About
Have some end-of-year fun as your students complete six different challenges (or obstacles) in order to make it out in this "Trapped - End of the Year" Escape Room-style activity. They'll crack codes and work together as a team, ultimately overcoming the obstacles and getting out of the school!
Are you ready for the challenge?
Ideas for Use
- Use the individual tasks as part of your math centers. Place one task at each center and have students rotate through them.
- Make a booklet for each student that includes all the tasks from this math project. Allow your students to choose the order that they complete the tasks, and use it as early finisher activities or morning work.
- Keep students engaged by allowing them to work through this package with a partner.
**NOTE: I know that the end of the year is a chaotic time! This escape room is not as skill-intense as some of my other ones. It is intended to be low-prep, and fun for a variety of ages. Your students will love ending the year with this teamwork activity!**
What's Included?
Your students will be completing six different challenges (or obstacles) in order to make it out.
Obstacle #1: Find the light switch.
You are terrified. Didn’t anyone notice that you weren’t in the classroom? How could you get left inside the school like this? First things first, you need to turn some lights on. Then at least you’ll be able to get to the door to get out of the school. It feels impossible to find the light switch when it is so dark in here. You can’t see a thing!
YOUR TASK: Use the Code Grid to figure out where the light switch is.
Obstacle #2: Open the steel gate.
Phew! You found the light switch. Now you can see where you’re going! It’s scary being the only person in the school! You start walking down the hall towards the front door, but you see something. A big steel gate is blocking the hallway! You try to slide it open, but it won’t slide. You’re trapped in the hallway! You need to figure out how to unlock this big gate.
YOUR TASK: Read the backward mystery message and solve the mystery number. This number is the code to open the steel gate.
Obstacle #3: Disable the alarm.
You got the gate opened, but it triggered a loud alarm! You are hopeful that someone will come to turn off the alarm and help you get out of here, but no one comes. You cannot even think with this alarm going off! You need to figure out how to disable it.
YOUR TASK: Use multiplication to solve the code that will disable the alarm.
Obstacle #4: Find an alternate route.
Thank goodness that alarm has stopped! Now you need to get to the stairs. It’s times like this you wish this school was not so big! You get to the stairs and can’t believe it. They are covered in a sticky wax and you can’t get down. The custodian must have waxed them right after everyone left! You know that there’s an alternate route downstairs, but since it’s your first year in this school, you’re not really sure where it is.
YOUR TASK: Make your way through the maze in order to find the alternate route downstairs.
Obstacle #5: Get through the hallway.
You made it downstairs! “Getting out the front door should be easy now!” you say to yourself. But you spoke too soon. There are boxes blocking the hallway. You look inside and they are full of new supplies for the next school year. You’ll have to get through all of this stuff somehow.
YOUR TASK: Solve the magic squares and use the grey squares to reveal the mystery message.
Obstacle #6: Open the front door.
Finally! You made it to the front door of the school! But when you try to open it, it’s locked! “What kind of a building locks its doors from the outside AND inside?!” you ask yourself. You see a sign by the door. “Enter the code to unlock front door.” Now you’ll need to figure out the code. You are so close to getting out!
YOUR TASK: Use the clocks to complete the code for the front door.
What Teachers Are Saying
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I used this as an end of year activity with my students and they loved it! It is a great way to keep students learning, engaged, and not just giving them busy work during the last few days of school." Kimberly S.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "The kids gravitated towards this really clever and interesting product with varied math challenges. This was a big hit! !" Carol K.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "My students loved working on this activity with partners! It definitely challenged my fourth graders but I loved to see how hard they worked. Very glad it wasn't something they could rush through :)" Marissa K.