Children ran across beds of clover at Heritage Village Saturday. Wicker baskets in hand, they walked across the green lawn searching for neon and pastel Easter eggs nestled into thick grass, hidden underneath a bush or perched on a fountain. When they found one, their eyes grew as large as the egg they held in their hands.

“You gotta look where you think they might not be,” said Jozef Clarke, 10, said. “You gotta look everywhere.”

Clarke, along with a small group of neighborhood children, participated in Ward 3’s annual Easter egg hunt. They searched high and low for plastic eggs stuffed full of candy, and afterwards, they sat on a brick sidewalk, eating their chocolate and gummy treasure like it was going out of style.

Some of the children, like 12-year-old Braeden Mitchell, had an edge over the others.

“My favorite was hiding the eggs,” Mitchell said. “I was trying to find all the tricky spots.”

Aanesa Watson, 10, found her fair share despite arriving a few moments later than the rest of the group and not knowing where the eggs were hidden.

“I don’t think it’s fair because they knew where they all were,” Watson said with a slight grin. “I just look for the bright colors.”

Plastic wrappers and crinkled foil quickly piled up next to halves of plastic eggs. Despite a bounty fit for a king, the children made a dent in the mountains of candy before the sun dipped below the horizon. None could say for sure how long the candy would last, but each took a guess.

“It’ll probably last about 30 minutes,” 13-year-old Grandalex Rutledge-Boone said while the others laughed.

Jacque Johnson watched the children search for eggs from underneath the shade of an oak tree. Last year, snow covered the ground during the egg hunt.

“The weather was wonderful,” Johnson said. “The kids that were here had a great time. I just wish more would have participated from the neighborhood.”

Those that did participate said they could not think of a better way to spend a spring afternoon. And even while riding a sugar high, they remembered why they celebrate Easter.

“I like reading the story when Jesus came back from the dead on Easter,” Mitchell said.

Watson looked ahead to Easter Sunday at the Tabernacle of Praise on Broad Street. Watson will be standing on the stage dressed in an egg costume for her church’s Easter play.

“I’m an egg that’s getting dyed, and I’m scared I’m going to die,” Watson said.

Toward the end of the afternoon, the children circled once more around the grounds, vowing no egg would be left behind. Clarke spotted a brightly colored egg tucked against the base of a bush. He reached through the tangle of branches, picked up the egg and placed it inside his bag.

“It was worth it,” Clarke said, before he ran across the yard to the next hiding place.