So you like the idea of an escape room, but you want the kids to be outside. Then MYSTERY TRAILS may just be what you’re looking for.
A Mystery Trail is an outdoor game of puzzles. The group is given a sheet or booklet with all the clues and an answer sheet. The group starts at a specific spot and reads the first clue on where to go next. When they get to the next spot, they must solve a puzzle. And so it goes; the group moves along the path or trail solving clues and puzzles until the end.
There are several ways you can set up the objective and answer sheet of a Mystery Trail. The length of time is dependent on the number of puzzles and their difficulty.
Diffuse the Bomb
In this Trail, the answer sheet has four columns. Each column has rows of either one number or one letter each. When a group finds a letter that a puzzle has revealed, they mark it off on the answer sheet. At the end, there should be one letter or number per column left unmarked. Those four letters or numbers are the code to “diffuse the bomb”.
Who Done It?
This is a fun one. It;s sort of like the game Clue. The group is trying to determine who committed the crime and what weapon they used. The answer sheet has pictures of all the suspects and weapons. As they solve the puzzles, they are given either the name of a suspect or a weapon. These are the ones that were not involved so they can be checked off on the list. In the end, only one suspect and one weapon will not be checked off, and now they know Who Done It and with What.
You can make this kid-friendly by making the suspects cartoon animals and the weapons silly things like a super soaker. The storyline could be something like, “Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?”
Buried Treasure
Who doesn’t love treasure? In this variation, the answer sheet is a map with Xs marking various spots that have names (towns, trails, farms, etc.) associated with them. Puzzles that are solved along the trail give names of places where the treasure is not. The location that is not marked off at the end is where the treasure is “buried”.
Here are some ways to use Mystery Trails.
- A fun way to take a hike on a trail
- A way to get familiar with the surroundings (camp, retreat center, club, town, etc.)
- A way to get to know the history of a town
- As a competition (Amazing Race style)
- As a way to learn about a historical figure (walk in their shoes)
- A STEM activity by making puzzles and clues based on science, tech, engineering, and math
