BreakoutEDU 411

What is BreakoutEDU? 

Simply put, participants solve a series of problems in order to unlock the main Breakout box. Clues are content related and typically involve a mixture of physical and digital tasks. Breakout can be content specific, team building, or even professional development.

What do I need?

Breakout instructions - many made by classroom educators - will take no more than what is in the breakout kit (minus some office supplies). I was able to put together  my own for $60 (which involved me getting 3 extra locks because I did locks that came as pairs. That way it was less per lock and I could add in more puzzles if I wanted) using Walmart roll-back plastic toolboxes and locks and finished up the kit with locks from Amazon. Or you can order a kit from www.breakoutedu.com. Some people are able to get their kits paid for by Donors Choose grants. Just use Amazon and you can get 2-3 kits. Crowd-source it with a team of teachers and there should be enough for the smaller group Breakouts. Kit includes:

• USB drive
• 4-digit lock
• 3-digit lock box (I made mine with a smaller plastic toolbox and a small 3-digit lock)
• large Breakout box (some games require the little box to be in the big one, so I would 
• directional lock
• word lock - 5 letters
  
• key lock
• hasp 
• invisible ink pen
• UV flashlight (I bought the pens with the UV light on the cap. Many breakouts involve separating batteries from flashlight. I just take out the bulb and battery combo)
• some games will ask for little things like paperclips or whatnot, but it shouldn't require additional items that wouldn't be commonly found in a school. In fact, there are a lot of cool ciphers and puzzle ideas on the Facebook group and Pintrest. 

How do I start?

Sign in to breakoutedu.com - MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE PAGE AFTER YOU SUBMIT YOUR INFO! THE PASSWORD IS IN THE INSTRUCTIONS! 

Get a sense of how a breakout works by trying it out with loved ones. I knew I wanted to create a dystopia Breakout so I picked Dr. Johnson's breakout as a trial run. I hid the zombie virus anecdote in my large breakout box - it was for my hubby so I made sure it was a proper payment for giving up his time to do this  ;) - set up the game in the playroom, and watched him go to work. He had to do all the steps to get into the large box while also avoiding the red herrings out into the game (and a sneaky wife who hid things under the blinds). 

Make sure you sign up to the Facebook group! People will show off neat ideas and share tips.

Can I make my own?

That's what I did! I started with what I wanted my students to cover content-wise and then I looked for opportunities for the texts/visuals/concepts to fit one of the types of keys. From there, I created clues. For example, I knew I wanted the students to look at the etymology of utopia and dystopia. When I was on etymonline.com, I noticed it mentions who coined the terms. I decided to play on the homonym of "coin" and created a coin to put in the box that would lead participants to a letter lock clue. 

If making your own sounds daunting - I saved time by adapting parts of a webquest I've used in the past - you can instead add to an existing BreakoutEDU. Add in a couple more puzzles to get to existing clues or add more puzzles with new locks. 

Breakout in lower elementary:

Breakout in upper elementary: 

Breakout in middle school (this is created by 7th graders for 8th graders!):

Breakout in high school: