{"id":424,"date":"2022-03-03T12:52:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T12:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dadstuffsite.com\/?p=424"},"modified":"2023-06-12T23:38:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T23:38:09","slug":"beginner-secret-codes-and-ciphers-for-kids-the-ottendorf-cipher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dadstuffsite.com\/beginner-secret-codes-and-ciphers-for-kids-the-ottendorf-cipher\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ottendorf Cipher (What it Is and How to Teach Your Kids)"},"content":{"rendered":"
We may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this post, at no additional cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s Friday night, which means it\u2019s family movie night. On the roster for tonight\u2019s entertainment: National Treasure. One of my favorite movies and the first time watching (of what I\u2019m sure is about to be many times) for my kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s in the middle of the movie when I\u2019m hit with inspiration for my next activity with my kids: the Ottendorf Cipher. And while I can\u2019t write the codes in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration of Independence, I\u2019m sure I can come up with some clever ways to turn this into a fun activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Ottendorf Cipher is a variation of a Book Cipher (or Book Code)<\/a>. Each letter of the original text (plaintext) is substituted with three numbers (ciphertext) that correlate with a letter on a single-page document that serves as the key. The first number represents the line, the second number relates to the word from that line, and the last number relates to the letter from that word. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference between a book cipher and an Ottendorf cipher is that the three numbers of a book cipher relate to a word in a multiple page text. An Ottendorf cipher relates to a specific letter in a single page document. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, I have found it easier to encode a text using an Ottendorf cipher because it is easier to find most if not all letters of the alphabet in a single page of a document. When encoding using a book code, you must find a specific word (which may or may not exist) in a specific book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That being said, the ciphertext of an Ottendorf cipher is much longer than a book cipher because you need to encode every individual letter rather than each word like you do in a book cipher. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is an Ottendorf Cipher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n