When my son told me he wanted to have an escape room birthday party I literally jumped up with excitement. He’s turning 11 and hasn’t asked for an actual themed birthday party since his Dude Perfect party when he turned 8. Because party planning is my love language, I immediately started thinking of ideas. I knew going to the local Escape Room wasn’t an option because my husband and I have done it, and it’s definitely geared toward adults because of the complexity and level of difficulty. I googled and “Pinterest-ed” until I came across a kit to host your own escape room party for sale on Etsy. I loved the idea of just purchasing it and following directions instead of coming up with all the ideas myself! It arrived in a week and was exactly what I expected. It came with everything I needed to pull this thing off!
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Jamie
We decided to turn one of our unused offices into the escape room, and since it was under construction at the time, we incorporated that into the theme, “CLOWNSTRUCTION ZONE”. The “clown” component came in because it’s one of the only things I know of that genuinely freaks Clark out. He always jokes about how creepy clowns are, so I took the idea and ran with it! My parents also happened to have clown costumes left over from Halloween in the 90s, so it was a no-brainer. Below I’ll break the party prep into two categories: decor/setup and game play. If you’re planning your own party, you can come up with any theme you like, and still use the kit I purchased as it has no specific theme attached to it.
Decor/Setup
Because we own a construction company, and the party was at our offices, construction-themed decor was easy to come by. We used traffic cones, construction tape, tools, and other random items to enhance the experience and create a realistic “construction office” look. Adding in party items and clown paraphernalia made for the most interesting and intriguing look. It turned out even better than I expected!
I started by building the escape room from empty. I first added ONLY the items required to complete the puzzles and clues laid out by the kit. I did it this way to ensure none of the “extras” interfered with game.
Game Play
After the game was completely built, my mom and I tried it out so that it made sense. It was during this process that we realized most of the clues were going to be a little too difficult for the boys (age 11) to figure out in the one-hour time frame we were planning to give them. Luckily, included in my kit purchase was a “modified” set of clues for ages 7-9 (although I would say these are perfect for ages 9-11). We easily swapped out the standard clues with the modified ones because the game itself stayed the same.
Once we knew it would be perfect for them, I added random board games, puzzle pieces, dominoes, playing cards, confetti, lots of clown things including wigs, costumes and accessories. I intentionally focused on using things that seem chaotic to me so that the room felt fun and exciting, but also gave them tons to look at and throw them off of the clues. I also included a large countdown clock for them to keep track of their time and to add to the intensity of it all.
As I mentioned before, the Escape Room Kit includes everything you need to play, but suggests you use a storyline to get the kids engaged and excited. You also need to provide your own locked box as the end goal. Inside you can hide the actual key to unlock the door, or some sort of prize or treasure. I created this silly story to hang on the door to start the game off, as well as the “key” for the locked box at the end. I’m linking them here if you want to use them for your own escape room.
When the boys arrived and it was time to play, they were so excited and did so well working together through the clues. The girls and I were able to watch over the wall and I only had to offer them a few prompts along the way (prompts/hints included in the kit too!) to keep them on track. I definitely recommend being able to see and communicate with the players. You could use a baby monitor with mic or open a window if you’re room is fully enclosed. They ended up finishing in 37 minutes and were so proud of themselves!
Overall, I am so happy with the party as a whole and can’t currently think of anything I would do differently. If you would like to see some behind the scenes of our diy escape room, check out the Instagram highlight here and to see the boys in action here’s an Instagram reel of the party. If you have any questions, feel free to message me on social media or email me at mybloomcreative@gmail.com. Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xoxoxoxoxox
