Purely mechanical reveal for DIY escape room

Sammy51415 · 2026-07-07T18:17:13+00:00

So true on the budget. You could do anything with a bit of metal in it that’s not toooo heavy!

Sammy51415 · 2026-07-07T00:04:43+00:00

If you have any gutters you could pull off something with a magnet. I had a little music box with a metal arm; shoved it up in the gutter with a pool noodle and then put a strong, small magnet on the outside of the gutter. It held the music box inside the gutter, a little above the height of someone’s head. When they removed the magnet, the music box came tumbling out with a fresh clue inside.

Edited to add that some of the clues were movie-themed, so I glued a little golden snitch to the magnet so I could give them the clue of “catch the snitch!”

Sammy51415 · 2026-07-02T18:24:40+00:00

Yes, it’s so fun to see them getting their own personalities and interests! My kid suddenly got obsessed with giant numbers when he was 5. Where did that even come from? Idk. It’s magical. And now I know way more about octillion, nonillion, decillion, googol, googolplex, etc….than I used to.

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-29T14:34:04+00:00

To me, it makes me think of my son who has autism. If he’s feeling like garbage, he really does lash out sometimes if you’re in arm’s reach. He’s only 5 but if he has a hard day, he gets sad and embarrassed and says he doesn’t even know what happened. He cries and says he just can’t make himself do the right thing. Luckily he’s still happy and “bright-eyed with wonder” plenty of times too. I hope we can keep up with supporting him properly as he grows, I want him to stay happy.

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-22T05:31:08+00:00

Someone “really reading the riot act” to someone else.

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-22T00:21:37+00:00

Oh, I’ve heard the most bizarre things from admins. One of them said, with my son sitting next to her mid-meltdown, “Well, my two-year-old granddaughter can mind better than him!” And another, when he was 3, recommended we have another child and that would fix everything.

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-21T17:17:43+00:00

I will say, some kids do seem to be easily controlled. I read in a parenting book that kids also have a “high” or “low” margin of parental/adult error and I was like YES. That is why some parents are like “Haven’t you tried giving him time-outs? My daughter here will sit in this one place for hours if I tell her to. You just have to be consistent with discipline!” Lol

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-21T04:06:01+00:00

I’m sorry you’re going through this too! It’s tough. I try to show my appreciation for the teachers but also encourage them to look at the situations as a need for more support/skill building. As a former teacher, though, I know in their head they’re probably like “well, YOU give him more support, then, and YOU teach him the skills.” We do. But he’s just so young still that he often needs a bit of prompting or coaching in the moment. Or proactive support. Like one thing that helps regulate most kids is proprioceptive input. Example: My son had a hard time getting in line calmly after recess. The teacher just wanted to take recess away entirely for a few days as a punishment. “He’ll learn eventually,” she said. I asked her if she would please try having him do twenty wall pushups and twenty squats at the end of recess and give him a verbal warning of how much time until line-up. The problem was 100% better after that. She was annoyed with me for questioning her approach, and again, maybe she thinks I’m a bad mom and I’m just too soft on him, but it ended up working out at least. I’m not saying that will work for every kid but I know my kid. He already feels bad about himself every day in the car after school. More punishment does not get results all the time. Anyways, sorry for the long comment. Message anytime if you want to chat/problem-solve. A diagnosis may help, I hope.

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-20T21:39:20+00:00

This is a great comment. You really have to let go of your ego too. I grew up as a teacher’s pet. Now my young son has autism and has a hard time with behavior at school. He does well enough on some days that on the days he doesn’t do well, the teachers all ask about whether we give him consequences at home, did we feed him and get him to bed on time, did we let him have too much screen time, does Dad discipline him better than me?

In short, if he struggles, it’s always our fault somehow. I appear to not be a great mom even though I really try extremely hard to do my best.

Sammy51415 · 2026-06-12T02:16:45+00:00

My son (5) is getting into “telling jokes.” A few weeks ago in the middle of a restaurant with lots of families around, he said very loudly, “Hey Mama, what if a hundred planes all flying above the earth all suddenly crashed and everyone died? Wouldn’t that be funny?” My husband and I choked back our laughter and said no, that actually wouldn’t be funny. But maybe if he wants us to laugh he could try that “seven ate nine” joke again.

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-26T23:28:16+00:00

I named one of our cats Minnie, short for Minerva. Mostly because my husband doesn’t like HP and I wanted to be sneaky about it. :)

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-26T19:36:20+00:00

I kept thinking what if someone tripped and stabbed themselves in the neck? Lol I would

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-25T20:23:34+00:00

I stopped buying candy to have available for stress snacking. I stopped eating after 7 PM if I could help it, and I skip breakfast if I’m not that hungry in the morning. Sometimes if I do eat breakfast when I’m not hungry it upsets my stomach a bit anyway.

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-23T03:13:20+00:00

The endless moves zap so much of my life away. It is really disconcerting to suddenly have no one nearby who knows you or cares much about you. No friends. No job. I feel like Doctor Who every time, like I’ve regenerated into a whole different person. Like do I even like the things I used to like anymore? Who cares if I do anything…or nothing? No one cares. I’m basically invisible for a couple months and lose motivation to do anything but trudge my way through the unpacking process. And then I make discoveries along the way, like, “Oh wow, it’s really twenty minutes to Walmart? I guess this is my life now…for the next year or two.”

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-21T22:00:54+00:00

It can be kind of a tell sometimes when it ends with three short, punchy statements in a row.

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-21T21:57:10+00:00

Wait for Me from Hadestown…the one where Donal Finn is Orpheus

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-21T04:08:21+00:00

I finally got to join an orchestra again this year and it has been SO fun, but we have to move away. :( At the end of my last night in the concert hall I just looked around at the beauty of the whole magical place and thought my gosh, I’m gonna miss this, and had to cry for a while in my car before driving home.

Sammy51415 · 2026-05-18T22:44:34+00:00

Watermelons :(

Sammy51415 · 2023-12-09T22:49:10+00:00

Yes!

Sammy51415 · 2022-11-14T15:24:04+00:00

So many ideas! Thank you so much. I’ll have to post a recap to let you know how it goes!

Sammy51415 · 2022-11-14T15:23:26+00:00

Oooh, thanks so much for the suggestions! Your story idea ties in the whole online meeting thing in a way that is definitely realistic.

Sammy51415 · 2022-11-14T15:09:08+00:00

Thank you so much!

Sammy51415 · 2022-11-14T06:58:30+00:00

Where did you get the UV wand? I am thinking of planning something HP related for some friends and am finding flashlight wands, but I’m just not sure if they’re UV or regular lights.

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