One of my favorite activities that I like to have for my kids is the break out boxes. If you have never heard of break out boxes, they are the same concept as a break out room- all the rage- but instead of solving puzzles to break out of a room, you solve puzzles to break into a box. These types of activities are excellent for kids: they involve teamwork, inquiry, collaboration and can be built around themes and content areas. break-out
Break out-EDU is a great platform to get these activities….but it requires a subscription. I’m cheap. Well…maybe not cheap but definitely frugal. So much so that why would I pay for something that I can make myself. I have decided that I am not the only frugal educator out there, so I am going to post all the break out activities I have made….for free. Now, you get what you pay for, but these are definitely a starting point.
The CSI break out is the first one I created, and it is very basic. I designed it for 2-5th grade students, but be forwarned- it is a murder investigation. Nothing gory, nothing violent. A man is found deceased outside on the ground. He s not been shot, or bludgeoned, or anything else violent. The activity includes the police report, detectives interviews, a newspaper article, fingerprints, and a map.
I have included all the materials you need for the files and the boxes and links to materials you may not have- lock hasps, and UV pen lights. I will note that in the directions for set up, I just included the basic set up of the materials. To increase the complexity of the game, you could highlight additional words or phrases as red herrings. For the four digit lock you could highlight four separate numerals through out the documents that would have to be configured to get the correct combination. I would not do separate numerals for both the three digit and the four digit though- how do you know which numerals correspond to which locks.
As time permits, I have several other break out box activities that I will add under resources including a corn maze activity and a mine craft activity.
Enjoy!
