Escape rooms based on creative puzzles and logical tasks initially became popular mainly among groups of adults and young adults looking for a challenge. As the demand grew, more and more courses appeared based around thematic, popular literary or film worlds (e.g.: Star Wars, Harry Potter, CSI) or historical era/person (e.g.: Jack the Ripper, World War II) . They brought the experience of escape rooms to lovers of current topics.
With the rapid expansion of the interested public, families who want to have fun and relax came into the picture, including, of course, children. In this article, we will review the benefits of an early escape room experience in a child's development, based on experience and teacher opinions.
"Inquiry" tasks build on children's curiosity and desire to explore. Crumbs and objects of useful information that advance the game can be found during the inspection of the room's furnishings. Discovering one such letter or key gives the child a sense of achievement, so he feels that he is also a part of solving the puzzle, it involves him and makes the game enjoyable.
In the rooms, players can encounter a wide variety of not-at-all-ordinary padlocks and locks (e.g. key, letter, number, disc and directional locks). The varied forms of movement required to open them contribute to the child's fine motor development, develop manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
The tasks, help and processes themselves - which, for example, provide the code that opens the locks or lead to a partial solution - can also be of many kinds. The perfectly worded, enigmatic rhymes and riddles start creative thinking, the association flows and, last but not least, expand the vocabulary of young people and improve text comprehension in older children. Logical tasks initiate problem-solving and consistent thinking and develop mathematical skills.
In addition to all of this, of course, solving even one partial task means a huge feeling of success, not to mention the successful escape. Such experiences can contribute to the character development of young people, as well as to the development and deepening of a positive self-image and healthy self-esteem.
The process of the escape room requires the family to work together as a team, helping each other, and leaves it to the discretion of the parent - or an adult chaperone - how much space to allow the children to develop. Thus, with the right attitude, the establishment of a kind of family hierarchy and the deepening of trust towards the parent is facilitated by the adventurous, playful competition that takes place in the controlled, safe environment provided by the room, but pushes the boundaries of the comfort zone.