5th annual Beeping Eggs Project offers an inclusive Easter egg hunt

Edmonton Police Service's bomb squad rigged some Easter eggs for an accessible Easter egg hunt at the Telus World of Science on Saturday.

The Telus World of Science hosted the fifth annual Beeping Eggs Project on Saturday which offers an accessible Easter egg hunt experience for blind and visually impaired children.

The hunt is in collaboration with Edmonton police’s bomb squad, who rig the eggs to beep, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and the Alberta Society for the Visually Impaired.

Det. Ryan Katchur said the project was born out of the U.S. where Sgt. Dan Heish created the beeping eggs for his daughter Rachel who is blind.

“We started to notice that she couldn’t do as much as the other kids, and Rachel started to notice that as well,” said Katchur. “He was a bomb technician … They like taking things apart and putting them together to figure out how things work, so he devised the original beeping egg for his daughter, and saw that it really helped with her confidence (and) independence.”

The eggs were made using a 3D printer and have a mechanism inside that beeps so kids can locate them by sound.

“It’s a really great event for children, people, kids who are blind, low vision, to get out and be able to just be a kid and do something that’s accessible,” said Taylor Bauer, program lead of awareness and community outreach for CNIB in Alberta and Northwest Territories.

Bauer lost her sight as a child, and recalled being envious of her twin brother, who is sighted, when Easter came around.

“I remember being so excited, and we do the Easter egg hunt, and then all of a sudden, my brother would swoop in and grab everything before I even had a chance to look,” she said. “This is such a great opportunity for kids to get a chance to be independent, to be with their peers.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall