Run your own escape room
You’ll need
- Pens or pencils
- A4 paper
- Items needed for each puzzle
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- You could choose a theme for your escape room and have the puzzles are themed around that. Some ideas may include music, space, ancient greek, dinosaurs, films, or witches and wizards.
- Decide how people will complete puzzles, such as in pairs, in teams or as a whole group.
- If it’s in small groups, think about how they’ll be reset between groups.
- If it’s as a large group, can the puzzles be done in any order, can the group split up and make sure there’s enough for everyone to be doing something.
- Think about how people will take on the puzzles and how the puzzles will be laid out in your space. You could have the puzzles on different tables in the same space. Alternatively, place puzzles in different rooms or puzzles hidden around the space.
- Remember, a puzzle doesn’t need to be able to be completed straight away and people can hold onto items to use later.
- Decide what the aim is to find the key or the prize to escape the room. For example, people could:
- look for letters to create a word that tells them where to find the key or prize
- find various keys that unlock the treasure chest
- collect pieces of a jigsaw, which when put together tell them where the key or prize is
- Prepare any prizes and puzzles in advance of people arriving.
- Having the prize in view the whole time is a great motivator, so each time a key is found, a lock can be removed.
- Once it’s set up, it’s best to test the escape room and run through it to make sure it works.
- Have a way that players can ask for hints, such as ringing a bell, and decide if there’s a limit to the number of hints they have.
Running this activity
- Gather everyone together and tell everyone you’ll be completing an escape room.
- Explain how your escape room will work. You may want to set the scene with a story or scenario, and tell everyone how long they have to escape.
- Give out any paper and pens.
- Make sure to have a safety briefing, so everyone knows they need to keep themselves and each other safe. This should include what the boundaries and ground rules are, such as no going in certain areas or clues being below shoulder height.
- Remember, to remind everyone that no-one should ever be locked in a room or space during this activity. Everyone should be able to leave at any point and all doors should remain unlocked.
- Now, let the challenge begin and see if the group can escape.
Ideas for puzzles and challenges in your escape room
Have a long, waterproof tube with a bottom, just like a Pringles tube.
Tie a key to a cork and place it in the bottom.
Challenge everyone to get the key out, but without touching it or turning it upside down.
The trick is to use water to allow the key to float to the surface.
To make this harder, you could add some holes in the tube that people would need to cover with their hands.
Cut the front of a cereal box up into small pieces, just like a jigsaw, then have players or teams try to put it back together.
You could write a clue or code on there, so that they have to piece the shapes together to find out what it is.
Remember, the pieces don’t have to be kept together.
Make a large dot-to-dot on the ground, that when joined together spells out a number, or word.
You could write a word in code that people then need to translate. You could use:
- hieroglyphics
- the ancient greek alphabet
- the phonetic alphabet
- binary code
- morse code
- emojis
- pig pen
- backwards alphabet, where A=Z, B=Y and so on
- numbered alphabet, where 1=A, 2=B and so on
- cipher wheel
Hide a clue in a bowl of jelly. To make it harder, people can’t use their hands to get it out.
You can make up riddles that people have to solve. The first letter of each answer could then spell out a word.
Write a clue or code on a sheet of paper using a white crayon, then have paint available in the room. When the white crayon is painted over, the clue will appear.
Include a clue that doesn’t look like a clue at first glance. For example, you could write the following on a piece of paper:
- Cheetah
- Lion
- Ostrich
- Camel
- Kangaroo
Upon closer look, the first letter of each of the words, suggest to look at a clock. The clock’s hands could then give a 4-digit number clue in digital format, such as 21:45 being 2145.
This number code could then be the answer to a number padlock that locks a box. Once unlocked, another clue can be found placed inside the box.
Put 10 or 15 lollipop sticks together and draw or write out a clue, then mix them up, either on a table or in a jar. They have to be put together to reveal the next clue.
Remember, the pieces don’t have to be kept together.
Take a picture of an object in the room. Print the picture and use it as a clue. Players have to figure out what the picture is first, and then search for the item in the room.
When they find the item, it could have an answer or another clue on it.
Write out a clue on a strip of paper, writing ‘Pull Here’ on one end.
Hide the piece of paper, so ‘Pull Here’ is on show, such as behind a sign, behind a picture or under something in the room.
Pulling the tab reveals a clue.
A magnet attached to a string can be used to move something magnetic, such as a key, into reach.
The key could be hidden inside coloured water in a sealed plastic jar. They jar could have a small opening in one side. There is no way to get the key out, except with a magnet that drags the key up the side to the small opening.
Remember to check that the items are magnetic first.
Create a Lego board with 26 different pieces. Each coloured block stands for a letter of the alphabet.
Players must use the alphabet board to crack the code on another board, such as ‘Turn off the lights’.
There could then be a clue that glows in the dark, such as using glow-in-the-dark stars to reveal a constellation pattern. You could also write a clue in glow-in-the-dark pens or paint.
If you need scissors to open a clue, put a padlock around the handles, so they can’t be opened. First, the key must be found.
Have a clue that’s printed in incredibly small letters that may require players to use a magnifying glass. The clue may give them an instruction, such as ‘Look under a chair’.
Put the magnifying glass somewhere else for people to find.
A mobile phone left in the room can include a picture clue on the lock screen, such as having a photo of where a key is hidden for players to find.
A locked box can lead to a solution or more clues. For example, inside a lock box you could include one puzzle piece needed to complete a puzzle for another clue and a marble.
Bike locks can be used to conceal a clue or the prize. You could wrap both bike locks around a box and they need to be unlocked in order to get what’s inside the box.
Place lots of keys, or just the one, on a long rope and add some knots, so the key can’t be taken off the rope without being untied.
Make sure one end of the rope is secured to something, so the key can’t be easily moved around the space while still on the rope.
Hide a clue under a table or desk. You could use tape to secure it.
Have lots of blank puzzle pieces that looks unhelpful when first put together, but reveals a clue in invisible ink.
An invisible ink pen would be needed, with a UV light to show what the clue says.
A locked box hidden in the space could contain an invisible ink pen. The top of the pen holds the light to reveal words written in the ink.
If you have an old book, cut out a shape in it to hide a key.
You could also hide another clue on a bookmark.
You could use the book titles, or reveal a clue by circling certain words or page numbers.
Use a lock on a cupboard door that needs to be opened before players can get into it for their next clue.
Hide a clue inside a guitar that needs to be pulled up by a string.
Have a variety of keys available to players, each with a keyring on with a different shape or number value. You can have some math problems that when solved directs players to a specific key.
Hide a key or a clue inside a jar of slime, with people need to reach in to remove it.
A bath bomb can be used to hide a key. The bath bomb must be put in water and dissolved to reveal a key.
You can simply add a bit of water to baking soda to make a dough.
Place the key in the middle and then roll it into a ball in the mixture, before letting it dry overnight.
Use dice to conceal numbers. At first glance the dice seem unimportant, but numbered stickers on them give the players specific number clues.
Place various words around the room, once all words are found players can put them in the right order to discover their next clue.
See if you can find some teddies or cushions that have zips, then hide clues or keys inside one. Players need to search through a pile of teddies or cushions to find the right one, then get the next clue or a key.
Have a small ball pit, with a mixture of balls. Use tape to fix a key or a clue to one of the balls, then mix them all up. Players need to search through the balls to find the one with the clue or key on it.
Players have to count the items in the container, and the total number is the code for a number lock, so they need to count carefully.
Make a homemade marble run requires a marble to be found in the room. The marble run will have different clues as different outcomes to the run, such as different numbers. The marble will fall into hole for to show the correct clue.
Reflection
This activity was all about giving everyone the chance to work under pressure, work as a team and problem solve.
Ask everyone how they found the activity. Which puzzles did they found the easiest or most difficult, and why? Did you get stuck on anything?
What was it like having the time pressure? How did you focus and stay calm?
This activity was about teamwork. How did you communicate and work together? Did you listen to each other?
In an escape room, it can be hard to make sure everyone gets a turn and gets a try, especially under time pressure. How did you make sure everyone got a chance to do a puzzle or contribute? Did you make sure everyone got a chance to share their ideas?
How was the team led? Did you make sure no-one took over, so everyone had a try? Is there anything you’d do differently next time?
Did they find it easy to think of fun ways or loopholes to complete any of the puzzles? Not all problems are easy to solve, but thinking outside the box and being creative are great skills to learn and can help in a lot of different situations.
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Scissors
Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
- Rubbish and recycling
All items should be clean and suitable for this activity.
- Active games
The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
- Dark
Provide some light, so the environment isn’t completely dark. Everyone must be able to see others and move around the area safely.
- Chemicals
This task involves the use of potentially harmful fluids or chemicals. Make sure you follow all relevant safety guidance. Make sure you dispose of them appropriately too, in line with safety guidance.
- Water games and activities
Be careful when doing activities with, in, or near water. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Make sure you have appropriate supervision for this activity.
- To make this activity easier, have everyone work on the clues together and give hints. You can keep the puzzles simpler and more straight-forward.
- Think about how you’ll involve everyone in the group and make sure there’s a mixture of challenges for everyone’s skills, such as a mix of physical and mental challenges.
- Make sure all the puzzles and clues can be reached by everyone, such as all at a wheelchair accessible level.
- You could change the challenges, equipment and movements to suit your group, such as using larger objects, leaving a bigger gap between cones, or using a large print font for printed materials.
- People can move at their own pace, so you don’t need to make it time-based unless it works for everyone.
- Make sure everyone’s supported in taking part. If needed, let people be in bigger groups or have a young leader join a group to help people.
- If it’s too noisy and anyone doesn’t like the noise, remind everyone to be quieter. You could have a noise level warning system, the person could wear ear defenders, or you could run the activity outside or over a larger space to reduce the noise. Shutting doors and windows can help to reduce external sounds too.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
