Crack the Codes, Save the Workshop!

This Christmas-themed escape room game is a perfect activity for your class to demonstrate their teamwork and communication skills in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The Save Santa’s Workshop Whole-Class Escape Game includes instructions to help implement the game and introduce the scenario that your class will enter.

There are notes that can be distributed to pupils to introduce the game as a shared reading experience or a one-page introduction you can read aloud to the class.

The locations where pupils will need to visit and solve clues include:

• The Wrapping Room – pupils find particular presents based on logical descriptions
• The Candy Cane Chutes – pupils tinker with rotating sections of an elaborate maze that can cause their paths to change
• The Assembly Line – pupils determine how much material they need to use based on a flow chart that shows how to convert some items into others
• The Reindeer Stables – pupils interpret cryptic clues to determine which reindeer stables are important
• The Mail Room – pupils decipher a message written in a special Christmas code

An Interactive Final Escape

Be sure to download the interactive PowerPoint attached as a drop-down menu item! This anchors the whole experience and allows the pupils to test if their final combination is correct.

1. Open the PowerPoint and start the Slide Show from the beginning slide. This is an engaging first look that will grab your pupils’ attention!
2. Click the ‘Begin’ button (or anywhere on the screen) to progress to the lock your pupils need to open.
3. Once your pupils have their final combination, they can enter it into the lock. If they are correct, an animation will play, unlocking the vault and displaying all the presents! If they are incorrect, the lock will flash an ‘Incorrect’ message and will automatically reset. The pupils must check their answers and try again.

A Differentiated Christmas Activity

This experience caters to multiple ability levels. While the way each puzzle needs to be solved remains the same, the content/maths required differs. There are three separate Workshop Induction Booklets (the worksheets the pupils will use); shapes on the front cover identify which version is which. The levels are as follows:

• circle – two-digit addition, one-digit multiplication/division
• triangle – two- and three-digit addition, one-digit multiplication/division, knowledge of mixing primary colours
• pentagon – the above, plus order of operations, multiplying numbers by 100, knowing what the term ‘product’ means when performing an operation.

Please note that there are two separate downloads you will need for this activity. Be sure to download both before you begin!