Escape Rooms for Kids
Most escape rooms are designed for adults. They’re perfect for team-building and immersive entertainment. But kids are capable of solving problems, too, and a child-friendly escape room is a great way of encouraging play that facilitates learning—without feeling like more school.
Ideally, a children’s escape room takes half an hour or less to complete (a shorter room is recommended for younger children). An easy rule is to create a children’s escape room with six puzzles, each designed to require no more than five minutes to solve.
Recently, I created an impromptu Star Wars-themed escape room for a couple of kiddos in my life, and I’m sharing the design here so you can provide it to any kiddos in your life. Vive la résistance!
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Puzzle 1:
Your droid has arrived with an important message from the resistance, but there’s a glitch in its binary code. Oh, no! You’ll have to fix his code in order to read the message. One of our agents has delivered you a package with the materials you need to fix your droid’s code. [Materials: nine square pieces of paper, each with one of the symbols listed below; pens]
Draw the following binary code on the back of each piece. Make the numbers big!
Star = 1
Circle = 1
Triangle = 1
Circle with dot = 1
Triangle with dot = 0
Cube = 1
Cube with dot = 1
Pyramid = 1
Pyramid with dot = 1
Then, arrange them so that 1, 2, and 3 are in the top row, 4, 5, and 6 are in the middle row, and 7, 8, and 9 are in the bottom row. Next, turn 2 and 8 onto their sides.
Flip them over so that you can see the ones and zeroes again. What shape do the ones make?
[Answer: rectangle. Note: This puzzle is a little abstract, so I recommend providing hints or guidance to help make the shape clear.]
You have fixed your droid’s binary code and can now receive the message from the resistance!
Puzzle 2:
Blue = D as in dark side
Green = R as in raider
Purple = S as in Sith Lord
Red = W as in Wookie
Yellow = O as in Obi-Wan
What does the lightsaber code mean? [Answer: WORDS]
Aha! The resistance has sent you words from the Ewoks.
Puzzle 3: The Ewoks have an urgent request, but you need to translate their message from the Ewok language.
[Answer: JEDI]
The Ewoks need the Jedi’s help! You send word to Yoda so he can send Jedi to help the Ewoks.
Puzzle 4: Our spies have sent a special grid of letters and a list of resistance terms. If you can find the list of resistance terms in the grid, you can find the special code letter. This letter will tell us the sector of space where we need to send X-wing ships.
JEDI
TIE
EMPIRE
FETT
Nice work! The resistance will now send X-wing ships to the E sector.
Puzzle 5: The X-wing fleet has reached the E sector thanks to your intelligence. Now we need to provide them with a map to navigate the sector. Track the paths of the X-wing fighters. You should get a five-digit code that the pilots need to complete their navigation. [Recommended materials: colored markers]
[Answer: 51121]
Great job! The pilots were able to navigate to their destination, thanks to you!
Puzzle 6: It’s time to take on the Death Star. This destructive spacecraft has nine parts:
Backup power
Command center
Comms center
Defense system
Engine room
Living quarters
Navigation center
Prison cells
Storage space
We have learned that the engine room is a weak point in the Death Star. Unfortunately, we can’t destroy the Death Star until we find out where the engine room is. That’s where you come in!
Here’s everything we know:
When you add six plus three together, you get the quadrant where the command center is located. [9]
When you do eight minus one, you get the quadrant where the backup power is located. [7]
The living quarters are located in the quadrant of two times two. [4]
The storage space is on the top floor of the Death Star on the right. [3]
The comms center is directly above the living quarters. [1]
The navigation center is right in the middle of the Death Star grid. [5]
The prison cells are on the bottom floor of the Death Star. [8]
The defense system is on the top floor of the Death Star. [2]
Complete the Death Star map and find out which quadrant contains the engine room. Then, we can win the battle! Good luck!
[Answer: 6]
The engine room is in quadrant 6! Now we can send resistance fighters to defeat the Death Star.
[Play this video.]
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When acting as game leader for this escape room, I used Microsoft Teams to communicate with the players virtually—not because we had to, but because it made the kids feel like they were talking to me on their ship’s radio.
Even if you don’t have virtual meeting tech like that available, or if you’re the only adult helping the kids play and need to be there with them physically to help them solve some of the puzzles, there are lots of ways to enhance immersion. You could play a Star Wars background on a laptop (we used this one) or TV to set the mood. You could play music or get out some Star Wars-themed toys. Whatever you do, just help your little players feel immersed in the world!
Want to see this escape room in action? Check out our video here!
