And that's it! After nearly two months of planning and design, the kids solved it under a week! It was great fun designing it and witnessing my kids' thrill of discovery and imagination as they put their problem solving skills to the test. I guess I'll have to make a more difficult one for next summer - or just not help them as much (I couldn't help it! I was probably more excited than they were!)
Until next time,
Scruffy Beard
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Kryptos
The Quest for Scruffy Beard's Treasure Begins!
Note: The kids discovered the first clue after I invited them outside to look for rocks. After solving the clue, the kids immediately wanted to dig up the entire back yard (See shovel in Hayden's grip). I dropped a few hints that maybe the ghost of Scruffy Beard placed the clues inside the house. At this point, Hayden grew a little wide-eyed and kept looking over his shoulder. Amaya figured out that the bottle of stone was a ceramic bottle on one of the book shelves.
Note: The kids discovered the first clue after I invited them outside to look for rocks. After solving the clue, the kids immediately wanted to dig up the entire back yard (See shovel in Hayden's grip). I dropped a few hints that maybe the ghost of Scruffy Beard placed the clues inside the house. At this point, Hayden grew a little wide-eyed and kept looking over his shoulder. Amaya figured out that the bottle of stone was a ceramic bottle on one of the book shelves.
The invitation and Clue #1
Hayden asked if I made this. What fun would it be if I said yes and stripped away the mystery and adventure? "Must of been this fellow Scruffy Beard," I said, rubbing the scruff of my chin.
Hayden asked if I made this. What fun would it be if I said yes and stripped away the mystery and adventure? "Must of been this fellow Scruffy Beard," I said, rubbing the scruff of my chin.
The parchment found inside the Bottle of Stone. A letter from Scruffy Beard to his love, Isabella.
Design Note: This was way too much fun for me!! Love the sign off of "Scruffy-kins." Harkens back to the old days of writing love notes to Quarrie. No, I was never referred to as Greggy-kins. Please!
Design Note: This was way too much fun for me!! Love the sign off of "Scruffy-kins." Harkens back to the old days of writing love notes to Quarrie. No, I was never referred to as Greggy-kins. Please!
On the back side of Scruffy Beards letter holds a clue...
Design note: I called this clue "Lumos," after the name of the font based on the Harry Potter typeface. And, of course, "Lumos" is the spell to create light, as every Potter fan knows.
Design note: I called this clue "Lumos," after the name of the font based on the Harry Potter typeface. And, of course, "Lumos" is the spell to create light, as every Potter fan knows.
Hay Hay searches for the words that will form the next clue...
Amaya puts the pieces of the Lumos puzzle together. The words from the chapters form the sentence: LOOK BENEATH THE GREAT TABLE. This led them to the kitchen table, where a compass was taped to the underside.
Attached to the compass was a sticker that read: AN ANGEL WILL GUIDE YOU.
This led them eventually to a framed photo of our inherited kitty Angel, where a clue was stuck to the back with a web address: www.tinyurl.com/angelsclue, which led to this digital pic:
Attached to the compass was a sticker that read: AN ANGEL WILL GUIDE YOU.
This led them eventually to a framed photo of our inherited kitty Angel, where a clue was stuck to the back with a web address: www.tinyurl.com/angelsclue, which led to this digital pic:
The kids discovered that this photo is a close up shot of our mailbox. They ran to the mailbox, Hayden stuffing all the clues discovered so far inside his Indiana Jones messenger bag, where they both found the envelope taped to the post hidden by the climbing vines. Inside the envelope they find...
This clue is named Kryptos, after the sculpture of the same name at CIA headquarters in Langley, VA. Kryptos is also the greek word for "hidden". This one was inspired by my fave toy from the 80's: transformers. On the back of a transformer box was a cut out card with info on the 'bot - a quote, backstory and description of his skills, etc. There was also a statistical bar graphing the bots firepower, speed, etc. The blue graph line was hidden by a bunch of red lines that needed a red decoder to filter them all out. I used the same idea here. I added a second code for the kids to decipher in order to find red filter goggles to read the first part.
Hayden poses with the Kryptos clue after they decode the bottom code, which told them to call Grandpa Georgia, who Amaya is talking to here. Grandpa gave the kids a compass bearing of 230 degrees SW from the mailbox. This led them to two trees that formed a V. At its base, hidden in the brush, was a cardboard tube with a skull on it. Inside the tube...
Red-filter goggles! I made them by taping the red material from old-school 3-D glasses to a pair of swimming goggles. Special thanks to Chris & Kellie for providing the 3-D glasses.
Sweet!
Now let's see what this code is...
After the kids read this, they ran to the fridge to inspect the magents for any clues. Nada. After watching them struggle a bit, I told them that if there's something I need to know about, I try googling it.
They googled the clue. And discovered that the clue is a title of a paper written in 1864 by a scientist named James Clerk Maxwell. The kids then ran to our dog whose name happens to be Maxwell.
They googled the clue. And discovered that the clue is a title of a paper written in 1864 by a scientist named James Clerk Maxwell. The kids then ran to our dog whose name happens to be Maxwell.
The kids try to keep our hyper-Maxwell still long enough to read the clue on his tag. A bribe of milk bone treats does the trick. The tag reads: Look behind the buffet.
BONUS! The kids discover half of a treasure map AND a letter from Isabella to her love, Scruffy Beard!
One half of the map! The kids took it outside and discovered that the map represented our back yard. The circled numbers are the fence posts!
Design Note: This is inspired by Petrus Plancius, a cartographer and astronomer and his beautiful rendition of the Spice Islands circa 1592. I totally stole his entire design motif, including lifting the sea monsters, sailing ships, compass and border. Thanks, Petrus!
Design Note: This is inspired by Petrus Plancius, a cartographer and astronomer and his beautiful rendition of the Spice Islands circa 1592. I totally stole his entire design motif, including lifting the sea monsters, sailing ships, compass and border. Thanks, Petrus!
Isabella's letter to her "Scruffy-kins" found with the half of the map.
Design Note: I stressed out the lower half of the letter to demonstrate Isabellas own stress at being imprisoned, and added some ink spatters for effect.
Design Note: I stressed out the lower half of the letter to demonstrate Isabellas own stress at being imprisoned, and added some ink spatters for effect.
On the back of Isabella's letter: Her instructions written in secret code...
Now at this point the kids really had no further direction. I had given Quarrie a clue for her to give to the kids when they had reached their wits end. The clue was to be "60 degrees NE from 17." The "17" had a circle around it. The plan was for the kids to figure out the circled numbers represented the fence posts in the backyard. 17 wasn't on the half of the map they had, so all they had to do was count to the 17th post, check the compass from there and point to 60 degrees, which pointed to a small tree with a large hole in a low branch, where I placed the next clue.
As it happened, just as Amaya figured out the fence posts on the map, Hayden saw the clue in the tree. Next time, I'll have to hide it better!
Now at this point the kids really had no further direction. I had given Quarrie a clue for her to give to the kids when they had reached their wits end. The clue was to be "60 degrees NE from 17." The "17" had a circle around it. The plan was for the kids to figure out the circled numbers represented the fence posts in the backyard. 17 wasn't on the half of the map they had, so all they had to do was count to the 17th post, check the compass from there and point to 60 degrees, which pointed to a small tree with a large hole in a low branch, where I placed the next clue.
As it happened, just as Amaya figured out the fence posts on the map, Hayden saw the clue in the tree. Next time, I'll have to hide it better!
The Tree Clue
Tree Clue Solved
Amaya on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa Bubba. I gave my folks a riddle that they both have to recite to the kids:
"North, South, East and West,
I can help you on your quest.
Watching over all as I stand,
with four faces and eight hands.
Tick Tock, Bricks and Brax,
Find me to get on the right trax."
This one drove the kids nuts for 24 hours. The answer was the clock tower from Hayden's GeoTrax set. Inside the tower was a sticker that read "Writ upon the dungeon floor" which led them to the basement where they saw:
"North, South, East and West,
I can help you on your quest.
Watching over all as I stand,
with four faces and eight hands.
Tick Tock, Bricks and Brax,
Find me to get on the right trax."
This one drove the kids nuts for 24 hours. The answer was the clock tower from Hayden's GeoTrax set. Inside the tower was a sticker that read "Writ upon the dungeon floor" which led them to the basement where they saw:
After the kids saw this clue, they ran to the fridge and started looking for clues inside. Amaya even pulled out a bottle of wine and examined it for clues. Eventually, they figured out the clue was Food & Wine magazine, of which we have had a subscription. They found the June 2009 issue and inside it was:
Scruffy Beard's warning...
What's with the dotted lines?
What's with the dotted lines?
Scruffy's warning becomes a clue when folded.
Design Note: This one was inspired by the MAD magazine fold-ins. Memories...
Design Note: This one was inspired by the MAD magazine fold-ins. Memories...
The clue behind the bookshelf
Crossword solved. This one took the kids a while. The secret word led them to our cat Flannels, who had a clue hidden under her collar. A web address that led to this picture:
The kids immediately recognized this pic as a close up shot of a painting in our house. Hidden behind the painting was this:
The clue hidden behind the painting. At first glance, it's just a ship...
Hold it up to the light and words appear...
Ain't it cool?
Design Note: The ship is 100% of each color CMYK. The text is 90% of each color. The text is only readable if the ship is backlit.
Ain't it cool?
Design Note: The ship is 100% of each color CMYK. The text is 90% of each color. The text is only readable if the ship is backlit.
A few months prior to the start of the treasure hunt, as I was designing the clues, I had shown the kids the dead tree in our side yard and bade them warning in case if were to fall. I merely wanted them to know that the tree was dead. "The dead tree," they repeated. I smiled on the inside. Flash forward, and as soon as they saw the words in the ship, they knew exactly where to go.
Hayden looks for a clue
CLUE FOUND!!!
The code matrix needed to decipher Isabella's code.
Our brave treasure hunter head back to headquarters.
Hayden keeps all the clues in his knapsack
(insert man-purse joke here)
(insert man-purse joke here)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our treasure seekers are hard at work on Isabella's clue. The code breaks into "In the Dungeon, the tiny chair," which refers to a kid-sized seat I discovered while routing cable wires in the basement / crawlspace. It was there in the far corner, in a tiny nook, about 3 feet of clearance from dirt floor to ceiling. There were newspaper comic clippings from the 1970's taped to the walls. It was freaky. I assume it was either a child's hideout, or a form of (shudder) punishment. I shown the kids the day I found it. Amaya thought it was scary. So I thought it the perfect spot to place an important part of the treasure hunt. The introduction clue did state that you needed guts.
NOTE: As I was crawling back in the darkness to place the clue, my unforgiving mind brought up the question: What if I get there and see that the chair has been moved to another corner of the basement? IT'S HAUNTED!! But it was still there in the same spot.
FURTHER NOTE: The kids were terrified to go to the chair - even with a flashlight and with me waiting for them at the basement door. I had to accompany them halfway. Alas, I did not think to take pictures of the frightening ordeal. The kids returned triumphant with:
NOTE: As I was crawling back in the darkness to place the clue, my unforgiving mind brought up the question: What if I get there and see that the chair has been moved to another corner of the basement? IT'S HAUNTED!! But it was still there in the same spot.
FURTHER NOTE: The kids were terrified to go to the chair - even with a flashlight and with me waiting for them at the basement door. I had to accompany them halfway. Alas, I did not think to take pictures of the frightening ordeal. The kids returned triumphant with:
The second half of the map!!
The complete treasure map
The treasure hunters put the final pieces of the puzzle together.
X MARKS THE SPOT!
GOAL!!
Our treasure hunters are victorious!
Six Flags Tickets be the reward!
"Can we go tomorrow?" is their immediate response.
Our treasure hunters are victorious!
Six Flags Tickets be the reward!
"Can we go tomorrow?" is their immediate response.
