Create a Puzzle Box

By Jennie Preece

May 3, 2021

20 min activity

00:00

Molly and Tooey discover a hidden treasure underneath a floorboard — a beautifully carved box with a secret inside! After hours of trying to open it, they discover the box isn’t just a box, but a puzzle that is really hard to solve. They decide to write down the steps to open it so they don’t forget.

With your child, build a puzzle box to hide something special and test the problem-solving skills of family and friends! Grab supplies and use your imagination to build the box, then write down the steps so others can know how to open your creation!

Materials

Directions

Before you begin, read the directions with your child and let them know that you’ll be making a secret compartment within the puzzle box!

Draw a line around the bottom half of one of the tissue boxes, about 1 to 3 inches from the bottom.

Cut the box on the line. The bottom half of the box will be used as the secret compartment.

On the secret compartment box, cut along the left and right edges of one side. Then cut along those same edges across the bottom. These cuts will create a flap that you can lift.

Set the secret compartment aside and pick up the second box. Create a lid by cutting up the side and across the top of the box.

Place the secret compartment into the bottom of the box and attach the sides with tape.

Tape the side of the box closed.

Decorate the inside and the outside of your puzzle box. Hide the secret compartment with a single color or busy pattern inside. Ask your child, “What will hide the compartment better?"

Now it’s time to place a special object inside!

Now that your puzzle box is complete, help your child write down the steps to remember how to open your box in the future. Encourage your child to number each step.

By using instructional text, you created a complicated puzzle box and wrote your own steps to help others solve it. Thanks for making it with Molly!

Explore Further

Want to make your puzzle box even more challenging? Use the extra cardboard to make a false latch on the opposite side of the box. Or use craft material such as buttons, stickers, ribbons, or zippers to add more distractions. If you have another box of similar size, you can make a third secret compartment inside the first one!

We hope you had fun together! Snap a photo of you and your child doing the activity and share it with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. We’d love to see how it turned out!

Want more “Molly of Denali” activities? Check out the Make Spiced Oatmeal Muffins recipe and the Create a Yup’ik Dance Fan activity to continue the fun!