Escape Room DIY for Kids
It is still freezing cold here in Arkansas, so yes, we need indoor fun for the kids, and we need it now. This week I decided to make another DIY escape room. I have done about three or four since COVID-19 in 2020, and the kids can’t get enough of it. We have watched several YouTube videos for inspiration and visited many Pinterest pins online. Here is how we plan, gather materials, prep the room, and have fun in our kid friendly escape room.
Escape room kits can be purchased online or you can make your own. We prefer to make our own, but this Etsy store has some good ones and the owner is easy to work with.
Plan
Have a goal that you want to achieve. Do they need to escape the room by finding a key to the door? Do they need to complete certain tasks before a set amount of time? Having a story line can be fun too. You can type up a letter to give to them in the start and have clues hidden in the letter.
Mapping out how you are going to combine the clues helps to prepare.
For example: Puzzle A -> Purple Key -> Purple Lock -> Hidden message inside = a clue to another section Photograph B -> location of a key needed to unlock a box which contains the key to the door
Make sure your puzzles and clues are age appropriate for your kids. Morgan is 6 and often plays with her cousins who are 12, 12, and 10. Basic math problems, picture puzzles, and color clues are good for Morgan. Multi-Step critical thinking puzzles are good for the boys. Hiding things up high are fine for the boys, but Morgan can easily find the ones closer to the ground.
Gather the materials needed
This may involve buying supplies from Amazon or your local dollar store. It can also include printing puzzles off the internet or writing out your own.
Locks, locks, and more locks. You can never have too many locks. You can lock up anything. Just make sure you have something to put the locks on. Small bags with two zippers are excellent to lock up clues.
Some of our favorite supplies are listed here:
Blacklight pens these allow you to write secret messages.
Black light flashlight – this is great for decoding the messages and can be hidden in a lock box
Reprogrammable Arrow Lock the famous Konami code can be used with this.
Assorted Small locks – for locking up almost anything
Small Zipper Tool Bags – easy to put things in and lock with the small locks. Just lock the zippers together.
Secret Book Safe – a fun way to hide objects and comes with its’ own key
One of our favorite puzzles to make is by taking a picture of an object in the room. Print it on plain paper, and then cut it up. Now hide the pieces around the room. Once they find the pieces and put it together, then they will know where another clue is hiding.
Check out our Pinterest board “Kid’s Stuff” for FREE PRINTABLE PUZZLES.
Prep the Room
Once you have your plan mapped out it’s time to set up the room. Puzzle pieces can be taped to walls, hidden inside objects, or locked up. Make sure if one clue leads to another then the players have a clear path to follow. There’s nothing worse than having half a clue and no way to figure out the next part.
Hiding keys can be a fun part of set up. In our last escape room, we placed them in a balloon that had to be popped, in a Barbie’s hand, and taped to the bottom of a cage. Most of our locks use color coded keys where the red key unlocks the red lock, and the blue key unlocks the blue locks. We often will leave color coded clues around the room that indicate the location for the keys.
For example, we hang a puzzle sign up that ends in red apples, so the kids know to look in a basket of red apples to find the red key.
Recently we became more complex with our set-up. We suspended a pair of binoculars from a pulley system we made by attaching a rope from a closet doorknob through our curtain rod. The kids will open the door to make the binoculars lower down. They must now use the binoculars to look out the window and find the code number to open a lock.
Have Fun!
Now that the stage has been set, the game is a foot! Sometimes when playing with kids for the first time it’s helpful to write up a note with directions. Even when given directions kids don’t pay attention. The first time we set up a room our kids threw down the letter we wrote and then had no clue (no pun intended) where to start.
We used the Konami Cheat Code for a lock. 
A note that includes certain tasks to complete or a fun story line to follow is often helpful. It is also fun to set a time limit for them to get out, but make sure you have practiced your own puzzles to know how long it should take. Our kids have made it out of shorter rooms in less than 15 min. I planned for our last one to last between 30 min. – 1 hour.
A set of walkie-talkies can be used for giving help if needed. If the room is harder, I give 3 help clues. If the room is a shorter, easier one I may only offer 1 or 2. Our kids often rush through things and don’t stop to think things through. They want instant gratification and will try to take the easy path. I have learned to limit the number of help clues they get so they learn to use them when they really need them.
Final Thoughts
Setting up a DIY escape room for kids can be rewarding in many ways. The puzzles and clues can inspire creative and critical thinking. Letting several kids play together also inspires leadership and teamwork skills. Supplies can be as simple as printing off puzzles, or more complex by buying locks, black lights, and bags.
We hope you have enjoyed learning about how we plan, gather materials, prep the room, and have fun in our kid friendly escape room. Life’s Short… Take the trip… In your own escape room!
For more fun family friendly activities visit our other pages here. What will you do with your family for fun this week? Let us know in the comments.
