededNot gambling
Health and safety: CheckA simple risk check and briefing
First aid: NeededA first aider and kit on site (recommended)
Insurance: CheckCheck your cover

Council parks need a booking (free for community groups in Whanganui). On Good Friday and Easter Sunday, stalls selling anything other than ready-to-eat food may break the Shop Trading Hours Act; use Saturday or Monday.

Make more from it

Easter hamper raffle
$200-600 (estimate)
parents waiting while kids hunt
Hot cross bun pre-order
$2 a 6-pack from Bakers Delight school fundraisers (existing record)
same families, same week
Face painting
$100-300 (estimate)
fills time between age sessions

Stack it: on its own, about $1,000. With the 3 priced add-ons above, roughly

$1,600est.

What you can get donated

Eggs from a supermarket or chocolate supplier; farm or orchard venue in kind.

Tips

Tokens instead of eggs keep it fair and stop big kids clearing the field.
A farm setting with animals is a strong draw; Great Chesterford added petting farm animals to its egg hunt (Friends of Great Chesterford).
Pair with a hot cross bun pre-order to double your Easter income (see ‘Seasonal bakery pre-orders’).

Watch out for

Free community hunts nearby will undercut a paid one; add value (prizes, farm, activities).
Chocolate melts in autumn sun; store in chilly bins.
Allergies: offer non-chocolate prizes.

Free tools for this

Event budget and break-evenCover hire, food and prizes before you set the ticket price.
Volunteer roster plannerPrefilled with the usual roles (gate / tickets, boundary marshal, prize / egg swap table and session starter / announcer) in 2-hour shifts.
Cash float and takings counterDoor and food-stall cash, counted in pairs and banked the next day.
Event run sheetOne timed plan for set-up, the event and pack-down.
Checklist for any ideaBefore, on the day and after, built from this idea’s own steps and rules.

Typical rules

Book council parks; Whanganui lets community groups book free, with possible bonds (Whanganui District Council). Other councils may charge or need an event application.
Shop Trading Hours Act 1990: on Good Friday and Easter Sunday only some 'shops' (which include stalls) may trade, e.g. those selling food ready to eat; a stall selling toys or craft may not, unless your council has an Easter Sunday trading policy covering the area (Employment New Zealand). Saturday or Monday avoids the issue.
Food stalls are covered by the Food Act 2014 fundraising exemption if run fewer than 20 times a year (MPI).
On a farm, the farmer is a PCBU and will want a clear briefing on hazards like animals, water and machinery (estimate).

Check the details

Sources

Researched October 2026. All fundraising ideas

* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide