Defense Against the Dark Art Supplies

One of the most fun Harry Potter Escape Room clues for this party was our Defense Against the Dark Art Supplies station! Kids, or wizards, had to guess which art supplies were hidden inside these giant textbook boxes without looking. They stuck their arms in and felt to the back. Then, using the code chart, guessed what they felt. Use this and other clues from this 10 year old birthday theme at your next Halloween Party, Summer Camp or themed event.

No peeking! You’re totally in the Dark and must use your other senses to determine the Art Supplies. It is, after all, Defense Against the Dark Art Supplies.

The key to this station was that the letter the Art Supplies began with was a letter in the name of the person who does NOT have the Mystical Wand of Fire. If you’re just joining in on this one post, this is Clue 8 of 10 (9 3/4) of a Harry Potter Mystery Birthday Party.

For Cash’s 10^th (9 3/4) Birthday, he challenged me to create an entire Escape Room themed around Harry Potter. AND IT WAS A JOY but took me months to get right! I’m going to walk you through this whole party, clue by clue, and maybe your little wizards will want to dive into this Party with Wands-a-blazing. This post covers one clue of the ten we did.

You can navigate the setup of this party through my blog posts starting here: MAIN POST: How to throw an Epic Harry Potter Birthday Party

Here is the direct link to the Wizarding Mystery EBOOK and Printable Suite: Wizard Escape Room | Wizarding World, Who Done it Mystery, Birthday Party Theme | PRINTABLE

You’re going to have to get a feel for this one… One of the most fun clues for this party was our Defense Against the Dark Art Supplies station. Kids, or wizards, had to guess which art supplies were hidden inside these giant textbook boxes without looking. They stuck their arms in and felt to the back. Then, using the code chart, guessed what they felt.

Clue 8 – Directions:

The first step for me was figuring out how to make the big textbooks I could have kids stick their arms into. Saved by my own Poshmark Shipping supplies I landed on these medium flat-rate boxes. Don’t worry, they’ll get used for actual shipping very soon. Here is how I made them into textbooks:

You will need at least 5 cardboard boxes
You will need the minimum art supplies: Sequins, Noodles, Alphabet Beads, Paintbrushes, and Erasers. These spell the word, “SNAPE”
Build your boxes then cut a small hole, big enough for a hand, in the short side of each box.
The idea is for players to stick their hands inside a dark box and feel to guess which art supply it is.
fill your boxes with the supplies. Be sure to tell players not to remove it or pull it out of the box. They can feel it, but not pick it up.
Cut/Frame the 4″x6″ Directions for players/kids/wizards.

Now if you’re using these shipping boxes you can just fold one side of the flaps in for your opening, like I did. But you don’t have to make yours look like books, so I went ahead and put those directions in there.

I also glued my supplies down on a piece of paper that I shoved into the back of the box.

You can buy a download of my Book Spines on Etsy Here: Defense Against the Dark Art Supplies Book Spines

Printing the Book Spines on craft paper helped them blend into the book covers of the boxes. But, I still wanted a little something extra to tie them together. Fortunately, I married an electrician… Billy to the rescue with his black shiny electrical tape! It really made them look Dark Arts-ready.