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I love escape rooms! Escape room activities have become a common occurrence in our home. My kids love working their way through the clues and I enjoy coming up with new puzzles and setting up the room. Some of my escape rooms take days of planning and preparing the materials, others I create to be set up in minutes. Today I am sharing a FREE printable escape room for kids that you can do today!
If you are interested in creating your own escape room filled with hands-on puzzles and games, I suggest reading this post: How to Make Your Own Escape Room, where I explain, step by step how to create your own escape game at home.
A free planning template is included. You can also find a collection of 40+ DIY escape room puzzles here and the second collection of escape room puzzle ideas with over 49 DIY clues.
If however, you have never created an escape room before, or simply like the idea of being able to set up an escape room in a matter of minutes without having to buy or prepare the puzzles, you’re going to love this Free Printable Escape Room for Kids!
Free Printable Escape Room Benefits
Printable escape rooms are a great alternative to other hands-on escape rooms because they are fast to set up and there is no additional cost of locks or special materials. Visit here for another Free Printable Escape Room for Young Kids.
Escape rooms are great for problem solving and cooperation. They also make a unique family night game!
This free printable escape room for kids takes players on an adventure through your home as they solve puzzles and then find their next clue hidden in ordinary objects.
I have included ideas to make the game easier for beginners, or young players, as well as ways to make the game more challenging.
Escape rooms require adult supervision. Make sure to place puzzles in a safe location for children to find. All puzzles and locations need to be age appropriate and safe for players.
Printable Escape Room Set Up
I am offering this escape room for free to bring the fun and excitement of escape rooms to your home today. I am also sharing it because my kids had so much fun with it and I hope that it sparks an interest in escape rooms in your home or classroom.
If you enjoy this printable escape room, check out my collection of other printable escape rooms for your next adventure. From birthday and animal themed escape rooms, to princess themed and math escape rooms, there are lots to choose from.
Escape Room Puzzle Locations
Since this escape room is hands-on and requires children to move around the house there are a few hiding places that you will need. The hiding places required for this Free Printable Escape Room for kids are:
- Shoes (A place that shoes are stored or at least one pair of shoes for children to check)
- Pillows (This can be pillows on a bed or any other pillow such as pillows on a couch)
- A Coat or Jacket
- Five Chairs (The chairs do not have to be the same type. They can be kitchen table chairs, an office chair, or even toy chairs in a doll house. The five can be any combination of these chairs.)
- A Couch or Sofa
I tried to use locations that are commonly found in a home, but if you are missing any of these items, you can print a picture of the location and simply place the picture somewhere in your home for children to find.
These five locations are the places that children will be directed to search as they solve the puzzles.
The printable puzzles are included in black and white and color. All of the set up instructions and solutions are included in this blog post.
Basic Escape Room Instructions
This free escape room can be use by one child or a group of children. The game also works well for a family activity. Make sure to supervise children during play. Children will get excited as they solve their clues!
I typically give one hour to solve the game, but my kids have done so many escape rooms that they tend to finish quickly. You can choose how long to give players.
If players are older, a big group or experienced at escape rooms, you can choose to only give them half an hour. It’s your choice. I tend to give extra time because I want players to get a chance to get through all of the clues.
You can add background music of a ticking clock or suspenseful music as players solve the puzzles.
Make sure to tell players any areas or things that are off limits before starting the game. Set boundaries and stay with players while they solve the clues.
Free Printable Escape Room for Kids – The Puzzles
Use this blog post to help you set up your room. In my other printable escape rooms (for sale) set up instruction and solutions are included in the product/download.
The Welcome Letter #1
The first puzzle can simply be printed off and given to players or placed somewhere for players to find. This will start of your escape room game.
Printable Escape Room – The Puzzle Clue #2
To prepare the next puzzle, cut up the puzzle pieces. There are 16 puzzle pieces and a Cross Out small rectangle. This puzzle will take you a few minutes to cut out, but it is a classic escape room puzzle and kids always love it.
These pieces need to be hidden in or around a pair of shoes.
The Circle Code Clue #3
This puzzle includes four pieces. There are two circles. One with pictures and the other with letters. There is also a rectangle with the letter C = a picture of a key. Finally there is a rectangle with pictures on it to decode. Cut out each of these four pieces of the puzzle.
These puzzles need to be placed under pillows. The previous clue directs players to Look Under Your Pillows. The S is underlined to add to the challenge and have players look under more than one pillow and spread out the pieces. However, for beginner players, you can place all four clues together.
If you want this puzzle to be really challenging, you can spread the clues out under four different pillows to make players really have to search. All four clues are essential in being able to solve this clue. So until all of the pieces are found players will not be able to move onto the next puzzle.
Free Printable Escape Room PDF – The Coat Puzzle #4
This puzzle includes a picture for every letter of the alphabet. Players will match the letter of the alphabet to the picture to spell out the next clue.
There is no prep work required for this clue, simply print and put in a coat pocket or sleeve.
The clue does say to Check in Your Coat, so it needs to go in the players coat. However, you can make it more challenging by hiding it in an older coat or a jacket that they don’t wear regularly.
#5 Five Chairs Puzzle – Free Printable Escape Room For Kids
There are two pages for this clue. The page with the four shapes and arrows needs to be cut out. Each of the shapes need to be placed under a chair. The other page with the same shapes and letters also needs to be hidden under a chair.
The previous clue told players to Look Under Five Chairs. The five chairs is significant for players to read carefully. If they only check under one chair and find one clue, they will not be able to solve the puzzle.
You can make this clue really challenging by choosing chairs that are not found together. One chair can be a chair at the kitchen table, another can be an office chair, one can be a chair in a family room. Any five chairs will work.
Place one cut out shape with arrows under each chair and the uncut page with shapes and letters under another.
#6 The Final Spot and Escape Room Certificate
The previous clue leads players to Look Under the Couch. This is the final escape room location. Simply print the certificate and print the players name on the page.
You can print a certificate for each player or put all of the names on one page. Fill in the date and leave the time blank to fill in once they have found the certificate and completed the escape room.
This final certificate can also be hidden with a few small treats or a small prize. In the past I have included a note on the certificate that the prize is a family movie night or another small treat. It is a great way to celebrate players accomplishment.
Free Printable Escape Room for Kids Answers
If players have done escape rooms before, they may solve the puzzles quickly. Kids can gain a lot of confidence as they start to problem solve and find the solutions quickly. The puzzles requires children to look carefully and think outside the box to. These are great skills to have that can be transferred to many other situations.
The added challenge for this free printable escape room for kids is that the puzzles provide only part of the challenge. Figuring out where to look and then actually finding each clue, adds another level to the game.
Free Printable Escape Room for Kids Answers
Below are the answers for each of the puzzles above.
#1 The Welcome Letter – Answer
There are five letters on the page that stand out and are a different font. Looking closely at the letters, and putting them together they spell out SHOES. This will tell players to check the shoes.
#2 The Puzzle Clue – Answer
Players will put the puzzle together to solve this clue. Once together, reading all of the words will not make any sense. However, the Cross Out sheet that is included lists several words for players to cross out.
Once these words are eliminated, players are left with Look Under Your Pillows.
Technically players do not need to properly put the puzzle together to solve this clue. They could simply take out the puzzle pieces with the words they they need to cross out. They will be left with four puzzle pieces. The four words would be out of order, but players may be able to put them together and figure it out.
That’s okay! Escape rooms don’t need to be perfect. If players figure out that they can save some time and solve this clue differently, that’s a great strategy and will not wreck the game.
#3 The Circle Code Clue – Answer
The circle clue requires all four pieces in order to solve. Players start by matching the letter C on the circle with the letters to the identical key on the wheel with pictures.
This tells players which letter matches with which picture.
Next, players look at each picture from the rectangular page. Match each picture to the letter on the wheel with the letters.
Once all of the letters and pictures are matched, the clue spells out Check in Your Coat.
#4 Printable Escape Room – The Coat Puzzle
This clue is similar to the last in terms of having to match pictures to letters of the alphabet. There are several picture in the bottom that do not have the connected letter of the alphabet listed.
Players look at each picture and print the letter of the alphabet that it matches. For example, the heart is the letter h. Once each of these pictures have been matched the clue tells players to Look Under Five Chairs.
#5 Five Chairs Puzzle – Answers
This clue includes five pieces. All five need to be found in order to solve the puzzle. The four cut out shapes with the arrows need to be placed on the matching shape on the other page.
Once matched the arrows point to specific letters outside of the shape. Reading each of the words that each shape spells out tells players to Look Under the Couch.
#6 The Final Spot and Escape Room Certificate
Once players look under the couch, players will find their final escape room completion certificate!
They have successfully solved all of the puzzles and “escaped” the game!
I hope that if you try out this free printable escape room for kids that your players love it! This escape room is an easy way to turn an ordinary day into a memorable adventure!
Subscribe for Free Printable Escape Room Game
There is no cost to download this escape room. I am offering it for FREE. If your players enjoy the game come back and visit my shop for more printable escape rooms that all follow the same format as this escape room, but with all new puzzles and fun!
You can download this escape room today by subscribing, for free to Hands-On Teaching Ideas. By subscribing you will gain access to my Free Resource Library, filled with these free escape room puzzles and other resources – including more escape room puzzles and certificates!
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Add something else to your printable escape room game for players, for free, with this printable escape room lock box. It’s a mini box, it’s super adorable and a great place to place the final completion certificate for kids to hang onto it all as a keepsake. The lock box is also available in the Resource Library, more information below.
Printable Escape Room Activities
Printable escape rooms are a fast and easy way to do an escape room at home. Use materials you already have on hand to create your escape game experience. Below are a few more printable escape room activities that are print and go! With all new puzzles.
Try one to add to a birthday party, other celebration or simply turn an ordinary day into something memorable!
More Escape Room Activities
If you enjoy the printable escape room, you will also enjoy this collection of other escape room activities for kids. From a collection of over 40 escape room printables and escape room planning templates to DIY escape rooms with hands-on materials, you will find lots of escape games to try with your family and children.
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