Have you ever gone to an Escape Room or Breakout with your friends? It’s a lot of intensity packed into what feels like the fastest 60 minutes ever, but if you happen to beat the clock, you’re the smartest people on the planet … or at least that’s what you tell yourselves in the car ride later, right?
Don’t lie. 😂
None of the Escape Rooms I’ve paid to do were ever appropriate for young children, but I started thinking, “These are ultimately just teambuilding activities that require a lot of creative and critical thinking … we just have to make them kid-friendly.”
They’re such a fun way to practice problem-solving skills in an interactive, collaborative context … skills even young children should be developing with encouragement and guidance. Some of the benefits include:
• experiencing teamwork
• strengthening communication skills
• practicing time management strategies
• solving multi-step problems
• thinking creatively
• understanding individual accountability within a group
• learning the value of persistence and perseverance (“grit”)
• resolving interpersonal conflicts
And for you? Careful observation of the entire game gives you the chance to notice and reflect:
• Which students demonstrate leadership skills?
• Which students seem to be encouragers?
• Which students tend to manage materials and time?
• Are any students confusing bossy behaviors with leadership?
• Are some students uncomfortable? How or why?
• How do the children handle disagreements and conflict?
• When a task becomes challenging, do they push through?
Being a total game nerd, I decided to make my own for young students … a back to school version where the kids (or Special Agents) work together to find out who has the principal’s missing key.
One thing I really like about this version is that it’s a No-Tech option. Everything you need is provided in the download, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t have iPads or continue to be faced with the world’s slowest computers that spend more time “rainbow spinning” than loading the actual page you need.
But you can also make your own and there are so many fun options to play around with! Pick a theme, make up a story, decide on the content and organization, and set a time limit. Then have fun choosing props or tools to make it even more interactive, such as using mirrors with reversed text or magnifying glasses with super tiny font. You can also buy silver scratch-off stickers to conceal clues and kids can use coins to reveal the answers. Special flashlights and of course a variety of locks (keyed and combination) can add to the excitement.
This is one of the first articles I read that inspired me to make my own Breakout-style game, but there are many out there offering different ideas about how to use technology (or not), how to organize the challenges, and what kinds of props and tools to use with children.
If that sounds daunting or you’d like to try one first before venturing out on your own, I designed this one for elementary students to play as a teambuilding activity during the first few weeks of school. You can see more pieces by clicking on the link below and viewing the PREVIEW to see if it’s right for you and your students.
Try just one and I’d be surprised if you didn’t decide to give it a go yourself!
Happy Teaching!
