Using Escape Rooms and Scavenger Hunts in the Classroom
Our grade level won a prize from our PTA one time. It was an escape room. A mom got it all set up, and while she had the best of intentions, it was way too hard for the third graders. Add in the fact that the first class that got to experience it ruined it for the other two classes at recess, and it just wasn’t successful.
I do think escape rooms and scavenger hunts can be successful activities to add to any classroom. You just have to make sure the puzzles are age appropriate. I’ve taken a few courses to help me put together the best resources I can. I’m having a lot of fun making them, and I plan to make many more in the future.
These types of activities work great for reviewing important concepts, practicing reading comprehension, or working on team building skills. They also can be planned as a reward or end of year activity.
All you have to do is familiarize yourself with the puzzles, print, and copy. That’s it! See below for some FUN activities you can do with your class today!
Most of these Escape Rooms would be best for 3rd-5th grade. For 3rd grade, you may need to wait until a few months into the school year, or make sure your groups include a mixture of students’ abilities. The time estimate for most of these would be about 60-90 minutes. That’s an estimate! Your first time completing one, it will probably take longer. Once you’ve completed one, and students understand the puzzles, they’ll probably complete them quicker.
I’ll continue to update this page each time I have a new one available. You can also follow my TPT store (CLICK HERE) so you never miss when a new resource is added!
ESCAPE ROOMS – FICTION
Fiction
Are you looking for an escape room with a FUN theme? Your students will enjoy this Amusement Park Escape Room. There’s a secret mission to get students hooked and 8 puzzles for students to complete to crack the code.
What’s Included?
- Overview
- Teacher Directions
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Information About Each Puzzle
- Secret Mission Story
- 8 Puzzle Challenges
- Secret Word Recorder Answer Sheet
- End of Game Award Certificate
- Hint Cards
- Answer Keys
- Available in BOTH Color and Black/White
Get this one for FREE!
What are the 8 puzzles?
- Word Scramble
- Rebus Puzzles
- Grid Code
- Reverse the Alphabet
- Word Ladders
- Typo Trap (have to look for misspelled words)
- What’s the Code (simple addition, subtraction, multiplication & division)
- Word Search
Great for ~
- Collaborating with Peers
- Team Building
- Problem Solving Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Classroom Reward
- FUN Halloween Activity
Why You Need This Escape Room:
- There is NO PREP!
- Just Print & Copy
- Students will be ENGAGED!
Students can work in pairs or in small groups, making this a great team building exercise. While this would be a fun activity in the classroom, it could also work for an at home activity, such as a birthday party.
Based on the puzzles included, this escape room is intended for kids in 3rd-5th grade (ages 8-10). They should be able to complete it in 60-90 minutes.
ESCAPE ROOMS – NONFICTION
This Abraham Lincoln/Presidents’ Day escape room will take students on a FUN reading comprehension journey! This activity has students read about Abraham Lincoln and complete challenges in order to ‘escape.’
After reading the passage, students go through FOUR challenges, referring back to the passage to find their answers.
This George Washington/Presidents’ Day escape room is a great reading comprehension activity where students solve to find clues and end up with a 4-digit code that will allow them to finally ‘escape!’
What’s Included?
- Teacher’s Guide — 11 pages giving step by step directions
- Student Pages — 10 pages including 1 Student Directions page, 2 page reading passage, 4 Challenge sheets, 3 options for answer sheets
- Answer Keys
Why do you need this resource?
- This resource was made for 3rd/4th graders in mind. It would still work well for older students, especially those who may struggle with reading comprehension skills.
- EASY no-prep, just print and go!
- Students get to practice reading and comprehension in a fun way.
- Students will need to refer back to the text several times to ensure they have the correct answers.
- It’s a great team building exercise if you have students work in small groups!
What are the Challenges?
- Mystery Word — Students match words & definitions/statements to unscramble a mystery word.
- True or False — There are statements given, and students must figure out if they are true or false.
- Multiple Choice — Each question has three answer choices. Students refer back to the passage to make sure they find the correct answers.
- Which Paragraph? — Students find sentences in the reading passage.
SCAVENGER HUNTS
This animal adaptations reading passages SCAVENGER HUNT is a FUN comprehension and science activity for desert and Arctic Tundra habitats.
In this scavenger hunt students will learn about the jackrabbit’s adaptations. The reading cards are all nonfiction text where students learn about why jackrabbits live in the desert and not the tundra.
ESCAPE ROOM TASK CARDS REVIEW GAMES
Escape rooms don’t have to be puzzles that students solve. You can also incorporate them into review games. Check out these below that are perfect when reviewing 3rd grade math skills. These are so much fun to use for review before a test!
You can get ALL 12 of the following Math Task Card Review Games for FREE with my 3rd Grade Math Review BUNDLE!
Students practice rounding to the nearest 10 & 100! This escape room/breakout/scavenger hunt task cards review game will keep students engaged as they review for their rounding to 10/100 test.
What’s Included?
- Overview/Teacher Notes/Student Notes
- 24 Task Cards – BOTH color and black & white are included
- Student Answer Sheet
- Answer Key!
How to Use:
- Students work individually or with a partner.
- They answer the questions on the 24 task cards.
- The answer choices are different gems. Students color in the gem on their answer sheet.
- Once all gems are colored in, students reveal the 4-digit code!
Why you need this activity:
- Make review FUN and ENGAGING for your students!
- Use as an ESCAPE ROOM/BREAKOUT game – Students answer the 24 questions and record their answers on the answer sheet. They will end with a 4-digit code!
- Add a SCAVENGER HUNT! – You could hang the task cards up or place them on tables/desks around the room. OR… you could make students hunt for the task cards first!
Task Cards Include:
- 6 addition problems with 3 & 4-digits
- 6 subtraction problems with 3 & 4-digits AND subtract across 0s
- 6 multiplication problems, including multiplying 1-digit numbers by multiples of 10
- 6 division problems, including multiples of 10
Students practice identifying shapes and their attributes! This escape room/breakout/scavenger hunt task cards review game will keep students engaged as they review for their shapes/quadrilaterals test.
Task Cards Include:
- 12 problems where students find the area – including rectilinear shapes and finding the value of a side when the area is given
- 12 problems where students find the perimeter – including rectilinear shapes and finding the value of a side when the perimeter is given
Task Cards Include:
- 12 problems where students find the elapsed time – find the time from start to finish
- 6 problems where students find the elapsed time – find the starting time
- 6 problems where students find the elapsed time – find the finish time
PLUS… FOUR sets of general 3rd grade review task cards! These sets include review problems for:
- addition
- subtraction
- multiplication
- division
- rounding to 10 and 100
- fractions
- equivalent fractions
- fractions on a number line
- shapes
- perimeter
- area
- telling time to the nearest minute
- elapsed time
✨ Giving students the chance to work together and build collaboration skills is KEY to building a positive classroom environment. Your students who may struggle in the basic subjects, may surprise you when it comes to solving puzzles.
✨ The nonfiction reading escape rooms are perfect for students who struggle with comprehension because they have to reread the passage several times, and it goes beyond just answering questions.
✨ Students will LOVE going on a scavenger hunt to find information on animal adaptations! It’s a lot more fun than reading information in a textbook.
✨ The task card review games are great for adding excitement during reviewing. They aren’t just answering questions… there’s coloring and an ‘escape’ involved, which is sure to capture students’ attention and help them retain information. Also, if their final 4-digit code is wrong, they have to self-correct!
~Jennifer Cook
