Breakout EDU Puzzles, Locks, and Boxes for Littles!
Author: Christine Danhoff | Technology Integration Specialist at Genoa Area Local Schools
Our littlest learners have so much potential when we give them opportunities to shine. In working with educators from all across the world, I always promote all of the amazing things our littles can do, and yes, that includes Breakout EDU! Educators, and especially early elementary educators, are always looking for ways to keep students on task, engaged, and excited about learning. Breakout EDU has it all! From curriculum-aligned games, digital or kit options, mini-games, Lock of the Day, and so much more, your students will be begging and asking you to play again. What I love about Breakout EDU is the excitement in the students’ actions and voices when I walk down the hall or into a classroom with Breakout boxes. They all are intrigued by what is in the box, where the key is, and what their mission is, no matter if I’m in a preschool, kindergarten, first, or second-grade classroom. In order to make this experience one that they’ll want to try again, no matter if they breakout or not, here are some tips to get started with digital and kit games for our youngest learners, Pre-K - 2.
Introduce Breakout EDU to your students as a class.
If you choose to do a digital or kit game, put together one box or project the game on your TV or interactive board, and work through the clues and puzzles together as a class. Once they have solved a puzzle, see if they can identify what lock they should try. This is a great time to model teamwork, taking turns, listening to each other’s ideas, and never giving up. Once they realize that each lock has a puzzle or clue they need to solve, they’ll be ready to go on their own. If you feel your students are beyond this, I have also found that putting students into small groups and having their group be in charge of solving a particular puzzle or clue works very well too, especially with a class digital game. After they have figured out their clue, we meet on the carpet to plug in our lock answers. This is another great way to demonstrate teamwork, as each group is responsible for helping the class breakout.
Increase the number of boxes or small groups as time progresses.
If I start with one class box in the fall, by December, I have two or more boxes for students to play for a class of about twenty students. When students have really boosted their teamwork and collaboration skills, I have small groups of three to four students working on one box or digital game at a time. This allows students to brainstorm ideas and solutions to the puzzles, and really race against the clock.
Model, model, model, without giving answers.
Our littlest learners need us to model routines repeatedly. This will help your game time run more smoothly but beware of your students asking you for the answers. The purpose of the Breakout game is for students to think outside of the box, critically analyze the puzzles, and come up with ideas and solutions without their teacher instructing them where to look or what to read. I sometimes struggle with this myself, as being a former kindergarten teacher I always want to help my students, but giving them the answer or hints isn’t modeling for them “how” to think on their own. Step back, give them encouragement, let them know they have the resources in front of them, in their brains, and together as a team, they can come up with some ideas.
Debrief and reflect when the game ends.
When time runs out, did they break out? Even if students were successful in breaking out, debriefing and reflecting on the process is vital for the next time you play with your students. I was in a first-grade classroom not that long ago, when none of the student groups broke out when time ran out. Of course, some were upset, sad, or uncertain about what they would do next, but we all met together as a class on the carpet and talked about what happened. Where could we improve? What was difficult? What was easy? What can we try the next time we play? This really helped them see that we weren’t giving up, but would try again on the next game. I love that Breakout EDU has reflection cards that are perfect for this debrief time as well as extension ideas if your students were Lock Stars and broke out!
Keep going!
Just as we teach our students to fail forward, learn grit, and keep moving ahead, we must do the same. I’ve created and implemented many different Breakout games through the years, and one thing I have learned is that the students always surprise me. The out of the box thinking is a strength for some of our students that really struggle with other subjects, or our students that seem to do well in subjects may struggle with the teamwork part of the game, but no matter what, Breakout EDU provides them all an opportunity to learn and shine! Don’t wait! Check out and play some of the digital and kit games from Breakout EDU with your littles.
