This fun and flexible tool is sure to be a mainstay in your lesson plans.
Virtual escape rooms are engaging and educational!
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
The Benefits of Virtual Escape Rooms
Do you need some convincing before you assign a virtual escape room for schoolwork?
The educational benefits of virtual escape rooms are many.
Requires Student Engagement
Virtual escape rooms are interactive.
The student must think and make choices in order to progress through the game.
Forget zoning out!
Digital escape rooms require students to engage with the content.
Makes Tough Topics Less Intimidating
Some students shiver at the thought of math practice or feel anxious about parts of speech.
This fear dissolves when you assign a virtual escape room.
Students worry less about the concept because the game itself makes it more approachable.
Provides a Fun Way to Review
Quoting the inimitable Mary Poppins, “In every task that must be done, there is an element of fun.
You find the fun and *snap* the job’s a game.”
Educational virtual escape rooms find the fun in learning.
You aren’t just adding decimals, you’re searching for a secret word.
You aren’t simply identifying the parts of speech, you are composing a spooky tale in a series of 20 locked rooms.
Virtual escape rooms are loads better than a worksheet.
Requires Zero Prep
No advance planning + No photocopying = No prep at all!
Virtual escape rooms are self-checking and can even be assigned on a whim.
Fills Time When Needed
Sometimes a lesson takes less time than you think, or a student finishes an assignment early.
This is the perfect time to assign a quiet, self-paced digital escape room.
It’s a time filler and a fun review.
Free Virtual Escape Rooms That Help Kids Learn
Not all virtual escape rooms are created equal.
The ones on this list score big because they are a) educational and b) free!
Check out this list of free virtual escape rooms.
- Regrouping Race (addition with regrouping)
- Stormy Night Parts of Speech
- Decimals Multiplication
- Decimals Addition and Subtraction
- Decimals Place Value
- Greater Gator (greater than, less than, and equal to)
- Place Value (ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands)
- Winter Word Problems
- Thanksgiving (logic, counting, and adding)
- Halloween (logic, addition, and counting)
- Save Sports (multiplication, addition, and subtraction)
- Brain Teasers
We’re always adding to the free educational virtual escape rooms list, so keep coming back!
How to Use Virtual Escape Rooms
Virtual escape rooms work in any educational environment: distance learning, virtual teaching, classrooms, and homeschool.
Here are some ideas of how to use them:
Brain Break
A virtual escape room on a phone, tablet, or computer is a welcome change of pace from the day.
It can serve as a brain break for your students (even though they are still using their brains–ssh!).
Virtual Learning Center
A free virtual escape room is a perfect activity to stock in your digital learning center.
Students can complete them individually or with a small group.
Warm-Up Tasks
Do you need a lesson lead-in?
Try warming up with a virtual escape room.
You can work on it cooperatively.
Closure Tasks
A virtual escape room sums up a concept or ends a lesson with a fun review game.
Some digital escape rooms are longer than others; the short ones work best for this purpose.
Review
When should you review?
All year long!
A virtual escape room (especially a math one) is a worthwhile review.
The Value of Virtual Escape Rooms
Virtual escape rooms are a must when teaching because they appeal to both teachers and students.
Teachers and parents love that they are no prep, hold educational value, and are 100% free.
Students love the crack-the-code-style game element.
Are you using virtual escape rooms in your lessons?
If not, start now!
It’s as easy as point and click.