Several years ago my wife came up with the idea of wrapping each kid’s present in a unique wrapping paper.
We don’t write names on the gifts…only mom and dad know which wrapping paper belongs to each kid.
I saw an opportunity to turn our little trick into a Christmas morning game by setting up a “breakout” or escape room activity.
The kids solve various Christmas-themed puzzles to unlock the box to discover which presents are theirs.
I started doing this breakout activity 2017 and it’s is now a family tradition!
Here are some of the puzzles that I created:
- Bible Trivia – This is a Google Form that reveals the code (STAR!) needed to unlock the letter lock. Click here to make a copy of my form to see how it works!
- Symbol Code – decipher the hidden message to find the location of the key needed to unlock the box.
- Christmas Song Emoji – Each set of emojis represents a Christmas song. Some of the songs contain numbers (i.e. “Joy 2 the world”) that are used to unlock the three-digit lock.
- Ornament Search – This document contains clues to finding five Christmas ornaments hidden on our tree. Each ornament has a small arrow taped to it, which is used to unlock the directional lock.
Additional Resources:
- Buy a ready-made breakout kit from BreakOut EDU ($179+)
- Build your own kit using a box and some locks (~$100)
- Create a digital “scavenger hunt” with Flippity (free)
- Create a digital breakout with Google Forms (free)
- This is a great list of puzzle ideas from Breakout EDU!
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