One of the coolest activities kids can do is solve an escape room puzzle!
In fact, escape rooms are PERFECT for a birthday party to invite all their friends to. Or you can treat your kiddos to a surprise weekend activity they weren’t expecting and make new memories they’ll never forget!
At The Secret Chambers, kids will love solving all the mysteries of sci-fi Area 51 Adventure, or the third chapter of The Pirate Adventure! Not only are escape rooms fun, but they also spark the imagination, promote critical thinking, and develop problem solving skills.
But how do you plan for a successful escape room experience when you have young, energetic kiddos?
Let’s break down 5 tips for a great time with the kids!
1.) Choose an Age-Appropriate Escape Room Based on Their Interests
To start, make sure that you choose an escape room that’s age appropriate. Most of The Secret Chambers’ escape rooms are appropriate for kids under 10 (with the exception of our award-winning Poe Adventure! For ages 10+).
Our Escape Rooms
Your child, grandchild, or little cousin is sure to love the:
- Witch’s Tower Adventure (Challenge Rating: **)
- Pirate Adventure: Chapter III (Challenge Rating: ***)
- Train Heist Adventure (Challenge Rating: ***)
- Area 51 Adventure (Challenge Rating: ****)
- Mafia Adventure (Challenge Rating: ****) (hardest one)
Also, consider choosing an escape room based off their interests. For example, if your child loves cowboys, then the Train Heist Adventure is a no-brainer!
The Pirate Adventure is one of our easiest escape rooms, making this one a great introduction to escape rooms! Bonus points if dressing up and talking like pirates is something your kids love to do!
2.) When Inside the Escape Room, Allow Them to Explore!
Escape rooms are an immersive experience. Kids will be delighted with the highly detailed environment, lighting, voice acting, and problem solving of an escape room adventure. From being able to touch objects and solve puzzles, to listening for cues, kids will LOVE exploring.
So, allow them to follow their natural curiosity and explore – no roughhousing allowed though!
If they get overwhelmed and don’t know what to do, have them help you look for clues.
3.) Ask For Plenty of Hints to Problem Solve & Progress
Just before beginning your escape room adventure, you will be greeted by a Game Master, who will be your go-to person to ask questions to.
It’s important to ask for hints throughout the experience. This is to reduce time being frustrated at not finding any clues and being able to use new information to proceed to the next step in the puzzle.
If you have younger kids with you, we encourage you to ask for more clues from the Game Master so that kids can learn to apply the clue and think of a way to solve the puzzle. Note that our Game Master won’t give you the actual answer – they’ll simply just give you a hint in the right direction so that you don’t feel too stuck.
4.) Help Our Your Child(ren) Whenever Needed
Some parts of the escape room will likely become more challenging, especially for younger participants.
In cases like these, be sure to help your child with piecing together clues and solving the puzzles. This helps them to still feel included and like they’re part of the problem-solving process.
Also, if they don’t understand something, taking the time to explain it to them will help them get even more out of the experience.
5.) Focus on Having Fun & Keeping a Positive Attitude!
This is the most important tip of them all!
Escape rooms are super fun. However, the most important aspect of an escape room adventure, regardless of whether you break out or not, is just enjoying the process itself.
If you and your kids had a great time, that’s what The Secret Chambers team cares about the most! Encourage and praise your kids for the hard work they put into solving the puzzles. Stay positive no matter the result!
About The Secret Chambers
Be sure to take a look at our escape room adventures today! We have two locations in Arlington and Fort Worth/Dallas, with six escape rooms, all themed to take you back to an earlier time period in history. Additionally, we also have a couple rage rooms (at each location), plus the Quarter Lounge Arcade, and the newer Viking Axe Throwing attraction.
Ready to make your child’s birthday party super awesome? The Secret Chambers is looking forward to seeing you and making your escape room experience a FUN one they’ll never forget! Book here.
Further Reading: Breakdown of Each Escape Room by Difficulty
