Quest in a Box : Sherlock Holmes Review

Elementary, My Dear Watson.



When we received an invitation to review an activity box by Newtown Show, we decided to jump upon it. After all, being cooped up at home for the past 6 weeks had dwindled the variety of our activities. It had become repetitive to do the same things day in and day out. An Activity Box is what we need to spice the day up.



Quest in the Box: Sherlock Holmes Review

Mini Sherlock and Watson

There are a few activity boxes sold by Quest in the Box.  Other titles include Professor Brain Mystery, Harry Potter Quest and Walking with dinosaurs.

Why we enjoyed it 

Mysteries to solve
The Sherlock Holmes version comes with a set of 10 mysteries to solve. The aim is to complete all 10 mysteries to unlock a hidden code where a gift from Sherlock Holmes is hidden.

The props right out of the box include a set of 10 letters and some tools and kits that you would use along the way. Our first impression is that it looks like a homemade kit rather than one that is professionally made.

Fun with Family
Each Mystery is an individual experiment that a child can do on his/her own. It would add more fun if you do it with siblings and family. The mystery to solve contain a mix of science experiments and logical task.

Challenging Task
We like the fact that there each mystery is a challenging task. To complete the whole challenge, it took us approximately 1.5 hours with each mystery taking about 10 minutes to solve. While challenging, there were one or two mystery we could not solve. There were additional clues provided for a few of the mysteries to help you to solve, but it would be great if solutions are included in the package.

In addition, the instructions were a little unclear. We were solving the mysteries individually and only at the end of the last envelope, we realised that we need to link it up together. It was quite a muddle as we had not left the clues in a sequence as required.

Gift

As a reward for solving the mysteries, parents are also provided with a 'gift ' to hide in a secret location.

We like the notion that there is a gift to look forward to at the end of the day. Overall, it was an interesting time spend as detectives and a good diversion to the usual circuit breaker activities.

If you are keen, you can get a set to try here. 
Each activity box cost $99 per box including Shipping

Sherlock's Final Thoughts
Why we like it 

• Engaging time to spend with kids. You could easily spend over 2 hours with the kids on this activity.

• Activities that help challenge the brain. The clues provided does require some time (and wit) to solve.

What could be better

• It is a tad too pricey for the contents. The activities could not really be 'reuse' and for a one-time activity, the price of $99 per box is significantly higher compared to similar activity boxes retailing at a quarter of the price.

• The contents could be improved to reflect the price. The developer might want to include a gift that is related to the task such as  Sherlock Holmes storybook or even a board game like Cluedo to justify the value.