Escape the Music Room

I am so excited to share about Breakout Edu!!!

Some of the tools included in the Breakout Edu Kit
(Not pictured: Large lockbox and the invisible ink pen)

   My husband and I love puzzle rooms/escape rooms and I was so excited to see Breakout Edu online.  If you have never done a puzzle room/escape room your goal is to get out of the room.  Usually, there is a brief introduction and then you are left to search the room for clues, etc.  There are puzzles, locks, sometimes hidden passages, etc.  Breakout Edu is one way to bring this excitement to your classroom.

   When it was my turn to use the kit, I decided that I wanted to start with my choir 6th-grade choir.  I see choir for 55 minutes and my K-5  classes for 25 minutes.  I don't have any time between classes so my 4th graders spent the last 5 minutes helping me hide clues before choir arrived.

   The kid my school purchased was Breakout EDU kit and Platform Access.  It was $150.00 and can be found here: https://www.breakoutedu.com/pricing/  I know you could make your own kit, but I really like the digital resources provided and the quality of the kit.  I started with a pre-made game called, "Attack of the Locks" that is included in the Platform Access.

   Currently, there are very few games created for Elementary Music students.  "Attack of the Locks" had one music clue (using letter names from sheet music to help open a lock). Initially, I was going to follow the exact game and focus on building community with one music clue. Instead, I got excited and modified the game to include all music hints.

   The "Attack of the Locks" game on Breakout EDU had an introduction video that I showed the group, that allowed them to find a key to open a lock.  I bought this Star Wars box at Target and I had my husband drill a hole into it for the lock.

This was just sitting out on the piano (you could hide it if you wanted but my students had never done a puzzle room before).

Inside: Star Wars stickers with the hidden writing on the back and the black light with the batteries backward.

Inside, I placed two stickers sheets.  I used the "invisible ink" marker from the Breakout EDU kit to drawn music notes in different directions on the back of the sticker sheets.  The stem directions were later used to open the directional lock on the big box.

A coded message written on an index card.

A coded message (using a code from the "Attack of the Locks" game with Star Wars letters) that read STEMS.  This was the hint to use the directions of the stems from the music notes to get the lock open.

I hang things students give me on my office window.  The code key blends in among the papers!

This code allowed them to read the index card from the mailbox and figure out "STEMS" 

I hung some giant Star Wars Posters in my room. Using invisible ink, I wrote do, do, mi, do1.  That was a hint for a lock 1, 1, 3, 8 on the small lockbox.

Other posters hung on the wall and on cabinet doors.  As they were searching the students opened the cabinets behind the posters and found the small lockbox.  The 4-digit number lock was on it.  They translated the solfege that was written on the other poster into numbers.  Inside was a Star Wars Lego set with the instruction sheet on how to put it together.

They found Star Wars Lego in the small lockbox and an instruction sheet.

The students eventually put the Lego set together and found nothing.  They used the black light on the instruction paper and realized 1-5-4 was circled.  This allowed them to open the final big box.

Students found index cards with letters written on them.

Side Note: I was doing "Alphabet Soup" from Gameplan with Kindergarten and I had created letters on index cards.  Choir found the letters and thought it was a clue. They worked so hard to make a word.  I guess it was just a fun mistake!

In a tall cupboard, behind another Star Wars poster, they found the giant lockbox up high.  They had all of the codes figured out except an ABC Letter Lock.

I reminded them that all of their codes that have been useful involved music and Star Wars.

Finally, the realized the music on the piano was Star Wars (Main Theme)!

Sheet music (invisible ink circled notes)

Once they found the sheet music, the used the black light to find the answer to their last letter lock!  The pitches circled plus a dot were the answer for the final lock!

The blacklight revealed certain pitches circled.  The letter names answered the ABC lock!

This allowed them to open the final lock!!!!

The final lock is opening!!!!!

Inside were glow sticks, candy, and small toys!  Just silly and fun!

The best part was talking about how it went!

This I learned:

• Practice!  Test the locks, have someone else test them.  Walk through the order of the clues the way the kids will
• Use the Lock Parking Lot to keep track of locks and ensure a student doesn't accidentally reset them or change the code.

• Remember, it's ok if they don't escape, or if something goes wrong!  It happens, give them a hint, or a new clue, or skip a step, it will be fine.  When we were playing a lock fell off the hasp (the blue things that allow you to use a lot of locks on one box) and I just put it back on and we kept going.
• Have fun!  

I hope this helps inspire you to try an escape/puzzle classroom or just go out of your comfort zone and try something new.  

Has anyone else tried an escape room? Breakout EDU? Something you created?