
When my kids wake up to a lock box their excitement is tangible! I love to sit back to watch them use logic and team work to solve each puzzle.
I love creating lock box experiences for my kids! Weekly or even monthly would be ideal! In reality I create a lock box only a few times a year. Each box takes lot of pondering and an entire evening to create. However, a lock box mixes up our routine, which helps add some spice into our lives! I like it!
A few months have passed since this lock box happened. I honestly have been doing the bare minimum around here… That is what happens when you are expecting a new addition to the family! π It was a simple lock box and didn’t take too long for the kids to break into. Simple deductive reasoning and team work were the goals of this lockbox.
(At the end of this post is a free pdf download with lock combinations, puzzles, and solutions.)
Without any further delay let’s dive into the details of this lock box.

The crowning jewel was the DEATH STAR bomb! This baking soda bomb was created using a Death Star mold I bought from Amazon. I mixed a thick paste of baking soda, water, and blue food coloring. I filled the mold with the paste, putting key in the center of the two halves, and placed it in the freezer to solidify. While solving clues the kids spent a lot of time fully dissolving the baking soda even after the key was uncovered.


With a number and a clue in each balloon they made the perfect tool to decorate the lock box site. It took the kids a while to realize clues were in the balloons. Plus who doesn’t like popping balloons?

For the 5 letter lock I used the poem, Down in the Hollow by Aileen Fisher. I wrote it in pencil except for the 5 letters that spell out βwroteβ. These 5 letters were written in pen. As a clue I set out an eraser in the area with the poem. The girls noticed W-R-O-T-E was written in ink instead of pencil. I was hoping they would use the eraser to erase the poem leaving them with with the letters that spell wrote. But alas these kids are too smart!

For one of the 4 letter locks I used a bag of dice. On 4 of the dice I used colored papers to cover one number on each dice. Once they located these numbers they were able to fill in the 4 numbers for the lock.

With the directional lock they simply had to gather these sticks and place them in order from least to greatest to discover the code.

With an old calendar and some small stickers we covered 3 numbers. Once they put the covered numbers in chronological order they can open the 3 digit lock.
Download the pdf if you want instructions to duplicate this box or perhaps this lock box will spark some new ideas.
π Terynn