Spring Escape Room for Upper Elementary Classrooms
Kick off April with a Spring Escape Room! What upper elementary classroom doesn’t love an escape room? Sometimes putting together an escape room can be a big time-consumer. That's where I can help!!
This escape room is perfect for upper elementary classrooms! You can use this to kick off April or Spring Break, you can use this for a fun activity. It’s not content-specific, so you can use this with any classroom!
This packet includes 5 Tasks, plus extras for the teacher:
Puzzle with a Spring Theme
Cryptogram
Sequencing strips of the colors of the rainbow
Nonfiction Reading Passage: Bees and their Honey (leveled for 5th grade)
Word Search with Spring-themed words
For the teacher…
Table Cards and Direction Cards for each task
Student Sheets: Code Recorder and Notes
Breakout Google Form: Preset (no boxes, no locks!)
Detailed Teacher Directions
At-a-Glance Teacher Directions (tasks, supplies, and copies needed)
Step-by-Step Checklist/Teacher To-Do List
Tips for Implementation
Breakout Signs: 6 signs for winning teams and 6 signs for all other teams
Tips to Use:
This escape room is super flexible! The tasks do not have to be completed in order or all at once. You can adjust it to fit your classroom and your schedule. The typical 5th grade classroom can complete this escape room within a one-hour class period. Of, course, this will depend on your students. If you’re really tight on time, I have a couple of recommendations for you!
Some ideas for using this escape room if you’re short on time:
One option is that you could have students complete a longer task prior to the “escape room” day. For example, have students complete the word search or read the passage the day before without giving them the code sheets. This could save time at those task stations.
You could also give students the opportunity to use a “cheat” where you give them an answer to help them keep moving along. Maybe limit to 2 cheats, or whatever you think!
Another idea is to set a timer on the puzzle (task 1) or word search (task 5) so they don’t waste all their time there. That might help manage their time. If you’re wanting it to be a “race”, you could use a point system and either add or deduct based on the number of cheats used or if they ran out of time.
The word search (task 5) probably takes the longest, so you could skip this task altogether and just give them the code as a “freebie”. Or, you can cross off all the words in the word list that are not needed for the clue.
It’s definitely flexible in that you don’t need to solve one to move to another- you can certainly skip one if needed.
Tips for Implementing this Spring escape room:
Use groups of 4 students or less
2. Post multiple sets of stations to avoid crowding during large class sizes
Example: post two sets of each station/task
3. Set CLEAR EXPECTATIONS before beginning:
Whisper (you don’t want other teams hearing your answers!)
Stay with your group - you cannot “divide and conquer” and don’t wander off
No running and Be nice
Participate at every station
Don’t crowd a station. If a group is there, go to a different station.
4. Set consequences for not meeting your expectations
30-second “jail time lockdown” delay for groups or students
5. Don’t hog the “breakout” computers! If the group does not “breakout” the first time, the WHOLE group must go back to the tasks.
6. Create a QR code for the breakout station for a quicker entry!
7. Use black lights to add some fun!
Highlighters
Neon paper
White string
My low-prep Spring Escape Room includes all the pages you see in the images above, plus more. I created this knowing you are super busy, so it is super LOW PREP. Click here to purchase the Spring Escape Room.
Looking for more noncontent-specific escape rooms?
If your class loves escape rooms, you must check these out!
Looking for social studies escape rooms?
If your social studies class loves escape rooms, you must check these out!