Escape Room Ideas

Whether you’re a fan of Breakout.edu or trying to create an Escape Room in general, you’ll appreciate the engagement principles that are inherent in these instructional approaches!  My FAVORITE lesson of the year (and a REALLY great way to keep them engaged near year’s end) was having students CREATE THEIR OWN Escape Rooms!

Given the right guidance, virtually ANY grade level and ANY subject area can utilize the principles behind an escape room.  In our rooms, we first established a theme for our Escape Rooms.  Students designed Irish Potato Famine Escapes, Batman Cave Escapes and truly whatever theme suited their interests….which made it all the more engaging for them!!!

Next, students wrote the mystery letter:

The letter was the premise behind the escape.  In their letter, they had to leave five blank spaces.  “It’s What You Don’t Have That Counts!”  Those five blank spaces were the guiding feature to each code….figure out what’s missing!

The rest of the escape revolved around 5 different types of Ciphers:

Foreign Language Clue

Free Choice Clue

After their projects were finished, we exchanged and students tried to solve each other’s Escape Room Challenges!  It was an immense amount of fun and truly kept them motivated and engaged!

This infographic has tips, guidelines and 16 GREAT links to engagement strategies that work wonderfully in an Escape Room or Breakout.edu.

To access the PDF with CLICKABLE links, please click here:

Try these great, interactive scavenger hunt activities that will warm up those escape room skills: