The Escape Game - So what is it?

An Escape Room for kids ideas or Escape Games is essentially a series of puzzles, clues, and secret messages, reminiscent of the good old board game we used to love playing when we were kids. A team works all together to solve the puzzles and riddles and get out of the room. Escape room diy for kids challenges are usually themed, limited in time, and generally have a one-hour limit. A series of clues lead to finding a way out of the game.

What's the best way to create a free Escape Room for kids at home?

If you're an avid escape room fan and would love to experience it without leaving your apartment - it's quite possible and much easier than it sounds.

No matter what you want to organize - whether it's a children's birthday party, an evening with friends, a weekend with the family, a slumber party or a wedding - there are many ways to turn your house or apartment into a real Escape Room game.

There are plenty of opportunities to let your imagination run wild; you can organize a similar game at school and get even more kids involved to develop their imagination and stimulate team spirit!

The rules of a homemade escape room are the same as the real one. You are the organizer, which means you are the master of the game, and your kids are the team that needs to find clues and solve puzzles together in order to pass the game you invented and get out in time.

Find a genre that suits you the most 

First, begin by pondering what kind of adventures you like best and what kind of experiences you want your players to get to experience. Be creative and imaginative about the craziest and most interesting themes.

Investigations, clues and unsolved cases, make your kids little detectives and have them turn the house upside down for this interesting assignment. Leave clues and puzzles all over the house for little Poirot Detectives to do a good job with their brains.

Are you a Potteriana’s fan? Re-watching Harry Potter every year, and even though you're an adult, do you still want to be a wizard like you did when you were a kid? Great! If your parents didn't do it for you, do it for your kids. Give them a fairy tale by setting up a school of witchcraft and sorcery in your living room.

And if you love the universe of glee and or the world of dangerous zombies, then the backyard is perfect for an escape room "with contraptions" where another family member can act as a live actor. Rewatch your favorite movies to inspire an immersive horror movie atmosphere. We are sure the boys will appreciate such "active" play.

That is, choose the universe that you and your kids will obviously like, you do not have any restrictions - you create your own unique and original escapist room. You are the master of the party. Creating such a room from things you have at home is easy.
The more puzzles you come up with, the more difficult it becomes and the longer it will take to complete. The kids will love it, and so will you.

Plan your game scenario, prepare questions and puzzles

Once you've chosen the genre of the home escape game, it's time to put the idea into action.

This is where your overall scenario begins.

Write down all the different steps in your scenario on a piece of paper and lay them out in a block  to visualize what, where, and when is supposed to happen. Because in most escape room scenarios, a lot of the action takes place in parallel, this method will help you stay organized at every important stage of the game.

Each of these notes will become a task or puzzle to progress through the game. Let's be honest, you'll change tasks and puzzles several times before you get the right scenario, but the important thing is to get started.

Consider the age and erudition of your kids when creating puzzles so that the game is educational and fun, not an exam. Don't forget about safety when placing puzzles and clues. It's still a game, and Ford Boyard. 
To make your own escape room for kids, use everything you can find at home, or buy the missing elements in the store.

Buy a lock that requires a set of numbers to unlock, and you can reset it to the right combination over and over again. Or use a lock with a key, and give one of the clues as to where the key is hidden. In practice, it takes a long time to find the keys, and you have to think hard when looking for them.

Write the clues in riddles. Take a snippet from your kid's favorite book, movie or cartoon, so he has to think hard with his head and figure out what the association is. Draw arrows around the house, leave notes, or draw a map of the house, like in Treasure Island, to make the game even more fun. Hide clues around the house. 

If your children are of different ages, consider having an Escape Room that includes easier puzzles for younger kids and a more challenging series of puzzles for older kids. That way, each child will have the opportunity to take the lead in solving one of the puzzles. After all, it is also a team game, which teaches teamwork and the ability to work together. 

Don't think that you need to have a big budget to set up a home escape room. As we said, you can use the tools, from the painting in the living room to the kitchen tablecloth. Be original and creative - and the result won't just surprise your small players, but also yourself.

Now's the time to check out your Escape Room

Camera, lights, and action! The time has now come to make the most simplified version of your game that you will test with your friends. The riddles are written, the clues are laid out, and the puzzles are set.

Try out the whole game, all the puzzles and challenges with a group of your friends to make sure everything is logical, understandable and realistic. Play it yourself first, and then with your players.

Take advantage of the opportunity to time the puzzles and the duration of the entire Escape Room. Also make sure you are within 30 minutes.

Once the game and its puzzles are "approved," you can concentrate on details and adding accessories that will improve your Escape Room.

That's it, you've successfully completed all the steps of creating a homemade Escape Room, well done! Now all you have to do is start your first game!

Extra challenges

The materials needed for the Escape Room challenges
Getting this printable escape room was much easier than some other escape rooms we've tried.

If you want one too, here's what you need for it: 

A colored printer - because some puzzles require color paper - to make everything more sturdy, use cardboard paper.

You can divide everyone into teams and have a competition if you have too many people. All you'll need is one copy of the game per group.

Not sure which game to pick? Let us help you in making your choice.

Da Vinci
Perfect for little explorers and true connoisseurs of art and history.

The team has the chance to learn about the mysterious life of one of the most brilliant painters, sculptors, architects, engineers, inventors, scientists - the one and only Leonardo da Vinci!

You will visit the workshop of the great genius, look at his latest inventions and have to unravel the mysteries he left behind.

Mission Belvedere
If your little fidget loves playing spies and burglars, this is your perfect pick!
This challenge will have it all - hidden buttons, doors, traps, tricky combinations and lasers to help the game along.

The players' main goal is to steal a painting from the Belvedere Gallery, a national treasure estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars and carefully guarded.

If the team succeeds, it will be one of the most audacious art thefts in the history of mankind.

School of Magic

Does your little one dream of becoming a real wizard and living in a world of witchcraft and sorcery? 

Get your wands ready, wizards! Because School of Magic is the perfect solution!

Players use their magic wands to complete puzzles and try to solve the Dark Lord's tricky riddles while meeting mystical creatures in the woods for the main goal - to save the School from evil.