Here are the handouts I made. I used a picture of an antique key from Google and a quote about repentance that I added a bit to from lds.org. https://www.lds.org/topics/repentance?lang=eng&old=true  You may choose to use a different quote of course.

So there it is, that is the escape room activity explained! I hope that this was helpful to anyone else who wants to try it! I am sure that other people out there can add to this idea and make it better! Go for it and have fun!

The fruit bowl held the final clue! I thought that it would be easier for the girls to figure out than it was, it turned out to be the clue that took them the longest to get. “You must CHANGE your heart to become free and full of LUV.” Get it? Change as in changing a diaper? and the brand of diaper is Luvs! The box of diapers held some significance to the girls as well because we had recently done a diaper drive where we collected 1,323 diapers and donated them to a local refugee center! (I'll include a photo of our diaper drive diapers!) The diapers I used for this activity were my son's though. So, in the box of diapers was a small wooden crate, in the small wooden crate was a burlap sack, in the burlap sack was a small treasure box, and in the treasure box there were antique key necklaces! There were also handouts that I had printed and lazy mom laminated with packing tape. The key necklaces came from Micheal's, they were only $10 for 8 keys! If you use a coupon (and Micheal's often puts out great coupons) you can get them for even less. I bought some cord that had golden thread in it and made the necklaces. The girls LOVED them!

  

The fruit, representing "fruit meet for repentance" can be any fruit you like. You could even do boxes of raisins and hide a clue in one box! I chose fruit that I thought the girls would enjoy eating as a snack at the end of the activity and simply hid the letter and clue at the bottom of the bowl. 

The soap, representing clean hands, was very simple. I opened a box and put the letter and scripture clue inside. Then I glued it shut and added more boxes of soap to the display so the girls would have to open several boxes to find the right one!

For the salt of the earth clue, I just happened to have a salt cylinder that had just run out. So I carefully peeled off the label, cut the cardboard, and hid the clue inside. Then I glued the label back on so you couldn't tell it had been cut. An alternative idea would be to buy a carton of Epsom salts, pour them out, and put the clue in that.

 

The bath bomb clue was so much fun! We had made bath bombs at a previous activity so I knew how to make them. The ones we had made for actual baths had coloring and coconut oil and lavender oil in them, but the big one I made for the escape room was just plain baking soda, citric acid, and a tiny bit of water. I didn't want to risk coloring because there is always the possibility that it will spill! I sort of "laminated" the letter and scripture clue that I put inside the bath bomb with clear packing tape. That is my lazy mom lamination trick! If you have a laminator or you want to pay for lamination at a copy store, go for it! When the girls put it in the water the reaction was great! It fizzed like crazy! When the bath bomb dissolved, the clues were revealed!

The "broken heart" puzzle I made was not great. It was even my second attempt! I am not a very artistic person really. I am sure that someone else could create a much better heart puzzle! Or possibly buy one. But mine did the job.

I like to crochet, so the scripture Isaiah 1:18 “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” was the perfect opportunity for me to incorporate that! It also had some special connection to my group of girls because back in December we had an activity where the girls sewed together some granny squares with big yarn needles and white yarn to make a baby blanket that we donated to charity. I make baby hats and booties to donate so I whipped up a few of those for the activity. If crocheting is not your idea of a good time, you can always buy a white knit cap or just shove the clue into a white skein of yarn. I added a couple of colorful items just to have a touch of misdirection.

   

The clue in the flashlight told the children to look in the Children's Songbook on page 103. The song on that page is titled "When I am Baptized," but the first line is "I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain" and that is the important clue! I printed out a picture of a rainbow and placed it in a frame. Behind the picture was the next letter and scripture clue. I added a few more framed pictures to the table, including another one that I had printed out so it wouldn't be too obvious that the clue was in the ONLY one that didn't have a family photo in it. I put a fake clue from "S" in the other printed picture, it just said "give up, you'll never escape! - S" 

https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/when-i-am-baptized?lang=eng

The next clue lead the girls to the flashlight. I used a flashlight that was actually broken, and it had plenty of room inside to hide a letter and a scripture clue. Once again, I failed to get a good photo of this! Clearly this is not something I do often, I don't make cute photo tutorials or anything. But anyway, you can see the green flashlight in the photo below. The top unscrewed and I placed the clues inside. I threw it away after the activity because it was broken. It served its purpose well!

So, the clue in the shoes led the girls to the loaf of bread. I baked the bread that morning, and it made the room smell delicious! I also had a second loaf in the kitchen in case we needed it for the snack afterwards. I simply cut open a space on the bottom of the loaf of bread and placed the letter and scripture clue in a clean Ziploc baggie and put them in the bread. When the girls realized that the clue was in the bread, I quickly told them that I would cut it open for them, I was not about to let them use the knife! An older group could cut the bread themselves I am sure. A simpler alternative of course would be to buy a loaf of bread at a bakery and hide the clue in it. But c'mon, homemade bread is the best!

Unfortunately I forgot to get a photo of the shoes I hid the first clue in. I just brought several pairs of shoes with me and had them lined up on the floor. I put the letter in one and the next scripture clue in another. This is probably a good time to show you how I set up the room. I put things all over on tables and on the floor. If I do this again, I would add MORE stuff! More distractions and extra things! Misdirection is helpful as it makes the activity more challenging and last longer. I also put up posters from the mysterious "S," who the girls immediately realized symbolized Satan. I put false clues in some places, and I marked them as from "S." My teenage daughter helped me set up and she had great ideas about where to place false clues! She even wrote a scripture on one of them.

In the script I have the letters of the word repentance listed, but I decided it would be more fun and a bit more challenging if the letters that the girls found were different letters because the word was encoded! I found a cypher key to print out online and I had the girls decode each letter and we found it and write it down. To introduce the game, I decided to hand the girls a "top secret" letter. Also, I wrote most of the scriptures on cute little tags I bought at Micheal's. For the letter, I used a large envelope that I had lying around and placed inside of it the following letter, a cypher key, and the first scripture reference. I made sure to have several copies of the scriptures on hand for the girls to look up each scripture clue.

Letter:

Dear Friends,

     I was once trapped just like you are now. Don’t listen to S, he will try to confuse you and make you think that you will never be free again! Your best tools to decipher the clues that I left you are the scriptures! But you will also need this cypher, as you collect letters, you can decode them with the cypher. All you need to do is turn the cypher forward 3 letters. Write down the translated letters as you go along to discover the key to escape! Good luck!

From,

Your Friend who has been here before

My name is Heidi and I am an Activity Days leader in my ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I thought of this idea for an activity for the group of girls that I lead. My ideas are not perfect, but I thought that other people may be interested in them. This idea could easily be adapted for cub scouts, Young Men and Young Women groups, etc. Most of the scriptures that I used for this activity are from the bible so someone of a different Christian faith may adapt this escape room for their own church activity. Now, as a disclaimer, this is not exactly like a normal escape room. First of all, I have never actually been to a real escape room! But I have read about them. Secondly, I wanted the girls to work together and go in order with the clues, so I set it up sequentially. Instead of just turning them loose on the room, they had to work together on each clue, which lead them to the next clue. Kind of like a treasure hunt. I hope that you enjoy reading about the escape room! 



Here is the script that I used. I will break it down further and explain how I did it, but the bare outline is very useful: 

Script 


Once there was a girl who felt trapped. She worked and tried hard and was able to discover the key to escape the trap she had fallen into. The room that we are about to enter symbolizes that trap, and the girl has left us clues so that we too can find the key and escape. In this room you will find vital clues to discover the key, but there are also distractions and items which reveal no information at all. You will need to use your imaginations and your scriptures, solve puzzles, collect clues, and find the key. All before 8:00 when our time runs out! Are you up for the challenge? 


 Rules: we will work out the clues as a group, give everyone a turn to help. Don’t break, shake, or destroy anything. If you think that the answer to a clue requires something being opened or broken, ask me first! Remember that this is the Lord’s house and we need to keep it nice and clean and be reverent. 

Your first clue is in this letter. Give letter with cypher and clue: Joshua 5:15 “And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.” 

R – In shoes, with clue: John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” 

E – In loaf of bread, with clue: John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” 

P – In flashlight, with clue: “Look in the Children’s Songbook on page 103.” (The song references rainbows.) 

E – Behind picture of rainbow, with clue: Isaiah 1:18 “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” 

N – White “wool” yarn, (knit or crochet something like a hat or baby booties to hide the clue in, or just stuff the clues into the center of the skein). With clue: D&C 59:8 “Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” 

T – Heart puzzle with clue John 7:38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” 

A – Bath bomb, with clue: Matthew 5:13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” 

N – Salt Box, with clue: Psalms 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” 

C – Soap box, with clue: Alma 13:13 “And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.” 

E – Bowl of fruit, with clue: “You must CHANGE your heart to become free and full of LUV.” Luv’s box with prizes Serve the bread and fruit as a snack.