One of my Leadership classes is focusing on creating a mystery-solving escape room together. This was something we started last year and included in our Halloween Stomp. This year, we have been working on it as a way to apply leadership through solving problems together. The purpose behind this project is this:
- It creates unity when students work together to achieve a goal and solve problems. The main point of escape rooms is to problem-solve, and problem-solving is a skill that is notably lacking in upcoming generations, according to professionals. Students have been coming up with storylines, puzzles, and clues, and then working together to make them happen.
- Students can invite friends and family to see the result and share in the pride of a job well done. They gain a sense of ownership in the school as they create something that draws people in.
- AI has helped establish steps to create things when we aren’t sure what the next step should be. The goal is to learn how to use AI responsibly to help us create, so they grow up learning to use it to assist them and not replace them.
- Creating an escape room can be expensive. To keep costs down and teach about repurposing and reducing waste, we use as many used materials and donations as possible.
- Cross-curricular work. The Escape room we created includes STEM, art, writing, drama, and can include anything you want. We made a sarcophagus with wood, paper-mache, old bedding foam, and paint. We created mazes and paintings, codes, and engineering locks.
- This project has been so much fun, and I can’t wait to share the results.
Emperor’s Sarcophagus
Locking Mechanism
Pharoh with lock in it
Pharaoh’s sarcophagus started
The process of making Pahroh’s sarcophagus…
Other Puzzles
Town Maze in progress
Jefferson Wheel
Pirate Map with secret code
Dinosaur Dentist