Traps of Christmas Past: Building a Trap Around a Teenager

This is a really fun trap! Building traps takes a lot of creativity, because you really have to taken in your surroundings and what you have around to use. I would say that most of the inspiration for you trap will be taken from the layout of your home at the obstacles you have to use. 

This example comes from my Aunt Lynette's family. Most of my Aunt's children have started families of their own, and so the traps have become more rudimentary for the toddlers.  One Christmas, when her entire family got together for a Christmas celebration at the cabin, the family decided that they were going to set a separate trap on Aunt Lynette's youngest son Taylor. He fell asleep in a big open room, with no doors or hallways, so it presented a problem for building a trap. 

The Cabin has about 10 of these sleeper chairs, and so they built a "fort" around Taylor. I can imagine that it would make waking up very disorienting. Then on top of the fort they piled several pots and pans to make his escape difficult. 

Genius!!!

Merry Trapping!

Starter Kit Trap

We know what you're probably thinking. I really love this Trap idea! And I know my kids would LOVE it. But I'm so busy on Christmas Eve night. Can you help make this easier? Yes! We developed the starter kit to help all of you first time trapping parents who need a quick and easy solution for a perfect trap this Christmas. 

The Kit includes supplies for making 5 obstacles! And includes many other helpful items to help you with the set-up. 

Here are each obstacle with photos. There are also links to blog posts which can give you further explanation if needed. 

At the bottom of the post is a video of my teenage brother and sister going through the trap built with this kit. 

Rating:   Easy to Medium
Suplies: The Christmas Trap Starter Kit

Obstacle 1 - Rope

Opening the bedroom door can be the most difficult parts of escaping a trap. You can not see what is on the other side, and so you must proceed slowly and carefully. The rope is an easy first obstacle. If you have two doorknobs near each other, you can tie the doors together. In this photo, we don't have another door so the rope is tied to a small container of oxyclean. If the door swings open, it will pull the container, toppling whatever you balanced on top. WE used a cookie sheet and cups. See this blog post for more detail Doorknobs and Bungees . 
*not included cups, cookie tray, container.

Obstacle 2 - Wrapping Paper 

Wrapping paper is noisy! It is hard to appreciate just how difficult this obstacle can be. The video below is played in 8x speed because the only way to beat it is by moving very, very slowly. The kit includes a roll of 14' wrapping paper which can be hung from the door as seen in the picture. To make the obstacle more difficult we placed tape in between the paper and the door-jam. 

Obstacle 3 - Black Thread and Jingle Bells   

Kids love these traps. With their active imaginations, they will imagine they are evading the lasers to a high security alarm system. Black thread strung in various directions with jingle bells hung in random places. Any movement on the thread and it will make noise. 

Obstacle 4 - Balloons and Needles

In the photo, the balloon on the top left is connected to a trip wire. If the trip wire is hit, it will nudge the balloon into a safety pin attached to the wall. There are 15 balloons in the kit, so you really could make this trap very difficult if you wanted. I added jingle bells inside the balloons to make it a little harder. 

Obstacle 5 - Motion Sensing Bird

You will hate this little bird as soon as you pull it out of the kit. They chirp at every little flicker of movement, and sometimes will make noise when you turn on/off the lights! The only way to beat it is by moving very slowly or by throwing something over the top of it. You could hide it in your Christmas tree, or somewhere up high where the kids can't reach it. It only takes seconds to set up and works very well! 

I chose to place mine in the doorway of the bathroom. I wanted the trap to be beatable, but difficult. This way, there is only about a 8 foot stretch of hallway that they bird can see, making it slightly easier for younger children. 

We know you will enjoy the starter kit! This season we have built over 20 traps for the blog, and there wasn't a single trap we didn't have the kit with us to grab supplies in a pinch. It has all the knick knacks that are commonly used in traps. I will keep this kit in my Christmas decorations and use it year after year! 

Merry Trapping!