Harry Potter Escape Room for Kids

This DIY Harry Potter Escape Room was designed around my 9 year old and 6 year old kids who have greatly enjoyed MagiQuest adventures and were recently introduced into the world of escape rooms. This design is meant to be kept simple without any actual potion making.

What better way to spend a 9th birthday than to complete a Harry Potter Escape Room? Embody your favorite witch or wizard to escape Potions class and sneak out to Hogsmeade for some butter beer, while casting a few spells along the way!

2x Wooden Book Box

2x Wood Tricket Box

1x Wood Wine Bottle Box

1x Vintage Leather Journal

1x 12oz Iron Filings

5x Potion Bottles of various size

1x Bird Cage

Skewers

Popsicle Sticks

Round Wood Pucks

Cardboard Paper Tags

1x 5 Letter Combo Lock

1x Masterlock Keyed Lock

The plot behind this escape room is that Nearly-Headless Nick has hidden all of the potion bottles that are needed for Potions class throughout Hogwarts. You must search for clues and solve puzzles in order to unlock all of the potion bottles which are used for one final clue.

Prior to beginning the escape room, each student is given their supplies that they need to complete their school year. These primarily consist of:

1. Book of Spells
2. Wands from Olivanders
3. Marauder's Map

The Book of Spells acts as a set of instructions similar to that of a MagiQuest game. This way that younger kids can follow simple instructions, know where to go next, and do not get overwhelmed with choice overload.

The Wands from Olivanders were made following this tutorial. Rather than using regular air dry clay, I chose to go with Crayola Model Magic as the exterior material so the wands wouldn't break if they were dropped and would bounce instead.

The Marauder's Map was made following this tutorial. I used this as a generic outline to match fold and cut seams, as well as where some of the outside graphics would go. I did end up changing the blueprint used to match that of our house so there would be continuity between the game and the landscape of where we were conducting the game. I also added in graphics of the colored potion bottles into the map as additional clues so less time was wasted going room to room looking for all of the puzzles. Additionally, I hid an answer to one of the combo locks in the map and highlighting the answer with UV ink to mimick Harry casting Lumos in order to use the Maruader's Map at night.

"To achieve your first potion bottle, help McGonagall by using the tangram blocks to transform the block into a cat."

The first puzzle that needs to be solved is with Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration.

The students must transform the provided square of Tangram blocks into a cat following the outline provided. This puzzle is host interactive as the host does need to play the sound attached once the puzzle is completed.

We decided to do this puzzle in the kitchen and hide one of the potion bottles in the cabinet beneath this puzzle.

"Uh oh! The floo powder has been locked up!

Use the Cloak of Invisibility under the cover of darkness to not get caught.

Gather the lock box and retreat to the Room of Requirement so you cannot be followed by the Professors.

Find the 3 pieces of the Mirror of Erised to get the lock answer."

This puzzle lock box was designed using this tutorial. I didn't have enough sturdy cardboard that would work well enough, so I ended up using a Wood Tricket Box that I found from Michaels and removed the brass latch.

To give the students the code to the lock box, they have to find the 3 pieces of the Mirror of Erised, which are pieces of plexiglass, within the Room of Requirement. Once all 3 are found and stacked on top of each other, a 3 digit code is revealed.

"Your name has been chosen by the Goblet of Fire!

Go to the Great Hall to gather your clue for this challenge.

Find Moaning Myrtle in the Prefect's Bathroom to complete this challenge."

This puzzle is meant to mimick the golden egg given to TriWizard challengers from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So these students are given a bath bomb that they must disolve within the cauldron in order to reveal a key for a future puzzle. We also printed out a picture of Moaning Myrtle to be placed above the cauldron as a signifier of where the students need to be to complete this step. Additionally, we printed out an image of the Goblet of Fire we found and glued it onto cardboard as where the students can find the bath bomb clue.

To make the bath bomb, I had ordered a kit from Amazon that I thought was complete, but it ended up just being the molds and shrink packaging. I included the instructions from the kit in the photos above, including the ingredients required to make it. During the process of making it, I placed the key for the masterlock used in the next step within the bath bomb mold so it would be released once it was dissolved in water.

"Oh no!

Hedwig has escaped!

We have heard rumors that she has been seen in the Divination tower."

This puzzle uses the key that was collected from the previous step to unlock the cage that Hedwig and a potion bottle has been found in.

My daughter already had a small plush hedwig which I was able to use. Either a plush owl or even a print out of a picture of Hedwig would work just as well. As for the cage, I found this on clearance at Michaels which worked perfectly, but any other large lantern or bird cage style would work as well.

"Your Monstrous Book of Monsters textbook is on the loose!

Track down your textbook and calm and tame the book to release the potion bottle that it ate.

Check your map for a hint to tame the book!"

This puzzle was made by using a Wooden Book Box and hot glueing fake fur to the outside, as well as eyes to emulate the Monstrous Book of Monsters. To lock it, we used a 5 Letter Combo Lock with a small metal chain to go around the book. We ended up painting over the letters on the combo lock to make our own word combos. A few of the combos are:

1. Draco
2. Dobby
3. Magic
4. Harry

The answer for the combo lock was hidden within the Marauder's Map and outlined with UV ink.

"Your textbook, Phoenix Tales, was hidden within the Room of Requirement.

Cast Revelio to find the location for the last potion bottle."

This puzzle adds a flare of magic to the escape room so far! To make this puzzle, we used another Wooden Book Box, some cardboard, plexiglass, and iron filings.

Inside of the Wooden Book Box, make a ledge about 1/2" tall that will hold the plexiglass. Prior to hot glueing the plexiglass into place, glue a message to the bottom of the book box and place some of the iron filings above it. Then hot glue the plexiglass onto the cardboard ledge so none of the iron filings escape.

The wands used for this puzzle are specific to this puzzle. Using some bamboo chopsticks, glue 2 small round magnets to the tip of the chopstick. Then surround the magnets and chopstick with clay. Again, I used Crayola Model Magic for my kids.

The magnets within the wands will attract the iron filings causing them to move away and reveal the hidden message beneath. The message in this box says, "Open the red chest next to the windo in Defense Against the Dark Arts." This leads the students to the final potion bottle that they need for Potions class.

"You are now ready for Potions class!

Before you go, Professor Snape has some instructions for you. Listen closely."

For our setup, we will have a screen within the room that Defense Against the Dark Arts is in. This is crucial as the students will play the video on the screen of Professor Snape saying,"Turn to page 394." The students will then turn to the end of the Book of Spells to page 394 (no, there's not 394 pages within the spell book, I just assigned the last page as 394) where they will find the cipher for the potions puzzle.

"If a fluent Latin speaker you are not, use this cipher to advance the plot.

Match the order of the symbols on the potion bottles to the symbols that correspond with each letter in this word: WITCH."

The students then haveto use the cipher to place the potion bottles in the correct order on the potion bottle box in order to unlock the hidden lock.

To make the hidden lock for this puzzle box, we used a paint stir stick, small hinge, a small L bracket, and 3 large round magnets. The Wooden Wine Bottle Box had already come with a split divider meant to hold the neck of a wine bottle which we used as a stop for the sliding door. There are magnets glued to the bottom of 2 of the potion bottles in opposing directions, so if they aren't placed in the correct order then they will not activate the lock.

"Congratulations!

You have found all of the potion bottles, and revealed the final puzzle.

Once complete, cast Lumos to reveal a hidden secret held within the Hogwarts crest."

The final puzzle is an actual puzzle that is revealed in the potions box. Using UV ink, we wrote a hidden message, "The treasure lies with the Dukes of Honey" around the Hogwarts crest that was painted onto the puzzle. This leads the students to the Secret Passage to Honeydukes on their Marauder's Map. This is the exit of the escape room. For us, this worked out well because we used the door to our basement as the secret passage and out the storm door to the backyard where we hid some gifts and treasures for the kids.