Missed Shots and Quiet Messaging at Easter Egg Roll

A man in a bunny suit, a YouTube sensation and a dismal free throw performance by the president got all the laughs at the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday morning. But along with the more than 30,000 children who frolicked across the South Lawn of the White House in ruffle socks and pastel-colored neckties, families of the victims of gun violence served as reminders of the children who could not be there.

With a Senate vote on gun legislation expected in the coming weeks, the mother and brother of Hadiya Pendleton, the Chicago teenager who was fatally shot in her hometown after she performed at the president’s inauguration, joined in the 135-year-old Easter tradition, as did families from Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 first graders and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

But the event, on a warm day in Washington, kept its traditionally festive tone, and Michelle Obama took advantage of another chance to push against childhood obesity.

The theme - “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!” - matched Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative, which encourages active lifestyles and healthy eating. There were cooking demonstrations with food industry figures like B. Smith and Ina Garten, as well as sports stations featuring the Nascar driver Danica Patrick and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings.

But President Obama seemed as though he had not been on the court in a while, missing 20 of the 22 shots he took while playing basketball with children and players from the Washington Wizards. After the bricks and air balls, he finally handed the ball over to 10-year-old Kahron Campbell of Landover, Md., whom he assisted with a layup. “He couldn’t make one,” Kahron said, according to a pool report. “I had to help him out.”

Before cheering on excited toddlers and siblings in matching outfits during the egg roll, Mr. Obama and his family were introduced by Robbie Novak, the 9-year-old YouTube celebrity known as Kid President. Mrs. Obama asked him to bring some of his signature pep and inspiration to the White House, telling him to “spend a little time in the Oval Office just fixing things up for this president.”

The Marine Corps Band played familiar tunes like ones from “Spiderman” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” as part of a tradition that started with President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

Though there were long lines, and not everyone got to see Mr. Obama - or even roll the eggs - the Easter spirit could not be cracked.

“My daughter was a little disappointed we didn’t get to see the president or anyone in the family,” said Ruth Ifill, who arrived at 6:55 a.m. with her husband, their two children and a friend’s daughter. “But they enjoyed it, they had fun and they were excited the entire time.”