The Maya Civilization Escape Room will take students on a secret mission around the classroom! This escape room has students decode interesting facts about the Mayan Civilization. This is the perfect resource to introduce Chichen Itza, Mayan gods, calendars or hieroglyphics. The Maya Civilization Escape Room has students walking around the classroom breaking codes. Students are given a secret code name and sent on a secret mission to help Greg research Mayan writing. The codes include ciphers, Morse code, cryptograms and a final 4 digit code based on the decoders/clues.
Each clue and code is different. The codes require students to think differently to decipher or decode them. Some codes require critical thinking to determine what a letter/symbol stands for. Each code will reveal interesting facts about the Maya Civilization. The use of secret code will keep your students engaged while competing to find the final code. Students can report the final code to you. If you wanted to, you could purchase a 4 digit lock that you program, but it is not necessary at all! No props needed!! This is a NO PREP, PRINT & GO Activity!
Students are sent on a “secret mission” and given a back story
to ignite their active learning skills. They are given a code name which makes them feel as if they are part of the secret mission. Students practice hands-on, practical problem solving skills all while learning about the Maya Civilization. Your students will be inspired to think outside the box! Spy themed music is highly recommended!
The best age range for this resource is 8+. Please look at the preview to determine if this resource works for your age group. Younger students may need some help with some of the more difficult codes.
You can use the pre-labeled clues or you can challenge older kids to choose/find the decoder that works for each of the clues. A set of labeled and non-labeled decoders are included for differentiation. A “How to Decode” puzzles is also included.
In addition to learning or reinforcing the subject matter, my escape rooms encourage teamwork and critical thinking. As a “timed” challenge, students will be engaged from beginning to end.
New Feature: This escape room now includes 12 fun, colorful signs to take class pictures with at the end of the mission. Signs include “Puzzle Master”, “She did all the work”, “Genius”, “We did it”, “I Escaped” and more! Hang the pictures in your room, send them in a parent newsletter or share them on social media
An answer key and easy to follow teacher directions are provided.
Time needed: 30-60 minutes
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I did this activity today as one of our final lessons this term. My children loved it.. It took them between 45 min and an hour to complete. I didn't mind that they didn't learn too much about the Mayans as we did it at the end of the term and they knew a lot of the information already. It was fun and they enjoyed it.
We used this as part of a fun packed Maya Day in Year 6. The children loved it. They worked in mixed ability teams to locate the clues around the room and break the codes. It took them about 45 minutes to complete.<br /> My reason for 5 stars is that although it is fun and engaging and definitely worth doing as a problem solving exercise it is not quite so good at helping them learn anyhting about the Maya...there is information to read (though with some American spellings)..but the children tended to ingnore it despite the brief section which required them to write a summary of each...which they did...but not very well.<br />
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$6.25