Are you looking to add some excitement to the first day of school? Look no further than the Back to School Escape Room for 1st or 2nd grade! This fun and engaging activity will help your students break the ice, build teamwork, problem-solve, and promote critical thinking skills.
The objective of the game is to solve the mystery of the First Day Freak-out by helping Student Suzie find her missing school supplies. Students will work in small groups and use their detective skills to solve clues and discover who has taken the missing supplies.
Each clue leads to a new challenge that requires students to use different language skills to eliminate suspects. Before you begin, each student will need a packet! The first page will introduce the mystery, the second page will be used to keep track of the suspects, the third and fourth pages are the “detective notes”. I recommend having all four pages stapled and ready to go.
Next, you’ll introduce the mystery: Help! Tomorrow is the first day of school and Student Suzie can’t find any of her supplies. Will you solve the clues to figure out who took all of Student Suzie’s school supplies?
You’ll want to have the clues printed and ready to go!
I recommend students work in small groups of 3-5. The clues do NOT have to be completed in order. I like to make 2-3 sets depending on how many students I have and just switch clues out between groups as they finish.
Clue #1 focuses on short vowel sounds. Students must sort words into the correct suspect, with the one who has the most words being eliminated as the culprit.
Clue #2 involves an ABC order secret puzzle where students must work together to solve the puzzle and eliminate another suspect.
Clue #3 requires students to read a mini-book about school supplies while listening to each suspect’s statement. Whoever says something false is eliminated.Finally, Clue #4 focuses on short A rhyming words, where students must once again sort words into the correct suspect. Whoever has the most words is cleared of the accusations.
Once the mystery is solved, your students can celebrate their success by making a school supplies snack!
The snack is SO EASY and fun! Each student will need a wafer cookie, a few mini chocolate chips, some pink icing, and a little white icing. I always give my kids popsicle sticks to use as the knife! 🙂
This Back to School Escape Room is the perfect way to kick off the school year.
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