Lately I’ve been researching how to create a do it yourself escape room. I have loved the ones that the Estevan Public Library put on.
I think it’d be super fun to create one to host in our home, either for a kids’ party or maybe even my own birthday coming up. I thought I’d share some of my research just in case you also want to create your own escape room.
The main thing is creating clues that give “pieces” to puzzles the group needs to solve in order to get out of the room.
Here are a few clue ideas to spark your imagination.
*Create clues that glow in the dark. And maybe if you’re nice throw in a clue that leads them to turning off a light.
*Write a clue in that can only be seen with an ultraviolet light. You can often find little spy kids that have these pens.
*Write a clue in symbols and hide the key in the room or pieces of the key. The key will be what they need to substitute the symbols for to get the puzzle solved. You could use Morse code, hieroglyphics, substitute numbers for letters, etc.
*Hide an object or clue in an image. Hang a painting, picture or map on the wall and draw on or highlight an object to be used as a clue. Perhaps you put a pin in various cities on a map that correspond with a code or sequence to use in a clue.
*Hidden objects is pretty simple. Hide money in a book on the shelf or a key under a flower pot.
*Identify a pattern by placing objects in a pattern in the room. Maybe fruit lined up in a pattern on the table and a painting of the fruit in the same pattern. The pattern can then correspond to a code.
Those are just a few ideas to get you started. You don’t even have to do a full out escape room. Maybe you could start by creating a locked box with a surprise for your family that they have to solve to open the box.
