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Someone has stolen all of the presents from Santa’s sack! We need your help to get them back and save Christmas. Add some different excitement to your holiday celebrations with this Christmas Escape Room printable game. Whether you’re planning a family game night, party or classroom activity, this escape room is the perfect choice.
Escape room games are very popular right now, but it can sometimes be challenging to find one that is a good fit for children. This escape room is ideal for younger children and offers puzzles of varying difficulty, so they’re perfect for families.
The escape room is easy to set up. Simply print all of the pages and cut a few of them to prepare. Set them out on a table and you’re ready to play!
Escape rooms are ideal for encouraging problem solving, team work and critical thinking skills. Encourage these skills throughout the excitement of the season with this Christmas themed activity. A code to save 50% on this resource, for a limited time, is available at the bottom of this post!
If you like this printable escape room, you’ll love the DIY Christmas Escape Room with hands-on puzzles and printables. Or get ready for New Years Eve with a Free Printable New Years Escape Room Game. Race around the house and solve the clues before midnight!
Christmas Escape Room Printable Set Up
Follow the printing instructions in the resource. The pages are best printed in color, but can be printed in black and white. If you have cardstock to print the puzzles on, that is also best.
The whole game needs to be printed double sided. The PDF is set up so that you can print the whole document quickly and easily. Make sure to follow the printing instruction in the resource. You will end up with ten pages to be folded with Christmas images on the front and a puzzle or note inside. There will also be a welcome letter.
Preparing the Clues
The first three clues just need to be printed and folded. They are all set out on the table together.
The fourth clue, the puzzle pieces, need to be cut up and put inside a small sealable baggie or container. There is one extra puzzle piece – the star, that also needs to be placed with the pieces.
The fifth clue also needs to be cut out. To prepare the clue, cut out the dotted line around the circle with the letters. Fold and attach the wheel inside the folded page with the star on the front.
The sixth clue has one small square to be cut out and included/attached with the clue.
You can set the game up virtually anywhere. The game can be played at any table or flat surface. It is best to provide playing something to write (pencil, markers) with and paper for players to work out puzzles.
You can set a timer and give players one hour to solve all of the clues and ‘escape’. However, if you have younger children playing or kids who are new to escape rooms, you can give them as much time as they need.
Setting up the room with Christmas decorations always adds to the excitement and engagement of the room.
All of the ten folded pages are set on the table in the room. You can use a sticker or fancy tape to seal the pages, but it is not required in order to play. Alternatively, you can put each of the puzzles inside a Christmas gift box for players to open.
Christmas Escape Room Clue #1
Players begin the game by noticing the folded pages with an image on each, as well as a festive welcome letter. Upon reading the letter, players discover that someone has stolen all of the presents from Santa’s sack. All of the puzzles need to be solved to find the presents and save Christmas.
As players look closely at the welcome letter, they notice that there are a few letters, and words, that are bolded and stand out from the rest of the letter.
When these letters/words are printed together, they spell out: FIRST PICTURE IS THE WREATH
Players quickly open the folded page with the image of the wreath on the front. If players open one of the wrong envelopes, you can either interrupt the game and tell them to try again or if they open one of the envelopes without a clue (the gingerbread man, bell, tree and snowman) then they will be told that they choose the wrong card.
Christmas Escape Room Clue #2
Players open the second clue to discover a word search! Players search for each of the words listed at the bottom of the page. Once found, they highlight them. There are a few words left over that are not highlighted. The instructions tell players to shade all of these unused words.
Once these words are shaded a shape becomes clear. It is a simple image of a mug. There is also the image of the snowflake behind the letters – just like the snowflake on the mug on the folded sheet of paper.
The image can be tricky to see, however, if players remember that they are looking for an image for the next clue/folded paper, then the mug is clear. This is also part of the challenge of an escape room. Puzzles and clues require extra problem solving and thinking outside of the box.
Printable Family Game Puzzle #3
The third puzzle is a maze. Players race from the start, to the finish, keeping track of each of the letters they go through as they move through the maze.
Once the maze is complete, players read the letters to spell out: PEPPERMINT STICKS.
The folded page with peppermint sticks on the front is the next clue!
Christmas Escape Room Game Clue #4
The fourth puzzle includes a bunch of cut up puzzle pieces and a message that the final piece tells the next clue image.
Players quickly start to put the pieces together to create a picture. Once all of the pieces are put together players will have a snowy Peppermint Village picture. More importantly, they will also have a leftover star image. This leftover piece tells players which image to look for next – the star.
Holiday Game Clue #5
Upon opening the fifth clue, players will find a wheel with letters and lots of Christmas images. At first the two items do not seem connected or that it will lead to another clue, but upon closer inspection, players notice the letter S on the present.
The letter and the present are also found on the circle!
The circle holds a code for the next clue! There are eight pictures along the bottom of the folded page. Each picture can be found on the circle and each picture is matched with a letter.
Once each picture and letter are found, the clue leads players to the STOCKING.
Printable Puzzle #6
The sixth clue with the stocking on the front, includes a small square with four colors and several letters. Players find this square along with a picture with several similar squares on it.
The stocking in each image is placed strategically. The instructions tell players to rotate the square to match the color and the letter that lines up with the stocking is important.
As the square is placed on each square on the page, the following letters match up: CANDY CANE.
Christmas Escape Room Printable #7
Escape Room Completion Certificate
The candy cane page opens and players discover that they have solved all of the puzzles and saved Christmas! Way to go!
You can add some candy canes around the room for this page. As an extension idea, you can also write out some location names for where a bunch of candy canes are hidden in your house to keep the game going!
Once players have solved all of the puzzles and opened the candy cane page, you can give each of them a completion certificate. One page is included in the resource, but you can print as many copies of the page that you need/want.
Each child can get one with their name on it and how long it took to solve the puzzles. This certificate is a great keepsake for children. If you do the escape room at school or with friends, it is also a great way for kids to show and tell a little bit about their game.
Escape Room Product
All of the puzzles, as well as full printable set up instructions and the solutions are included in this printable product. Click the image below for more information or to purchase.
*Save 50% off this Christmas Escape Room Printable until January 1st 2025 by using code CHRISTMAS50.*
You can purchase, print and set up quickly and easily. It’s a great tabletop activity to try at the kids table, the classroom or as a fun Christmas themed family games night activity.
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