Escape Rooms in the K-1 Classroom

When many people hear “escape rooms” they automatically think they are for upper elementary and beyond. Setting up and doing an escape room in kindergarten and first grade can seem daunting, but I promise it is much easier than you think!

Not only are there many ways to set up an escape room, but there are also many different purposes for them as well. Here are my favorite ways to set up escape rooms in the K-1 classroom.

Different Ways to Structure Your Escape Room

This escape room focuses on subtraction within 10.

1. Parent-Led groups: This is always my favorite option. This allows parents to come in and help small groups. I usually put 5-6 students in a group, depending on how many parents could help. Each group had their own envelopes for each task and they worked at their own pace.

When students completed the whole escape room, they would have two options while they waited for all groups to be done. They could either do a puzzle with their group or I would have a large tub of themed books for them to look at. Many times, the parent would read a book to the group. *Note- I typically did this type of set up around a holiday.

2. Teacher-led small group: This is the option I used the most. I typically do these on Fridays as a wrap up to any skill that we are working on at the time. I will pull my groups for math or reading like I normally do, but instead of my traditional instruction, we do the escape room. The escape rooms focus on math, reading skills, or phonics.

This was an easy option because it was less prep. I only prepared 1 set of all the tasks and the group I was working with with share the materials.

3. Teacher-led Whole Group: Students work with their table partners to complete the task. This is similar to the parent-led groups, but the teacher reads the story and task directions to the whole class at one time. I just prepare one set of task activities for each table group and they work with their table mates to complete the tasks. Once they are done with the tasks, I would have them cheer on the table next to them.

Hopefully, that helps you get a better understanding of your options for setting up escape rooms in your K-1 classroom. I created this freebie that will help you even better understand your you can make escape rooms work in your classroom.

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