There’s nowhere to go this Valentine’s Day so I essentially devised a way to lock the kids in a room while their dad and I snuggle on the couch for a hot minute.
jk, they’ll be asking for help with this adventure. But a mom can dream.
Since there’s no date night to be had, and the kids aren’t allowed to hand out Valentine’s this year, I decided to try and still make the day fun for the kids.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had the distinct pleasure of watching YouTube videos of adults playing with toys, but my kids love that crap and especially love the Toy Master series. A villain named the Toy Master (or “TM” if you roll with the hip under 10 crowd) steals toys and makes the kids solve mysteries. I put together a scavenger hunt for them and left notes from the Toy Master and the kids had a blast.
So! Here is part one of the Valentine’s Escape Room I’m putting together: THE CRAFTS.
Craft 1: Codex
The first craft is a codex. All you need is a toilet paper roll and some paper. Pick a word (I picked money as this will lead them to the piggy bank) and cut out that many strips of paper. Make sure they’re long enough to wrap around the roll snuggly but loose enough to spin.
I wrote the first letter right on the roll to help them solve it, and also used symbols instead of other letters because my son is 3 and yet illiterate, and while my daughter is an excellent reader, she’s also just barely six and not looking to solve The Da Vinci Code.
Craft 2: Invisible Ink Message
To start, mix 1/4 cup water with 1/2 tbsp of baking soda. Use a toothpick or Q-tip (I used my reusable silicone swabs 👌🏻) to write your secret message with the liquid.
Once dry, mix up 1/4 rubbing alcohol with 1/2 tsp turmeric. Word to the wise, turmeric stains like crazy so proceed with caution. Use a paintbrush to paint over the paper and reveal the secret message. The turmeric-alcohol combo turns the secret message a deep red so it’s very visible.
That’s it! I bought two small locks with keys that I plan to hide – one in a balloon they have to pop, the other in a book on a certain page. I’ll think up some other fun clues to have them run around trying to solve.
Have you ever done an escape room?
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