Aarin Hawblitzel and Caleb Glenn solved WCPL’S first escape room for elementary schoolchildren.

Guest Author

Katie Warrener, Children’s Services Department

WARSAW — You are a team of archaeologists who uncover a bone at the site of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb. As you lift the bone off the ground, the chamber door begins to creak and then slams shut. It’s a trap.

A shadow blocks the light from the ceiling and projects the number 30 on the wall. You have only 30 minutes to solve the mysteries of this ancient tomb and escape the room.

Take the spirit of a cooperative board game, add a dash of Indiana Jones-style adventure, and you have the latest escape room at the Warsaw Community Public Library. This particular game is built for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, and we are excited to organize more.

Escape rooms are immersive games that challenge a group of players to explore their physical environment and solve a series of puzzles or riddles in a certain amount of time. They have become popular as an outing for families or friends, a team building exercise for organizations, and now as a fun—and free—program at the public library.

Why are escape rooms great fun for elementary schoolchildren? Kids enjoy the tactile experience of moving around the room and interacting with objects, as well as the sensation of being the hero of a story: the genius detective or the super spy.

Escape rooms set up a playful environment that rewards children for flexing skills like math and spelling, as well as the 4 Cs: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication.

At the Warsaw Community Public Library we are busy planning another kindergarten through sixth grade escape room for the next Kids Game Club, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 14. Drop in to Kids Game Club to sign up for the escape room and enjoy the board games café while you wait your turn.

For more information about this and other children’s programs at WCPL, check out the calendar of events at warsawlibrary.org or give us a call at (574) 267-6011.