When planning your trap it is important to understand what the escapees are experiencing. Because escapees cannot see clearly was is waiting for them in the dark, or behind barriers they will have to proceed with extreme caution. They will use clues from their surroundings, so why not leave misleading clues. Here are a few examples.
Also, here is a great story on how well this concept works!
The rating on these obstacles are “hard” because of the age they are appropriate for. Though technically “easy” to execute, the concept may be missed on younger children.
Alarm Decals and Stickers
Rating: Hard
Supplies: Alarm Stickers or Decals
Place the alarm stickers on doors and windows. Try placing a sticker on the inside of the bedroom door. If you live somewhere warm, the escapees may attempt to go outside to circumvent the trap. So you may want to place the stickers on the escapees windows to prevent them from going outside. Or if you want to encourage the escapees to go outside, you can dictate which door or window you want them to use for re-entry by placing stickers on every other window and door.
Red LEDs
Rating: Hard
Supplies: Any red LED on electronic devices, or you can buy this one.
In the dark, a single red or green LED can be very misleading. Escapees will have to stop and try to determine the source the little light. They will wonder, is it a motion detector or a camera? Is it safe to shine a flash light on it to get a better look? Can we move forward without setting off the trap? Here are a few helpful hints for setting up your LED.
Tips and Tricks
- Put the LED in a silk plant. This way, the light can still be seen, but it will be more difficult to determine what the device is.
- Try putting your LED at the end of an empty hallway. After a few years of the Trapping tradition, the escapees will be used to opening their bedroom doors to a myriad of obstacles and contraptions. An empty room or hallway with a single red LED shining in the dark will be very suspicious. Many escapees will attempt evade the room with the mysterious LED entirely rather than risk it. At the very least, it will slow the escapees down as they try to figure out what to do.
- Keep your escapees in mind when setting up the LED. Because it is not an actual trap, you want to be 100% certain the escapee will see the trap. If they are short make sure to set it up in a low place.
False Cameras
Rating: Difficult
Supplies: False Security Camera
This is somewhat self-explanatory and very similar to the red LED section before. Set up this false security camera and let their imaginations run wild.
Red Laser Pointers
Rating: Difficulty
Supplies: Red Laser pointer
This deception relies on the Hollywood perception of alarm systems and bank vaults. Dozens of movie portray precious items or homes protects by a web of red lasers, and while it is never very clear exactly what they lasers do, the characters in the films always avoid them. Hopefully when your escapees see lasers in the dark the do the same! There are two important notes about this obstacle below.
- Be sure to choose a laser pointer with batteries that will last a for a few hours. It would be a shame if the batteries died before the escapees woke up
- Brighter Laser pointers make a better illusion.