Thousands of families around the world participate in Virtual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. - One San Luis Obispo County woman decided that the stay at home order would not stop her from having an Easter egg hunt this year! However, what started as a local idea soon became international.

At this time, the Virtual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt has over 9,000 members from 48 different states and 17 countries around the world. The hunt grew from zero to 7,600 members in its first nine days.

Shauna Soltero came up with the idea of having community members paint and craft their own giant Easter eggs and prop them up outside their homes.

Families are then encouraged to drive or walk around neighborhoods and take pictures of all of the eggs they see. Wanting to add some friendly competition, Soltero announced there will be a prize for the families that find the most eggs by 5 p.m. Easter Sunday.

Prizes will consist of gift cards to local businesses that are in need of support during the COVID-19 crisis.

If you share any pictures of your giant Easter eggs, you can use the hashtag #virtualegghuntsloco to make sure its seen.

Soltero advises that eggs are two to three feet tall (or bigger) and are placed in your front yard, garage, front windows or anywhere else easily seen from the street.

Eggs can be made of any materials you have around your house.

Once your egg is placed, you can upload its location to the online virtual egg map. This map allows all participants to keep track of which eggs are near them so they can have as much success as possible on their hunt. It also allows egg-makers to provide hints if their eggs are particularly challenging to find.

If you're interested in learning more or joining the Virtual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, visit the Facebook group here.