You may not think it initially, but you can learn a lot when playing in an escape room. That might be a weird statement considering how fun and exciting many escape rooms are, but the truth is that you can pick up a lot of skills that can make you better academically and in broader life.
If you’re a teacher or parent who wants to find a unique and exciting way to teach good skills and values to your children or class, organising school trips to an escape room can be a great idea. Doing so will come with many benefits that will help a student of any age develop.
Why are escape rooms good for students?
Escape rooms are brilliant for any member of society, but they’re specifically great for those still in education. Whether you’re a primary school student or studying in higher education, escape rooms are an appropriate and engaging activity to try.
Of course, many escape rooms will have different themes and skill levels associated with their challenges. This means that as long as you choose to play something suitable to the age level of your students, then escape rooms make a great pastime. Matching the level with your age group ensures it’s at the right challenge level and will keep everyone engaged and active.
When playing in an escape room, students can develop various skills and characteristics to help them become better people. It’s these reasons why students are one of the most common types of players in escape rooms.
What can you learn in an escape room?
Escape rooms are an excellent way for students to learn hard and soft skills that can help them academically and in general life. Often these skills take more work to teach and develop in the classroom. However, when taught through the medium of an escape room, you’ll find that many students are much more engaged and will begin to unlock new skills that can help them in the future.
Escape rooms can help students learn things like:
Problem-solving skills
Escape rooms are filled with problems and challenges that a group needs to solve together. Faced with these situations, students will need to call upon their problem-solving skills, using them to help them make decisions under pressure while also thinking creatively to work out solutions.
The problems within escape rooms are often not obvious to work out, which means that students will have to learn to think out of the box and try multiple potential solutions to find an outcome. This skill is brilliant for their future prospects and is often something most employers seek.
Communication
It’s much harder to complete an escape room alone, especially when tackling the problem in a group. Communication and teamwork are vital for passing an escape room, and the experience of playing one will help students learn how to communicate better with each other.
In an escape room, you need to not only be able to learn how to share your thoughts and deliver information, but it’s also essential to understand when to listen, an often underrated aspect of communication.
Crisis-management
Thanks to being against the clock, time pressure builds during the escape room as you get closer to the end. This time limit can cause panic in a group, leading to rash decisions and chaos. That said, exposing students to situations that require snap decisions under pressure will make them better at dealing with crises in their future work life.
Learning how to stay calm and measured in these situations is a fantastic skill to have and is something that escape rooms can teach.
Personality Traits
As well as specific skills, escape rooms can help students develop their personality traits and make them more rounded individuals. For example, escape rooms can help improve the following:
Confidence
Being in a large group in an escape room and communicating in that group will help students develop confidence. This can be from sharing ideas and opinions, as many students will develop the confidence to speak up and give their own thoughts to help overcome tasks. In addition, confidence can also be built through succeeding in the escape room and excelling at a specific puzzle.
For example, a student who can figure out a tricky part of the escape room will feel more valued, helping them improve their confidence. Plus, beating an escape room as a team will ensure that everyone involved will feel accomplished and capable, allowing them to improve their confidence.
Patience
A successful escape room player is patient and well-measured and will take the time to think about a solution before rushing to conclusions. Playing an escape room will help students develop patience as a personality trait, as they learn that it’s crucial when problem-solving. Developing the patience to listen to others, think about strategies, and more is invaluable and a great personality trait for students.
Calmness
Like patience, escape rooms will help students learn to remain calm under pressure. It may not be immediate, as students, particularly young ones, can get overexcited by the challenge and the prospect of an escape room. Still, after some time and experience, they’ll learn the benefit of staying calm and will be able to translate this personality type into other aspects of their life.
Conclusion
Escape rooms are a great activity for students. Not only are they fun and can add excitement to a student’s day, but they’re also a great way to teach skills, develop desirable personality traits, and improve their prospects and academic ability.
By overcoming problems and working together as a team, students can learn many excellent skills that make them more desirable for employers, and often, it’s easier to teach these skills in a fun, exciting environment like escape rooms than in a classroom.
If you’re a teacher or parent and what your students to enjoy the benefits of escape rooms, organise an outing and get a group together to give your students and unique way to learn that will stick with them forever.