Activities

Sending secret messages

In Chapters Three and Six, Alice figured out how these codes and ciphers work—and now you can, too. Follow these instructions and share them with your friends so they can solve your codes.

Backwards Cipher

To use this super simple cipher, just write words in reverse (backwards).
For example: ROMEO THE PIG as a Backwards Cipher is GIP EHT OEMOR.

Pig Latin

Pig Latin can be written but is usually spoken (and sounds very silly!). Here’s how it works:

  • If a word begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), add YAY to the end of the word. For example, ALICE becomes ALICEYAY.
  • If a word begins with a consonant (all the letters in the alphabet except a, e, i, o, u), move the consonant to the end of the word and add AY. For example, SILVER DAWN becomes ILVERSAY AWNDAY.

Morse Code

Invented by Samuel B. Morse, the Morse code was first used in 1837. Letters of the alphabet are written as a combination of dots and/or dashes. Put a / (a slash mark) in between the letters of words to separate them. Here’s the alphabet so you can write your own Morse code messages:

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= –••

For example: TOODLES in Morse code becomes -/—/—/-••/•-••/•/•••