Using a Breakout Box or Escape Room puzzles in my high school Spanish classes the past few years has been, by far, my students’ favorite part of the year.  And to be completely honest, it has been mine, too!  While it took my colleagues and I many hours of prep time, creating escape room puzzles was worth it!  If you and your students are up for a challenge, this is the way to go! They will be thoroughly engaged, use critical thinking skills, collaborate, and stay in the target language.

What do I need to Create Escape Room Puzzles?

The Supplies

Breakout EDU

Breakout EDU has all of the supplies you need in one kit! You can purchase complete Escape Room kits for your classroom or school.  The kit comes with boxes, locks, interchangeable combos, invisible ink pen, UV flashlight, and access to the platform filled with game ideas.  This is what we use, and they work perfectly!

I applied for a grant for the Spanish department at my school to purchase a Breakout Edu kit and we were awarded the money! It was a great addition to our department’s resources. If you have the money in your budget, this is one of the items I recommend, along with these other long-term classroom resources.

The Breakout EDU website also has a library filled with pre-made escape room puzzles. I haven’t used any of the World Language breakout games on this website.  My colleagues and I created our own puzzles about La Guerra Sucia and Artistas Hispanos. And from there, I was hooked on Escape Rooms! I’ve built over 20 of my own. You can view all of them here on my TpT store. 

Create Your Own Box

If you don’t have the funds to purchase entire kits from Breakout Edu, you could always get creative and design your own boxes.  Purchase supplies from your local home improvement store or even Amazon to assemble your own boxes. Here are some of my recommendations:

• Toolbox, hasp, and locks with keys as the main elements
• 3-digit number locks
• 4-digit number locks
• Letter locks
• Directional locks

Digital Escape Rooms Puzzles

Creating your own boxes can still add up to a lot of money.  Maybe you want to go the electronic way and design puzzles, but rather than have the tangible box, you could use Google Forms.  Create the Forms sheet with the correct answers being your clues (that gives you more leeway with types of answers, too!).  Each group of students should have an electronic device to plug in their answers.  The answer must be 100% accurate to win! Students will still have tons of fun!

How Do I Design Escape Room Puzzles?

Designing your own Breakout Box takes time, effort, and a lot of brain power.  If you plan to make your own, make sure that you have enough planning time! Here are my suggestions for designing your own escape room puzzles:

• Step 1 is to create a story or situation for your students.  For example, in my Spanish 3 class, we study La Guerra Sucia during a Public/Private Identity Unit.  We designed a Breakout Box around the idea that students are the son/daughter of a desaparecido.  They must follow the clues to discover who their real parents and grandparents are.  You want your students to feel that they have an urgency to solving the puzzle and escaping! 
• Then, step 2 is create the clues!  One of the trickiest parts about designing the clues is making sure the answers will align with the types of locks you have.  In my classroom set, we have 4 locks total, 2 of which must be 3 or 4 digit number answers.  In a language class, we usually shy away from using numbers, so we had to get creative in our clues and answers.

Types of Escape Room Puzzles

• Facts and Data: Provide students with a brochure, posters, website, etc. that shows facts, data, numbers, etc.  Then form your question around the info they see.
• Word Games: Crossword puzzles, Scrabble boards, cryptic codes, etc. are all perfect for designing clues.  The answers could be letters or numbers if you get creative. 
• Puzzles: Cut up a piece of art or a poster.  Students must re-assemble it.  Maybe there is a riddle that accompanies it; maybe they need to find something in the puzzle?
• Grammar: You could devote one puzzle to grammar review.  Provide students with a text excerpt, letter, email, ransom note, etc.  They could search for mistakes or count agreement – the answer could be numbers or letters.
• Images: Provide students with a variety of images, paintings, drawings, etc. and possibly a riddle.  Maybe they have to count how many people, suns, homes, etc.  Maybe they need to find the similarity between all of the images.
• Maps: Give students an itinerary to follow.  Or, they could look at a train schedule and the times associated with the map.  They could also find the distance between two locations.
• Turn Worksheets into Puzzles: Change traditional multiple choice answers ABCD to numbers that students will total or to letters that spell out a word. Change traditional matching to letters that spell out a question/phrase when put in the correct order.

The possibilities are endless!

Some key things to remember as you design or implement a Breakout Box or Escape Room Puzzles:

• A lack of instructions is okay!  Escape rooms never give you instructions.  You must find out where to start and what to do with the objects, riddles, images, etc. that are in front of you!
• Celebrate their victories!  Purchase my Spanish Breakout Box signs for students to take pictures with after they breakout. Just like at a normal Escape Room, students will pose with the appropriate signs based on victory or loss.
• Give your students hints.  You can limit the amount of hints you will give, so it encourages them to use them wisely! I always said the group that finishes first gets 5 extra credit points, but every hint you use reduces the potential points by one!

Where Can I Purchase Pre-Made Spanish Escape Rooms?

If you are looking to start with an Escape Room, but don’t have the time to make your own right now, check out my escape rooms! Each comes with different styles of puzzles and you can get English or Spanish versions of most of them. NO TWO of my escape room puzzles are alike!! Your students will always experience a true challenge! Click the images below to see the bundles and the individual escape rooms within each bundle.

Novice Level Spanish Escape Rooms

• La Comida Escape Room
• La Escuela Escape Room
• La Casa Escape Room
• Los Países Hispanohablantes Escape Room
• El Aeropuerto Escape Room
• La Ropa Escape Room
• Novice Escape Room BUNDLE

Intermediate Level Spanish Escape Rooms

• 7 Wonders of the Hispanic World – Spanish, English, Bundle
• Inca Empire – Spanish, English, Bundle
• Hispanic Artists (Kahlo, Botero, Dali, Rivera, Picasso) – Spanish, English, Bundle
• El fútbol – Spanish
• El medioambiente – Spanish
• El pasado (preterit vs imperfect) – Spanish
• Intermediate Escape Room BUNDLE

Holiday Themed Spanish Escape Rooms

• Carnaval de Barranquilla
• Navidad en México
• La quinceañera
• La Herencia Hispana – Spanish, English, Bundle
• Día de muertos
• La Tomatina
• Holiday Escape Room BUNDLE

Have you used Breakout Boxes or Escape Room Puzzles in your class?  What works well for your students?