On a separate piece of paper, create your own secret messages using each of the codes below.
On the back of the paper, write out your message. Be sure to include your name and age!
1) Reverse the words
This is a very easy code to solve! Just read each word backwards.
Example: "BE PREPARED!" in code is "EB DERAPERP!"
2) Read every second letter
Here is another code for all of you detectives to solve!
Read every second letter starting at the first letter, and when you finish, start again on the letters you
missed the first time!
Example: "ROBERT BADEN POWELL" in code is "REONBPEORWTEBLALD"
3) Numbers stand for letters
This is a very easy code to solve! Each number stands for a letter.
1 stands for A
2 stands for B
3 stands for C
and so on.
So if I tell you the number is 10, you count ten letters into the alphabet:
"A B C D E F G H I J", and you get a J.
To help solve this code a bit quicker, you can write out the whole alphabet, and then write out the
numbers from 1 to 26 below each letter.
A
1
N
14
B
2
O
15
C
3
D
4
P
16
E
5
Q
17
F
6
G
7
R
18
S
19
H
8
T
20
I
9
U
21
J
10
K
11
V
22
L
12
W
23
M
13
X
24
y
25
Z
26
Now, whenever you see a number, you can either count that many letters, or look up the number and
write down the letter above it.
Example: SCOUT = 19 3 15 21 20
4) Reverse the alphabet
In this code, each letter in the code stands for a different "real" letter.
A stands for Z
B stands for Y
C stands for X
To help solve this code, first write out the alphabet, and then write out the alphabet in reverse below it:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
Now, whenever you see an A you look it up in the first alphabet, and translate it into a Z because the Z is
directly under the A.
Example:
SCOUT = HXLFG
5) Pigpen Pigpen code is quite interesting. First you write out the whole alphabet in two grids, as shown:
Each letter is represented by the part of the "pigpen" that surrounds it. If it's the second letter in the box,
then it has a dot in the middle.
So an A looks like this:
And a B looks like this:
Example:
This is decoded as "LISTEN TO THE WIND".