I am SO EXCITED to share this Escape Room with you! Our stake president asked all the youth in our stake to review the worldwide youth devotional with President and Sister Nelson titled Hope of Israel. If you haven’t watched it, you should! This escape room was based on that devotional. There are codes to cypher, a blacklight, two different locks, and even a ‘fake’ to break.
The youth will start with this quote: “If the prophet invited every 12- to 18-year-old person in the Church to enlist to help gather Israel, what would you be willing to do?”
Then the different groups of up to ten youth each will be taken to their escape rooms which will be set up to look like a teen’s desk. There will be a lamp, hymnbook, For Strength of Youth pamphlet, a Book of Mormon, tray with spare change, pictures hanging up – some sports teams or popular bands, others of Helaman’s Army, Joseph Smith reading the Bible, a temple etc. A mirror will also be in the room. There will be a backpack that has a lock on it laying somewhere in the room as well. Inside the backpack will be another locked bag with the prize. The “prize” at the end will be button badges with a torch and the word WEIRD on it with this quote attached:
“With the Holy Ghost as your companion, you can see right through the celebrity culture that has smitten our society. You can be smarter than previous generations have ever been. And if you are sometimes called “weird,” wear that distinction as a badge of honor and be happy that your light is shining brightly in this ever-darkening world!”
There will also be a print with President Nelson’s 5 things that they can hang in their lockers at school or their bedrooms at home and a Take 5 candy bar for each youth.
There are nine clues that must be solved in order to reach the prize. As they figure out the clues they will keep track of the numbers or words and letters they find on a tracking sheet. These will help to unlock the locks. Hidden throughout the room (the downloadable instructions will tell you where) will be a blacklight, a small party-favor sized plastic sword with a key attached to it, a foil covered chocolate coin, a scroll, and a number written with a blacklight pen in the For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet.
Most of the items can be gathered from your own home or the church library. Items you will possible have to purchase include:
- small keyed padlock – I bought these
- 3 digit combination lock – like these
- Invisible Ink Blacklight markers – three colors here
- Blacklight keychains – here’s a set of 8
- Foil Covered Chocolate Coins – gold coins here
- Plastic Swords – These are small like toothpicks so are easy to hide!
As you can see, I tried to make the Escape Room as cost effective but still as fun as possible while also reviewing President and Sister Nelson’s Devotional. You can find the free download with complete instructions for set up, list of items to get, and prints of all the clues at the bottom of this post. Here’s a look at just a few of the clues.
Once in the room the team will get an envelope with the first clue, a quote from Sister Nelson. It reads:
“Now, here’s another thing I invite you to think about. I like to imagine that each of us came to earth with a scroll attached to our spirits entitled “Things to Do While on Earth.”
“Let’s talk about what might be on that scroll. Let’s talk about five of the things surely written on your scroll according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The word scroll is in italics several times. Hopefully the youth get the hint to look for a scroll (previously put together by you) hidden somewhere in the room. When they find it they will unroll it to find a code they will have to cypher. It looks like this.
The first clue definitely takes the longest for the youth to complete. On average it took our youth 15 minutes.
There is a person in each room acting as a guide and handing out the envelopes for each clue once the previous one has been completed. The second clue needs to be read using a mirror because it talks about people on both sides of the veil. The third clue utilizes scriptures in the Book of Mormon. One of my favorites is the fourth clue that leads them to find the fake coin in the tray of spare change and break it open.
“Another downside of social media is that it creates a false reality. Everyone posts their most fun, adventurous, and exciting pictures, which create the erroneous impression that everyone except you is leading a fun, adventurous, and exciting life. Much of what appears in your various social media feeds is distorted, if not fake. So give yourself a seven-day break from fake!”
Clue five talks about a sacrifice of time. The sixth clue is a maze to the temple to remind the youth to stay on the covenant path. Clue number seven leads the youth to look behind the power (or lamp) where they will find the keychain blacklight flashlight. The eighth clue guides them to use their flashlight to look in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet under the ‘Dress and Grooming’ section.
“My fifth invitation is for you to stand out; be different from the world. You and I know that you are to be a light to the world. Therefore, the Lord needs you to look like, sound like, act like, and dress like a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are living in the world, but you have very different standards from the world to help you avoid the stain of the world.”
By now they will have the number to unlock the first lock. Inside the backpack they will find another locked bag and one final clue. A paper will have a few little sections cut out and the words, “You have your final clue. Use your numbers wisely!” The numbers they used for the lock are the same numbers they will use to look up a hymn in the hymnbook. When the paper is overlaid correctly over the hymn certain letters and words will show giving them the final clue. This guides them to look for “the sword of truth and right” which has been hidden in the room. It has the key to the lock taped to it.
We just had our stake activity. It was great! We had some young single adults (YSA) do the escape room the night before. It took the YSA 30 minutes to complete it. The YSA each helped in the escape rooms during the stake youth activity so the adults could get refreshments ready, etc. It took the youth 45, 50, 60, 60, and 65 minutes to complete the escape room. Hopefully that gives you a better idea of how long it will take.
The download contains all the information you will need to set up your own escape rooms to use for young men and young women activities. It has all the clues, links to supplies, and pictures to aid your set up.
EDITED August 24, 2018: The file has been updated to fix mistakes found (see comments). Thanks to all those who let me know! I also added a page with an “answer key” for those helping in each room.
If you have trouble downloading from here you can find the file here on Google Drive. You should be able to download and print from there.
Enjoy!
I think this is amazing!! I can’t believe all the time you put into this. I have printed everything out and plan to do this in a couple of weeks with our youth. I am stumped on the answers. I went from beginning to end coming up with all the answers to each clue. There is the paper where they keep track of words/letters and numbers. I figured out the numbers, but what are the words? In one of the clues you come up with an “S” and another with a “W”. What are they used for? I am trying to put a sheet together for the leaders who are leading each of the four rooms we are doing.
In clue #2 the word “find” is underlined. That is their first word. Clue #3 “the” is underlined in red. That is their second word. Then there is the S and W from clues 5 and 6. The very last clue they find in the first box that is opened is a cut-out overlay. It goes over hymn 259 in the hymnbook. When overlaid correctly the rest of the letters and words are revealed – ord, of, truth and right. So all the letters/words say “Find the sword of truth and right.” This small sword is hidden behind one of the pictures that has a sword in it. The sword has the key for the last lock attached to it.
Hope that helps!
I am wanting to this for our combined activity. I am not understanding how you got the words from the scriptures on Clue#3. What do the numbers in ( ) mean? Can someone please help me?
NVM I figured it out. Good thing I am not doing the escape room hahaha!!
I’m not figuring it out either!!! Feeling so dumb. Ha!
The numbers in parentheses next to the verse means they count that many words starting from the beginning of the verse to find the right word to write on the clue. For instance the first clue says, Moroni 10:3 (10). The tenth word in that verse is “read” so they write that word on the paper. Hope that helps! The youth usually figure it out. 🙂
This is amazing!!!! We’re currently putting this together for next Wednesday night! Thank you for doing this! I do have a question!
Regarding the maze print out, which quote is printed on the opposite side?
Page 14 in the pdf is to be printed on the back of the maze, “Ensure that your feet are firmly planted on the covenant path.”
On the Book of Mormon Scriptures they are to look up.. The Scripture – Mosiah 18:39. Is it supposed to be Mosiah 18:30? I was just guessing because there is not a 39.
Yes! That’s definitely a typo. We just did the escape room today and by the time the youth got to that scripture they already figured out what each word was so no one even tried to look it up! I will fix it on the pdf file though. Thanks for letting me know!
Thanks! I was just making sure I wasn’t missing something with the clues. I cannot wait to do this. I hope your activity turned out good. Thanks for sharing this!!!
Thank you for sharing! We are excited to do this with our youth tomorrow night here in San Antonio Texas.
Just amazing!
We can’t wait to do this for our joint activity! Thank you!
How many kids do you recommend in a room? How long did it take them to complete the challenge?
I would do no more than about 8 or 9 in a room. We made sure each youth read/did one clue so they all participated. The Young Single Adults that helped us did the room in 30 minutes. The youth took longer. We had five rooms. It took the youth 45, 50, 60, 60, and 65 minutes to complete the escape room. Hopefully that gives you a better idea of how long it will take.
I have a question….. do the youth stay in the same room the entire time? So we need 4-5 rooms set up exactly the same way? I’ve never done an escape room but am super excited to do this for our upcoming combined activity.
Yes, the youth stay in the same room the entire time. You will need multiple rooms set up the same way if you have more than ten youth participating in the activity.
Thank you so much for sharing this!! What a blessing to so many- I can’t wait to use this with our youth. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your talents and ideas!
We’re doing this tonight! The one thing I noticed was the lines seemed off when cutting out the “windows” on clue #9, I cut on all the lines and discovered they didn’t line up to be the right words. I’m trying again right now. Everything else is perfection! We added a jigsaw puzzle “red herring” to distract the girls (our activity is just YW) and the bishop is going to talk about things that distract us from our eternal goals and waste our time. Thanks for putting this together!
Yes, the paper for the cut-out windows on clue #9 is smaller than the hymnbook. It’s kind of on purpose to make the youth work a little more. Most were able to get it without lining it up completely. There is a “sweet” spot though where all the words will line up in the cut out windows.
Good luck on the activity!
Thank you so much for creating this! I used this for our combined activity for our ward here in Georgia and it went over really well. I love the creativity of all the clues and that I was able to print everything out. With just a few tweaks (I didn’t have a blacklight or blacklight pen) I was able to pull it off without too much stress!
This is amazing! We used it this last weekend for a Stake Youth Activity.
A piece of advice for anyone else wanting to use it though, DON’T modify it!!!!!
We thought we’d add an extra challenge, and buy us more time while the kids solved the rooms, by hiding the clues around the rooms, rather than having a moderator give them each clue at a time. Well, some rooms solved the room in 25 minutes because they found clue 9 first, which had the hymn number on it that happens to also be the combo lock key. We made them go back in the room and work through the clues anyway, to find how they “should” have found the combination.
Because most rooms found this last clue first, most did not even utilize the “scratch here” page, the blacklight, or the cut outs for laying over the hymn page. So I felt a lot of our hard work was for nothing.
I still count the activity as a success because most youth we polled still said they thought it was an amazing set up with a lot of detail.
We followed our escape room with a Mystery Dinner (except just snacks) where they didn’t really know what they were ordering because everything had a code name. They had three courses to figure out what they really wanted to try to order to get the correct items.
These two activities together were perfect to fill the three hours we were given.
Thanks so much!
I keep trying to download this but it keeps failing. What am I doing wrong? Do you have this in a zip form?
I sent you an email!
For some reason I am unable to download this. I would love to do this for an upcoming activity. Would you be able to email it to me?
Check your email!
I was also unable to download. I keep getting an error message. Can you email it to me? Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing all your hard work! We are going to try this for a YM/YW activity next week in Pleasant Grove, UT.
Thank you so much for doing this and sharing it with everyone! We’re doing it for our ward youth conference. This was the exact theme our president asked us to do an escape room around-and here it is done perfectly! Thank you!
I’m having a hard time with the download as well- can you email this to me please?
hi! Do you have a file I could download of the Locker handout of Pres. Nelson’s talk? We’re really looking forward to doing this fun activity! Thanks so much for working to make it just right!
Hi Mary, you can find the locker prints and download them here: https://www.cranialhiccups.com/2018/06/enlist-in-the-youth-battalion-of-the-lord-free-printables.html.
Hello!
This really looks amazing! I think we’ll try this for our combined YW/YM activity this month! Yay!
Question: does each youth receive the button badge then? Where did you purchase those? We’d need about 40.
Thanks SO much for sharing your talents!
Yes, each youth receives a button badge. I made ours using a button badge maker. There might be someone in your stake who has one.
Ok, great!
Also, are all the items, like the padlock, combination lock
Invisible Ink Blacklight markers, Blacklight keychains, Foil Covered Chocolate Coins, Plastic Swords all per room? One per room?
Thanks, in advance!
Yes, that’s right, one of each per room.
We just used this for our stake youth conference and it was great! We actually have lost of leftover printed things and other supplies and I don’t want it to go to waste! If you live in Utah and are looking at doing this and would like our supplies, please reply to this and let me know!
Hi, I leave in South Salt Lake. We are doing this Escape Room Wednesday 14th, August, for a stake group of about 80 youth. If you still have all the supplies. I want them. Thank you
I live in Syracuse and would love your supplies if you still have them. We will be doing this for our youth conference too.
Thank you!
Yes! Please email me privately!
katiefillmorecraig@gmail.com
The chocolate coins I found at Party City 12 for $1.00. Way easier to separate when frozen…the chocolate shrinks and the foil literally lifts off.
That’s a great tip to freeze the coins!
I’ve been asked to do this escape room for Youth Conference too. Can you email me a high resolution image too for a big door banner?
Thanks
I’m having trouble with clue 6. Is there a black shield clue #6? I’m having trouble figuring out how they get from s missing on clue #5 to the maze. Can someone help me?
Thanks?
Holly
Hi Holly, there is no black shield clue #6. Clue #6 IS the maze. The guide that is in the room hand the youth an envelope with clue #6 in it after they figure out clue #5.
I’m not understanding clue #6 and paint that they need to scratch off to reveal a “W.” Do you write a “W” on the back of the paper or something and then cover it with paint? Thank you! 🙂
The instructions are in the pdf file. Here’s what it says, “At the bottom of the maze in the grass under the temple write the letter W in pencil. Cover the letter with clear scotch tape. Make a solution of 2 parts silver acrylic paint and 1 part dish soap. You only need like 10 drops of paint and 5 drops of dish soap. Carefully paint over the scotch tape. Let dry. Do another coat of paint. Let dry. Under that write “scratch here” with an arrow pointing to the silver paint.” Hope that helps to clarify!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi! I am having trouble with the download. could you help me out with that?
Check your email. 🙂
I am doing this for our girls camp coming up. Will you please e-mail it to me, I am having trouble downloading it. Thank you.
Check your email. 🙂
I love this! When you have time, would you please email it to me? I am having trouble downloading it.
Thank you so much!
We just used this for our Youth Conference two weeks ago and it worked great! I have a lot of supplies left over if anyone wants them. I live in Syracuse Utah
Id love your left over supplies. I live in Huntsville UT
Great! Email me. harvsters7@msn.com
I am so grateful for such talented creative members who made an extraordinary activity that was so fun to put together and to put on for our youth. Everything went very smooth and the youth had such a good time learning from our Prophet, President Nelson, in a fun and enjoyable way. It was a hit! Thank you so much for sharing your talents!
Thanks for letting me know it went well! That’s always good to hear. 🙂
I still have leftover supplies if anyone would like them.
Thank you for sharing this! I found it while searching for activities for our young Women. They are so excited to do an escape room! Cross your fingers I can pull it off. 😊
THANK YOU for all the time and effort you put into this! We are doing it with our Young Women tonight. The only thing that is missing is a clue for #6, and I see that others have asked about this, but there should be a shield which has President Nelson’s third challenge on it: “My third invitation is for you to do a thorough life assessment with the Lord, and perhaps with your parents and your bishop, to ensure that your feet are firmly planted on the covenant path. If you have wandered off, or if there are some things you need to let go of to help your mind and heart be more pure, today is the perfect time to change.” We should hang the maze/quote up on the wall (quote side out) so that after the girls read the clue, they are prompted to look for the “Ensure your feet are firmly planted…” quote and then solve the maze. Otherwise they don’t get to read what the third challenge is during the activity, and it’s such an important one! I created a shield by just adding a new text box over one of the existing templates. I love this whole activity! Thanks again!
Hi is it possible to have you send a blank clue template to create a clue for #6? For the third challenge Pres. nelson gave? I would really love to have one that will match the others – can’t edit these ones to make my own. Thank you so much!!!
Our stake in Iowa LOVED this escape room!! Thank you for sharing this, we are beyond grateful!! My mom’s stake in IL is going to do this activity as well 💜
Yay! I’m so glad it worked well for your youth!
Thank you so very much! We did this today for a youth conference with 20ish youth and they had such a fun time! Please know how grateful I am for the work you put in to creating this, it has blessed lots of people!!