Originally published in TEACH Magazine, July/August 2018 Issue
An escape room is a thrilling game in which players of all ages collaboratively solve a series of puzzles in order to escape from a confined space in a limited amount of time. An escape room is an undeniably unique, fun excursion for students to enhance valuable skills such as teamwork, cooperation, communication, critical thinking, and time management skills. Working together towards a common goal can also be a great community-building activity to bring students together. Here are a few escape room adventures across Canada that will have students thinking in new ways.
Escape Rooms 4 Kids
Vancouver, BC
Escape Rooms 4 Kids provides an after-school program for students of all grades. Participants make and test puzzles, coding ciphers, and challenges. As they create their escape room, participants practice their core competency skills such as planning, creative and critical thinking, communication, decision-making, and teamwork. At the end of the program, parents enter the escape room and try to finish the puzzles within the time limit set by the participants. Escape Rooms 4 Kids also offers a full-day escape room event at your own school, where they set up an escape room in a classroom, library, or multi-purpose room.
Improbable Escapes
Kingston, ON
Improbable Escapes has years of experience running escape rooms for students. One of their game developers can come right to your class and help create puzzles around topics in the curriculum with students. The Improbable Escapes team has travelled throughout North America giving talks on learning through gameplay.
Mobile Escape
Calgary, AB
Mobile Escape brings the escape room to you. With hands-on, inquiry-based learning, students build problem-solving skills as a group to solve the escape room problems and puzzles before them. They also have the opportunity to build their own escape rooms! Each escape room is connected to the Alberta curriculum. For example, in the Grade 5 Electricity and Magnetism & Mechanisms Using Electricity escape room, students complete circuits that activate locks, which help them progress through the room’s puzzles. In the Grade 8 Mechanical Systems escape room, students work with different mechanical devices from pulleys and levers, to high-tech robotics.
The Real Escape
Winnipeg, MB
The Real Escape offers a fun escape room experience for students. Their facility has enough space to accommodate up to 66 students. They offer eight unique rooms, such as the Spaceship room and the Castle room, to help ensure that everyone will find a theme that appeals to them. With a heavy emphasis on problem solving, math skills, and teamwork, each escape room contains thematic elements and technology that create a unique learning experience.
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