Swift-ify learning with easter eggs

Over the past two years, I have become a Swiftie for various reasons. Not only is Taylor Swift an incredibly talented singer, songwriter, and performer, but she also pours creativity and care into engaging with her fanbase. Taylor invests an incredible amount of time and energy finding innovative ways to connect with them. I am especially intrigued by the creative way she embeds Easter eggs throughout her work to pique the curiosity of her fans. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show (shown below), Taylor Swift shared that she began doing this when she was creating her first album because she wanted to find a way to incentivize fans to read her lyrics because it is what she is most proud of. Genius! As teachers, we pour our heart into creating lessons, and don’t we similarly hope that students will pay closer attention to the content we create for them? Inspired by Taylor Swift’s creative engagement strategies for capturing her fan's attention and connecting with them, let’s explore ways to bring similar excitement into learning to add your own classroom magic! ​

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Secret Codes
One of Taylor Swift's strategies is hiding Easter eggs in her song lyrics. Watch this video clip of Taylor Swift explaining how and why she does it.

In this interview Taylor says, “When it got out of control was when I realized it wasn’t just me that was having fun with this, they were having fun with it too.” Joy is contagious. It’s clear she enjoys creating this immersive experience for fans, and their excitement for joining in on the hunt motivates her to continue. We can take Taylor’s inspiration and generate a similar experience for our students to engage and bring fun into learning. Take a look at this Snickerdoodle recipe below. Can you spot the hidden message?

Within the recipe instructions, certain letters (that wouldn't be normally) are capitalized. When you piece them together, they spell out "MAGICAL." This technique can be used in any subject to reveal important keywords or clues. Create codes in directions, activities, and other written or digital documents. You can start with more obvious codes and then make them more cryptic as students learn to look for them. The fun thing about this idea, is you don’t have to build in time for it. In fact, you don’t even need to tell students there is something to look for. Let them discover it for themselves. Most likely, those who are paying closer attention will find it first. This may encourage other students to pay closer attention as well. You can decide what happens when the secret code is discovered. In the example above, you could incentivize with a glass of milk to drink with the Snickerdoodles when they come out of the oven, or maybe they can earn a cup of chocolate chips to mix in the batter. Discovering the code could unlock a choice of activity or assignment in a core subject area. Or, you could create chance cards that include things that students always ask for, such as sitting in the teacher’s chair, leaving class a minute early, or sitting by a friend. Students who discover the secret code, could select a card out of a treasure box and redeem them at a time of choice. What possibilities could you come up with to bring Secret Codes into your classroom learning?​

Scavenger Hunts
Taylor’s Easter eggs don’t stop with lyrics. She also loves to embed hidden messages and clues throughout her music videos, social media accounts, and concerts to create a scavenger hunt for her fans. Here is another video clip of Taylor explaining how she does it.
This video is even more evidence of how much fun she has creating these experiences for her fans. So much so that she not only creates a scavenger hunt, she also creates tiers for the types of hidden messages and clues she embeds into her content. Let’s think about what this could look like in classroom learning. Consider having a locked “treasure” box set up for every unit of study. If you have access to BreakoutEDU boxes, you could use those, or you could buy a toolbox at your local hardware store and a number and letter locks to secure it with. Lock something related to the unit’s content inside with an award. Throughout the unit, hide clues and hidden messages in various physical and digital locations.

• Hide secret letter codes in digital or paper activities, worksheets, directions, recipes, etc.
• Hide secret links in graphics, photos, or words within your digital PDFs.
• Embed visual or word clues in the slides you project on the screen, on your whiteboard, or bulletin board
• Hide QR codes in physical locations throughout your classroom and school.
• Wear subtle clues on your outfits. For instance, where all one color one day and see if students notice that the color is the clue!
• Embed hidden messages in video tutorials or books within your classroom that relate to the content.

To Swift-ify this idea further, you can create tiers for your scavenger hunt:
Tier 1: Codes hidden in recipes, directions, or activities reveal a secret word
Tier 2: Secret links hidden in digital content lead to a photo or video clue
Tier 3: QR codes hidden in physical locations must be scanned to retrieve the clue

Hide one or two clues from each tier per unit. Each clue found is a puzzle piece to solving the lock code securing the treasure box. The more clues found, the better the chance of unlocking the treasure! In a recent Facebook Sunday Night Live episode where I shared this idea, the author of Teach Like a Pirate, Dave Burgess, suggested setting up an experience where no one kid could solve the puzzle completely on their own. Students would have to rely on each other to piece the clues together, emphasizing the need for collaboration. Brilliant! If your students work in teams or groups, maybe you give different clues to different groups. They will need to combine them to solve the lock! Infusing creativity, collaboration, and curiosity together creates magical learning experiences for students!

Code Word
If you are intrigued by these ideas, but would rather ease into embedding Easter eggs in classroom learning, think about creating a Code Word each unit. Use the word creatively in written material and weave into your demonstrations and verbal instructions. You could have a treasure box set-up with a word lock each unit with the code word being THE code that unlocks the secret treasure. In this scenario, you wouldn't need to create multiple clues, it could all revolve around this code word. Another possibility would be to create a Google Form with response validation, so when students figure out the code word, they type it into the Google form, and it unlocks to reveal a special message or link to treasure.

Each one of these Taylor Swift-inspired ideas have infinite possibilities for classroom learning in any grade level or subject area. By adding a sprinkle of Taylor Swift's magic into your lessons, you can ignite curiosity, connect with your students, and make learning an unforgettable experience for your students. And, I bet you will have as much fun hiding the Easter eggs as they will have finding them! So, are you ready to Swift-ify classroom learning? Share your ideas on X or Instagram and make sure to tag me @tishrich on X and @tishrichmond on Instagram. Can't wait to hear what you come up with!