KIDS

3 Easy Escape Room Ideas for Kids

 

Escape rooms have become incredibly popular – and they’re not just for adults. At the library, we often get requests from kids to do an escape room, and we love to make it happen because they’re fun! If you know kids who love thinking outside the box and cracking codes, then an escape room is an excellent challenge you can create for them anytime.

 

Idea #1: Make a Puzzle Code

 

I recently made an escape room for elementary-aged kids at my house, and one of the codes they had to crack was a puzzle code. I had a 24-piece puzzle in the room, and on the back of it, I wrote one of the codes they needed to escape the room.

 

Finding the code on the puzzle was a challenge for them, but the greater difficulty was putting the puzzle together upside down once they found it! I had planted tape in the room so the kids could make the puzzle right-side up, tape it, and flip it – but they solved it their way and that’s awesome.

 

Idea #2: Build a Bubble Veil

 

If you’re using a bathroom as one of the rooms in your game (we had the kids go between two rooms of the house) then a bubble veil is a fun surprise! I painted a code on a rock, and then placed it in the bottom of the tub with a bunch of other rocks. After adding dish soap and water, all of the rocks disappeared under the bubbles – and the kids had fun fishing for the code.

 

Idea #3: Create a Chemical-Reaction Code

 

This one took the longest for the kids to figure out, but when they did, they were thrilled. I made a baking soda-and-water paste, and I wrote the code (using the paste) on a white piece of paper. Once it was dry, the code was pretty hard to see – especially when I put the “special paper” in a pile of other white papers. In another area of the room, I hid a pipette and small container of grape juice. Once the kids found the materials, they put the juice on the message cracked the code! 

 

I hope you have fun creating your escape room. I love the way this exercise encourages kids to look at their environment differently, experiment, and think in an inventive way. Who knows what they’ll take and make next?

 

Until next time,

 

Invent your story

KIDS

Fuel Your Creative Life with an Invention Center

We are creative people. I believe everyone benefits from making something good, but creating takes time, space, and energy. As a person who’s embracing the creative life, I’ve discovered something very important.

Creativity can take over.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s the inherent nature of this marvelous beast. When you want to paint with watercolors, it sounds simple enough. But after you hunt for brushes, paints, paper, a clear table, and a kid or two, the mix is overwhelming. Where do you put the paintings that aren’t dry yet? Where do you put paintings when they are dry?

When paintings end up sharing the dinner table with you, their charm can wear off.

Fuel your creative life with an invention center in your home.

A home is a powerful place. One of the best things you can do for yourself and the people you live with is give everyone the opportunity to develop their talents and contribute to the family. An invention center does that.

So, what is an invention center?

Think of your favorite creative hobby. Maybe it’s tinkering, building, pottery, painting, mosaic, writing, chemistry, electronic work, or whatever thing you like to do. An invention center is a place where you get to do that thing, guilt-free and supply-ready.

Your invention center can live in a box under your bed that you pull out each evening. If you have a corner of a room, your invention center can hang out in that space and be ready to tackle a new project with you. An invention center can be a building, but if you don’t have a building, don’t let that keep you from inventing. Start small.

I think a lot of us tend to neglect creative endeavors because of the perceived work involved. Or we dive in without a plan and get frustrated. Your invention center is going to look different than mine because our interests are unique, but we can still learn from one another. I plan to keep you posted on how things come along with my invention center, and I’d love to hear about the strategies you’re using to fuel your inventive life.

Until next time,

Invent your story