Puzzles and missions to challenge your mind and body!
Reserve a Mission Impossible supply kit, pick it up at the library, then use your supplies to complete these activities and more.
CODE NAME GENERATOR
While you complete your missions, keep your identity a secret by using a code name.
The first name of your code name is based on your birth month:
January: Agent
February: Doctor
March: Professor
April: The Notorious
May: Kid
June: Captain
July: Judge
August: Shadow
September: Governor
October: President
November: Wizard
December: Counselor
The second name of your code name is based on the last letter of your first name:
A: Green
B: Ice
C: Fluff
D: Shark
E: Fire
F: Squirrel
G: Snow
H: Button
I: Rose
J: Domino
K: Sock
L: Toe
M: Rocket
N: Elephant
O: Cupcake
P: Velvet
Q: Cactus
R: Iguana
S: Racer
T: Pinecone
U: Silver
V: Clock
W: Textbook
X: River
Y: Sailboat
Z: Chalkboard
AGENT TRAINING AGILITY COURSE
Using codes, you will design a course to test your ability to perform acts of physical prowess that are needed as an agent in training.
You can make your course look however you want, be as challenging as you want, and test your skills to the ultimate level. Let’s get started!
STEP 1 WATCH AND LEARN
Watch Nicole and her friendly neighbor demonstrate their course.
STEP 2: DESIGN YOUR OWN COURSE
Draw your course on a piece of paper first. Your course can be curvy or straight, zig-zagged, or spiral. In the sample course we made it curvy, but that doesn’t mean yours has to be the same. Think about where you are going to put it, and then create your design. You can create your course on a driveway, a sidewalk, or even an empty parking lot.
TO BE SAFE, DON’T PUT YOUR COURSE IN THE STREET!
STEP 3: CHOOSE YOUR CODES
We used symbols from a computer keyboard, but you can use anything. Here are some ideas:
- Letters
- Numbers
- Shapes
- Colors
- Morse Code (dots & dashes)
- Symbols you design yourself
- Rocks
- Leaves
- Sticks
- Unmoving objects: lamppost, street sign, tree, fire hydrant
STEP 4: ADD AGILITY FEATS
Choose agility feats, test your ability to move, and match your codes with different movements that your body can do. For example, @@@ might mean to run fast, Blue might mean to hop on one foot, passing the Big Rock might mean to turn around and go backwards. Here are some ideas:
- Hop
- Crab walk
- Skip backwards
- Move in slow motion
- Run at hyper speed
- Close one eye
STEP 5: ADD YOUR CODES
Now it’s time to put your codes into your course sketch to tell someone how to navigate it.
CODE KEY
* Move fast
# Move backwards
+ Jump with both feet together
@ Slow motion
^ Hop on one foot
Here is a blank one. You can print it if you have a printer, but you can also draw your own on any paper you have around.
STEP 6: DRAW YOUR COURSE OUTSIDE
- Use sidewalk chalk: pre-bought or see the links on our page for homemade
- Use gravel rocks that mark just like chalk
- Use NO ground markings to make it more secret and challenging
STEP 7: GO!
Get busy, training Agent!!
You can use your sketch to help you remember the codes when you complete the course for the first time. To make it more challenging:
- Memorize your codes
- Challenge the people in your house to complete the course too
- Time yourself
- Complete the course from end to beginning instead of beginning to end
- Create a new course!!
ACTIVITY PACKET
Did you test your puzzle-solving skills with an activity pack? Curious to check your answers? Click the button for an answer key.
DIY DISAPPEARING INK
You can make your own disappearing ink with water and baking soda. Here’s how!
Instructions
Mix 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda.
Get a piece of paper and a cotton swab. Dip the cotton swab into the baking soda solution and use it like a pencil to write something on your paper. Let this dry for 10-15 minutes.
Find a dark liquid. Grape juice or another fruit juice works great. Use a paintbrush or another cotton swab and paint over your hidden message.
It will show up and the colors will begin to react. Try various liquids to see which works best.
Why do you think they turn out differently?
YPSI WRITES
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE CIRCLE MAZE
Was there ever a time you were lost or could not find your family?
In this activity you will tell a story about being lost, including where you were, what you did, and getting to a place of finding your family/friends. You can think about this activity like an elaborate maze, where you or someone you know starts at the middle of the paper and must circle around several times, before finding what they are looking for on the outside.
Share your writing with us! #ypsiwrites
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Go on a nature scavenger hunt in the park. Can you find everything on your list?