Creative DIY Escape Room Ideas, Your Kids Will Love
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Are you stuck at home with the kids and looking for something fun to do? Why not build your own escape room? With some creativity, you can put together an escape room experience that’s both challenging and fun.
Not sure where to start? I’ve got you covered with some creative DIY escape room ideas your kids will love.
1. Hidden Messages That Feel Like Real Secrets
If you take away anything from this blog post, this is the one idea is the one you absolutely should try. To recreate the idea below you are going to need to use these Frixion pens.
These Frixion pins will help you reveal hidden messages with a boatload of theatrics. Heat is used to reveal your secret message. I used a safety lighter in the video, but you could also use a hair dryer for younger kids.
Creating this is soooo easy. Write the message you want to reveal using a regular black biro pen. Then all you have to do is to disguise by drawing shapes and symbols using the Frixon pen.
There’s something about discovering a message that wasn’t visible before that makes kids feel like they’ve stepped straight onto the set of Harry Potter.
You can also create message reveals by writing your message using lemon juice or a wax crayon. Watching the message appear feels magical, they work great but I love using the pens more! These are puzzle ideas that don’t need expensive supplies or hours of setup, but they deliver that magical “we’re uncovering a secret” moment so well.
2. Stretched Text
This is a really easy puzzle to create and is fun to solve. If you have a free Canva account, you can use it to create these or use this program called Snotes (paid service).
The aim is to stretch out your text so it is hard to read normally. To read the message, lay the text flat to your eye. It’s very clever, and I use these as little clues in my games.
3. QR Code Reveals
I like using QR codes to reveal extra information players need in a game. You can link QR codes to websites, music, YouTube videos and images. There are lots of FREE QR code generators available, a quick Google search and you will find one. Here is one I have used in the past https://qr-generator.ai/
With your QR code generated, all you need to do is print it out and place in the game for players to discover. The kids will love being able to scan and discover the clues. It’s simple but it is fun!
4. Slime!
OK, hear me out, including slime in your escape room game is going to be an absolute hit. When I first created games, I used shaving cream and hid clues inside. Since those early days, I discovered “Jellibaff” and my favorite floristry beads.
Hide clues inside the slime. I like to choose a puzzle that is made of several elements that players need to search for. These activities are always a hit!
5. A Torch-Reveal Puzzle
This puzzle is one of those wonderfully simple ideas that feels incredibly clever when the kids solve it. All you need is paper, glue, and a torch (or any small light source).
How to create this idea:
- Write your message on the bottom piece of paper; this could be a word, a symbol, or any clue you want to reveal.
- Glue a second piece of paper neatly over the top.
- Shine a light to reveal the bottom layer
Top Tip: Use paper and not card, you want the light to be able to shine through.
I used this idea in my ghost scavenger hunt game. Players discovered these adorable little ghost characters, each holding a tiny secret.
6. UV And blacklight
Another creative DIY escape room idea is to use UV pens! They are a lot of fun and is an easy way to turn a simple puzzle into something far more exciting. Kids love discovering hidden elements; using a blacklight flashlight is just a no-brainer!
Combine blacklight with other puzzles to add another layer of discovery.
7. Scratch and reveal
Think lottery scratch cards, you know where you use a coin to reveal if you are a winner. You can create the same effect. Now I have tried creating the scratch and peel paint to varying success.
You mix two parts acrylic paint with one part dish soap. Place a piece of cellotape over the design you want to reveal and paint several thin layers of paint on top.
It takes time to do and I’m lazy hahaha, so now I opt for buying scratch-off stickers that you place over your design.
8.Fun Escape Game Idea: Jelly Bean Lock Code
Grab a bag of jelly beans, a three or four-digit lock and let’s take a look at the first idea.
Choose your lock code, let’s say 8-4-6. Then place 8 green jelly beans, 4 orange jelly beans, and 6 yellow jelly beans into a bowl. The kids sort and count the jelly beans to figure out the combination.
I made a little printable with the jelly beans and stuck it to the locked box. A quick doodle with crayons works just as well.
Love this Escape Room Idea? Check out my free printable from my fun lock kit ideas post!
If sweets aren’t your thing, this puzzle works beautifully with Lego bricks, small toys, pom poms, beads, anything that can be grouped and counted.
For a Halloween game, I had my kids sort out plastic creepy crawlies. I popped them inside some slime (jelly-baff), and it was an absolute hit! You can make this type of puzzle fit any theme.
9. Secret Codes
If you’re leaning into a spy or secret agent theme, coded messages are an absolute must. But you can use them in any escape room theme. Kids love the moment they realise the strange symbols or scrambled text actually mean something, and that they have the power to decode it.
You can use classic code styles that already exist, or have some fun and invent your own top-secret cipher. Either way, it’s an easy way to add some excitement to the game. Here are some fun codes to try.
- Pig-Pen code. A grid system that represents letters, I love it.
- Morse code. A classic code that screams spy mission. Grab the free Morse code kit.
- Braille Check out this fun code and grab the free printable.
- Atbash cipher so a=z b=y c=x etc
- Number Substitution a=1 b=2 c=3
- Picture substitution. Each letter of the alphabet is a different picture.
- Semaphore
- Hieroglyphs
Want More Code Ideas? Check out my Secret Code Ideas blogpost here!
Check out this great Secret Codes book from Usborne. It has a collection of 50 different secret codes that you can include in your game.
More Ideas:
I love planning and creating escape rooms and I have plenty more posts that will help you craft the perfect game. Go check them out!
Building your own escape room is a great way to spend an afternoon with the kids. Grab the opportunity to bond and have some quality family time. What are you waiting for? Get planning! If you are looking for done-for-you games, take a look around my online store.
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