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Make a Secret Word Decoder in Google Drawings!

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Jigsaw Puzzle Maker where you can hide "box cover"

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Jigsaw Puzzle Maker where you can hide "box cover"

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Create Your Own Custom Jigsaw Puzzle

Create your own online custom jigsaw puzzles and share them with friends and family or your website visitors! Just enter the web address of your images's location (e.g., from Facebook, Imgur, Flickr, your own website URL, or other location). No uploading. No registration. No hassles! More info...

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Create your own online custom jigsaw puzzles and share them with friends and family or your website visitors! Just enter the web address of your images's location (e.g., from Facebook, Imgur, Flickr, your own website URL, or other location). No uploading. No registration. No hassles! More info...

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Use these to make your own escape room feel incredible:

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These escape room theme ideas are an awesome start to building your own puzzle game. Find your favorite then add your own flavor.

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Digital escape rooms can transform any lesson into an engaging learning environment. This article describes the implementation of a digital escape room in an undergraduate educational technology course for preservice teachers. The digital escape room was designed and developed using a 10-step process and covered the topic of gamification. Typically, this activity is facilitated during a face-to-face class meeting; however, instructors were required to modify the activity when the university transitioned to online learning in response to COVID-19. The purpose of the study was to explore the process of implementing the digital escape room using two different approaches to online instruction: synchronous and asynchronous. Preliminary findings suggest that replicating the activity in a synchronous setting is similar to a face-to-face environment, whereas students in the asynchronous setting may need more reading comprehension support. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. P.O. Box 719, Waynesville, NC 28786. Tel: 828-246-9558; Fax: 828-246-9557; e-mail: info@aace.org; Web site: http://www.aace.org

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ERIC - EJ1257198 - Online Approaches for Implementing a Digital Escape Room with Preservice Teachers, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 2020

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Digital escape rooms can transform any lesson into an engaging learning environment. This article describes the implementation of a digital escape room in an undergraduate educational technology course for preservice teachers. The digital escape room was designed and developed using a 10-step process and covered the topic of gamification.

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The largest computer servers in the world have been captured by the Super Villain, Mr. Roboto. In order to take back control of the servers, we need to prove we know more about computers than he does. Thank you so much for taking on this mission!

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Escape rooms are all the rage! There's just something awesome about being locked in a room and having to solve puzzles to escape. Escape rooms really require extensive use of the 4C's - Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity.

But how do you replicate this experience in your Classroom? Well, BreakoutEDU is a company that sells kits that include locks, boxes, and other items to bring an escape room into your classroom. They have a platform that (for a fee) allows you to download both physical and digital games for use. It's a great concept and if you have the funds, I totally recommend it.

Many people have tried to replicate this experience using Google Forms and other tools. And while they are pretty good, they still have their own issues like students being able to "cheat" the process by viewing the source.

Now, Flippity.net has entered the game, and it's awesome!

You may or may not know Flippity. They have a bunch of templates on their website to help you create word searches, crosswords, Hangman games, a random name picker, quiz-show reviews and much more. Everything uses Google Sheets on the back end and it's all 100% free. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, go right now... I'll wait 🙂

Now that you're back... isn't Flippity awesome?!? The game I will be focusing on in this tip is the Flippity Scavenger Hunt. Here's a you can play yourself.

Like everything Flippity, it's really easy to use.

Step 1: Make a Copy of and Modify the Google Spreadsheet Template

Just make a copy of the Scavenger Hunt template . You'll need to sign-in with your Google account to access this.

Then, change the information in the clue, hint, and answer columns. Finally, name your scavenger hunt by changing the name of the worksheet (at the bottom). Be sure that you do not edit any cell with a blue background.

The Options tab allows you to accept partial answers, force the question order, case sensitivity, etc.

You also can add multimedia such as images, YouTube videos, links, Google Docs, and math using EquatIO and Desmos.

More instructions on all of these features can be found .

Step 2: Publish Your Spreadsheet

Next, you'll need to go to the File menu, hit Publish to the Web..., then click Publish.

Step 3: Get Your Link

Now, find Get the Link Here tab of the template (at the bottom) and go to it. Then click on the Flippity.net link to view your scavenger hunt.

Step 4: Bookmark and Share

Now, you can bookmark the scavenger hunt to find it again quickly. You can share the Flippity.net link with anyone you want to play your scavenger hunt. Consider using Google Classroom to share quickly.

Click on the locks one at a time to try and figure out the clues. You can click the lightbulb to get a hint (if one was provided). Have fun playing your scavenger hunt!

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Build a Digital Escape Room with Flippity

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Escape rooms are all the rage! There's just something awesome about being locked in a room and having to solve puzzles to escape. Escape rooms really require extensive use of the 4C's - Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity. But how do you replicate this experience in your Classroom?

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#digitalescaperoom

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Clue Creator Tools--very useful and unique!

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Digital escape room clue creating resources - Wakelet

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We built Wakelet using the latest technologies to make it faster and easier to use. Unfortunately, your browser doesn't support those technologies.

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Perhaps you've done one with friends or co-workers at a team-building event.

Escape rooms are not only fun, but educational, and encourage kids to use their imagination. (Win-win!) We're excited to share with you 10 steps on how you can create one yourself.

During seasons when your kids are in school and you may not be traveling as much, but you still want to create a travel mindset, consider creating an adventure for your kids through a fun, exploration-themed escape room in your own home. Escape rooms require creativity, problem-solving, and team-building. They encourage thinking outside the box! Talking about traveling, adventures, and history with your kids helps them foster a love of travel and culture - and a DIY Escape room brings this to the next level.
You can create a DIY escape room adventure for your kids in just 10 easy steps.
Depending on the theme, start by writing down ten items that connect to that theme. You can use these items for decorating, help with the clues and get your escape room ideas started.

Indoor ideas:

Outdoor ideas:

Decorate the space so that it closely resembles and feels like your chosen theme.

Two to four participants are ideal as the adventure should be able to be completed in one hour. This allows kids, someone, to work with to decipher clues. Plus, a small group makes everything more fun!

The plot for the story should come from the theme you choose. Write out your story including why the participants are in the escape room and their mission.

Mission: Put clues together to find the final container that holds the key to escape. Note: the final container could house an explosive that needs to be destroyed instead of using a key to escape the room. Use your imagination on this final container and what you wish the participants to do.
Sample story for a Safari Trek Escape Room: There is a very dangerous bomb planted in the Jungle in Africa. You must find the bomb and destroy it. You have one hour to complete this mission. If you do not destroy the bomb, all of the animals in Africa will be blown up. In this box, you will find Safari hats. Please choose people to help you on your mission and give them a hat. You will go to the Jungle. (down in the basement) Look for Clue One to guide you. The clues will help lead you to the bomb. Good luck! And remember - all of the animals are relying on you to survive!
Consider the ages of the participant(s) when writing the clues. Determine how many clues to create and the difficulty - much like a scavenger hunt. Be creative and develop clues that fit with your theme/story.
Sample clue (from an adventure safari trek designed for 7-10 year-olds):Under the bird, you'll find your next clue. Locked up tight, just waiting for you. You are on the right track, keep it up. Look for a bird, so you don't get stuck.
Choose how many containers you wish the participants to unlock - 4, 5, or 6 works best. Each container will be locked and you will create clues as to where the key can be found to unlock each container containing a clue.

Create clues by cutting out pictures from a magazine that spell out the clues.

Create an acrostic - a poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word.

Create a short crossword puzzle that gives a clue.

Write clues in code - backward letters, flip letters, insert numbers in-between letters.

Discuss the following details with another person:

Does the story sound logical?

Are the clues and adventure doable for the age group?

Can the adventure be completed within one hour?

Can they figure it out and follow the clues?

Dressing in costumes or dress-up clothes helps to encourage imaginative play. It makes the adventure of the escape room that much more exciting! The kids will feel immersed in the environment or situation in which the game takes place.

Share the rules and about how much time they have to spend on each clue. During the adventure in the escape room, you may need to be engaged with the kids throughout the game. It might be helpful to set a timer and help keep them on track during their search for clues and lock boxes.

Okay, you did it! You created an adventure escape room game. Congrats! Here are some other tips to help.

Tips & How To's:
Escape room adventures are exciting and a unique way to engage children.

Find locks with keys at hardware stores or big-box stores.

Containers can be a small purse, travel bag, metal box, backpack, metal toolbox, etc.

Remember you must be able to lock the containers with a lock.

Buy decorations at dollar stores or online; create or make the decorations using items from your home or props from your lawn and garden.

Place some snacks in the locked containers to nourish the participants.

Have fun and be sure to have your phone/camera ready to video and take pictures of the exciting adventure!

These experiences offer a way to enjoy the benefits of travel and learning about history without leaving home.

Have you tried creating an escape room? If you do, share your adventure with us.

Pin this article for future DIY escape room fun. Or save this handy infographic on Pinterest! You can also download The Family Backpack Escape Room Adventure PDF!

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How to Plan a DIY Escape Room Adventure for Kids | The Family Backpack

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Perhaps you've done one with friends or co-workers at a team-building event. Escape rooms are not only fun, but educational, and encourage kids to use their imagination. (Win-win!) We're excited to share with you 10 steps on how you can create one yourself.

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Experimenting with Digital Escape Rooms - Infobase

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Now that most learning activities are taking place remotely, many educators and librarians are also developing creative resources to engage with their students. One approach is creating a “digital escape room.” What’s an escape room? It’s a physical game where players have to solve a series of puzz…

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Escape rooms are physical rooms designed with a series of puzzles or challenges that participants must complete in order to fulfill the objective which is to "escape" the room. The participants work as a team and each team member leverages their own skills or background knowledge to help the team escape. The escape room activity is usually timed and the challenges are based on an overarching theme such as science or location.
Escape room activities in the classroom are designed similarly but focus on instructional goals such as information literacy, literature or whatever topic the teacher wants students to explore. Puzzles might include using a cipher wheel to decode a word, number or phrase, clues written in invisible ink, mathematical equations or physical puzzles to assemble.
Digital escape rooms have comparable goals to physical escape rooms but the exploration and puzzles are all online.
Escape room activities can be used to introduce or review a topic, or as a team building activity. Faculty report high student involvement and enthusiasm with these types of student-centered applications.
Sample Digital Escape Room Try it out! Age- high school to adult
Biology Digital Escape Room Try it out! Age - elementary/middle school ​

Locks: 7 various - word, number, directional
Cipher wheels: 7 - alphabet only
Invisible ink pens: 3
Ultraviolet flashlights: 5
Poster of Braille alphabet: 1
Small boxes with "hasps" for locking: 7 - various shapes

Workshop PowerPoint - January 2018 ​

This page supports the January 11th workshop led at AFACCT by Amy Chase Martin and J. Cliff Galloway.

To view these hints, double-click or highlight the space in the empty boxes to the right of the challenge to reveal the hidden text

Development of THIS Escape Room Session
Goals: Involve educators in a student-centered, active lesson about the use of digital and physical puzzles to
introduce content, encourage careful reading, team building and creative thinking.
Introduce the use of various technologies to use in classroom and online environments

Time/Puzzles: Planned 4 digital puzzles and 5 physical puzzles for a 50 minute period.
Participants: 6-24 participants in groups of 1-4
Cost: $20 - reusable materials

Technologies used in this Digital Escape Room:
Embedded Video
PowerPoint
Google Sites - how to build a site, how to add content to a site
Google Forms - how to create a form, how to edit and create sections , how to require a specific response

Resources used in this Physical Escape Room:
Cipher Wheel - photocopied sample and laminated
Blank puzzle - purchased online
Invisible ink - purchased online
Number lock - purchased online
Word lock - purchased online
Blacklight flashlight - purchased online
Locked box - created by taking a cardboard box and fashioning a hasp out of duct tape
Further Reading and Resources
Bassford, M. L., Crisp, A., O'Sullivan, A., Bacon, J., & Fowler, M. (2016). CrashEd-A live immersive, learning experience embedding STEM subjects in a realistic, interactive crime scene. Research in Learning Technology , (1), 30089.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/rlt.v24.30089

Clarke, S. & Arnab, S., Morini, L.,Wood, O., Green, K., Masters, A., & Bourazeri, A. (2016). EscapED: A Framework for Creating Live-Action, Interactive Games for Higher/Further Education Learning and Soft Skills Development. In R. Bottino, J. Jeuring, & R. C. Veltkamp (Eds.), Games and Learning Alliance. (Vol. 10056, pp. 144-153). Switzerland: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_13

Digital Escape Rooms - https://www.breakoutedu.com/digital/.

How to Create and Educational Escape Room for Your Class - https://www.classcraft.com/blog/features/escape-room-education/

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Escape rooms are physical rooms designed with a series of puzzles or challenges that participants must complete in order to fulfill the objective which is to "escape" the room. The participants work as a team and each team member leverages their own skills or background knowledge to help the team escape.

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1. Secret Code, 2. Hint in the story text, 3. Puzzle

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This is a more full planning guide tutorial. I found it interesting and wonderful that so many public libraries seemed to be creating and offering up DERs.

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Create A Virtual Escape Room with Google Forms Tutorial

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This video focused on setting up the Google Form for the DER.

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This was one DER referenced in the Reddit conversation.  I tried it and absolutely could not figure out how to unlock any room and had to use the clues every single time.  But it was useful to get a feel for the type of prompts exist in a DER.

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This is an editable planning guide to create a DER!  I can use it myself and it could then be given to students to create their own DERs--!  It needs some editing and additional steps to be useful for me but a great start.

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The wonderful "Ditch that Textbook" website had this section on DERs and how to create them. They also offer a course for $19 which I am tempted to sign up for! The nice thing is they offer step-by-step guide and examples.

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40+ FREE digital escape rooms (plus a step by step guide for creating your own)

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Digital escape rooms bring the excitement of hunting for clues and the joy of solving puzzles right to your student’s devices. Here are over 40 digital

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This article broke down how to create a DER with the focus on the learning goals rather than just fun or puzzling codes to crack. It made me think of the rooms to unlock as really stations in a station-rotation experience which was helpful.

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How to Build a Digital Escape Room Using Google Forms — Bespoke ELA: Essay Writing Tips + Lesson Plans

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Digital escape rooms are super popular in classrooms right now because they are highly engaging for students across content areas and skill levels. Escape rooms can be done physically with lockboxes, but sometimes, it’s much easier to make them digital through Google Forms. Digital escape rooms ca

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This article provided a vast number of sample digital escape rooms that were free. These are so helpful so I could get more of a hang of the type of clues and "ciphers" these contain.

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We have discovered a new family activity that allows us to think creatively while having fun: Virtual Escape Rooms! I've pulled together an Ultimate list of FREE Virtual Escape Rooms that you can enjoy at home.

Games are huge for my family, and I've got quite a few posts: Mystery Games and Puzzles, Games for 2 people, are just a few of my favorites to share, and while we enjoy pulling out a game board, we've also had a lot of fun finding our way out of virtual escape rooms. If you're looking for other Virtual activities, make sure you also check our FREE Virtual Field Trips.

What is a virtual escape room?

A virtual escape room is all about solving riddles, and puzzles to get out of a situation. There's usually a theme of some sort and some questions you'll need to answer about that subject while others are just about figuring out clues that incorporate the theme. What's great is you can do this through a Zoom call with others, as long as someone is willing to share their screen.

FREE Virtual Escape Rooms

Of course it would be nice to head to a physical escape room, but if you don't have the capacity or resources these make a great backup plan. Make sure you pin/bookmark this page as I'll be updating it as I find more, but with over 70 Free virtual escape rooms there's something for everyone!

FAMILY FUN DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOMS

TWEEN & TEEN DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOMS

ADULT DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOMS

How to make your own Digital Escape Room

So many options and hours of fun are ahead. If you're inspired to make your own BeSpoke Classroom has a great breakdown for how to make your own using Google Forms, and if you do please let me know so I can add it to the list!

Tell me what's your favorite virtual or digital escape room?

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Ultimate List of FREE Virtual Escape Rooms

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Looking for a fun activity that's FREE? Check out this ultimate list of FREE Virtual Escape rooms that are sure to challenge you while having fun.

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The links on the infographic brought me to breakout.edu, which I had heard about but assumed was for hands-on escape room activities; it turns out they do have digital ones, but almost everything requires payment. I looked at a free one though which gave me an idea of how it could look if not done in google forms.

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This article linked to a number of examples of DERs for younger learners, which was really helpful to me since I was having so much trouble solving the puzzles of other examples online!

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We're all likely needing an escape right now and nothing says escape better than an escape room!

Since you can't actually go to an escape room with the current stay-at-home orders, the next best thing is a digital escape room and there are so many available online that are family friendly and just begging for you to try them out with your kids.

Digital Escape Rooms

Solve Egyptian themed riddles and logic questions and puzzles as you try to Escape the Sphinx.

Can you help Cinderella get to the ball and meet her Prince Charming in Cinderella Escapes?

Greek legends say an ancient beast, the minotaur, guarded a special maze. Try to beat the Minotaur's Labyrinth Escape Room.

Escape from Hogwarts in this Harry Potter themed digital escape room. Want to know what our writers thought? Our review is right here.

For Star Wars fans, gather your Jedis to help the Rebellion as you try to Escape from Star Killer Base.

Pete the Cat is having a birthday party and you're invited, but your present has disappeared. Can you find it in the Pete the Cat and the Birthday Party Mystery Room?

Escape from Wonderland with Alice and her friends as you tell time with the White Rabbit and have a tea party with the Mad Hatter and March Hare.

Assemble your own team of Avengers and use your powers to Escape from the Hydra Base in this "Marvel's Avengers" Themed Digital Escape Room.

Travel around the world as you try to solve this Spy Apprentice Digital Escape Room.

Prepare to launch into space by solving the codes to your launch in the Space Explorer Training Digital Escape Room

Pikachu has disappeared and it's your job to find him in this Pikachu's Rescue Digital Escape Room.

Help Goldilocks get out of the Three Bears Cottage before they return in Escape the Fairy Tale.

Each escape room is more fun when done as a family, though it is possible to complete them on your own. Challenge your kids to see which ones they can solve or work together as a team as you try them out.

Printable Escape Rooms

Check out this printable escape room that gives you everything you need for the entire escape adventure that will take 45-60 minutes and you can do it all from home.

More Things You Can Do From Home

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Here's A List of Digital Escape Rooms You Can Visit From Your Couch

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We're all likely needing an escape right now and nothing says escape better than an escape room! Since you can't actually go to an escape room with the current stay-at-home orders, the next best thing is a digital escape room and there are so many available online that are family friendly and just begging for you to try them out with your kids.

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This post helped me frame the DER as narrative and inquiry-driven project-based learning.

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Copy of Student Engagement..Open and Shut Case w%2F TPT Links.pdf

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This simple blog post led me to the Infographic and then on to breakout.edu.

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Whether you're a fan of Breakout.edu or Escape Rooms 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!

How My STUDENTS Created 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:

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!

Looking for OTHER great ideas?

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:

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Whether you're a fan of Breakout.edu or Escape Rooms 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! How My STUDENTS Created Their Own Escape Rooms!!