Thinkabara

🕎 Escape room: The Lost Jar of Oil

Google Classroom

A Hanukkah escape room for kids 7–9: riddles about candles, the dreidel and the miracle of the oil open the chest. For families and classes.

The story

The shamash of the family menorah woke up in a panic: the little jar of oil is missing, and without it nobody can light the candles tonight! The jar is locked in a chest with a code. Solve the riddles to find the code.

It turns out the neighbors’ cat thought the jar was a toy and hid it in the chest.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • A menorah (hanukkiah) or a drawing of one
  • A dreidel
  • A box with a code lock or a sealed envelope
  • Printed station sheets
  • Pencils

Tips for the facilitator

  • Hide each station sheet next to a Hanukkah object: the menorah, a dreidel, the candle box.
  • At station 2, let the children count real candles if you have them.
  • Put doughnuts or chocolate coins in the chest as the prize.

Difficulty level

The story clues stay the same on every level; harder levels add more locks in between. You can ask for a hint at every stage.

0 of 6 stages solved · Easy · 15–25 minutes

Stage 1: The shamash station

1/6

On Hanukkah you light one candle on the first night and add one more candle every night. Every night you also light the shamash, the helper candle used to light all the others.

Run it in real life too

Print a facilitator kit for the easy level: a sheet with the opening story, the setup and every answer, plus a big card for each of the 6 stages.

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil: facilitator kit

Kids 7–9 · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: The shamash of the family menorah woke up in a panic: the little jar of oil is missing, and without it nobody can light the candles tonight! The jar is locked in a chest with a code. Solve the riddles to find the code. It turns out the neighbors’ cat thought the jar was a toy and hid it in the chest.

Setup

  1. A menorah (hanukkiah) or a drawing of one
  2. A dreidel
  3. A box with a code lock or a sealed envelope
  4. Printed station sheets
  5. Pencils
  6. Print the 6 stage cards and put them in order, or hide each card around the room so every answer leads to the next one.
  7. Read the opening story to the group and start a timer.
  8. When the group gets stuck, give one hint from the table, one at a time.
  9. Hide each station sheet next to a Hanukkah object: the menorah, a dreidel, the candle box.
  10. At station 2, let the children count real candles if you have them.
  11. Put doughnuts or chocolate coins in the chest as the prize.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. The shamash station4On the third night there are 3 candles. · Don’t forget to add the shamash.
2. The candle box36Add 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8. · Trick: 1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5. Each pair makes 9.
3. The number dreidel138Start with 50 + 80. · Then add 3 and 5.
4. The miracle7It should have lasted 1 day and it burned for 8. · What is the difference?
5. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock4Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
6. The lock47Go back to stations 1 and 4. · Write the two answers one after the other.

Read at the end: The chest is open and the jar of oil is back! The shamash thanks you, and the neighbors’ cat got its own dreidel so it won’t take the jar again.

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil · Stage 1 of 6

The shamash station

On Hanukkah you light one candle on the first night and add one more candle every night. Every night you also light the shamash, the helper candle used to light all the others.

How many candles burn in the menorah on the third night, including the shamash?

✍️ Our answer:

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil · Stage 2 of 6

The candle box

Grandma wants to buy candles for all eight nights of Hanukkah, without the shamash candles (she buys those separately). Night 1: one candle, night 2: two candles, and so on up to night 8: eight candles.

How many candles (without the shamash) are needed for all eight nights?

✍️ Our answer:

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil · Stage 3 of 6

The number dreidel

A dreidel in Israel has four Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hey and Pe, for “Nes Gadol Haya Po”, a great miracle happened here. In Hebrew, every letter is also a number: Nun = 50, Gimel = 3, Hey = 5, Pe = 80.

נ 50 · ג 3 · ה 5 · פ 80

What is the total of the four letters on the dreidel?

✍️ Our answer:

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil · Stage 4 of 6

The miracle

According to the story, the Maccabees found one jar of oil that was enough for just one day, but by a miracle it burned for eight days.

How many days longer did the oil burn than it should have?

✍️ Our answer:

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Lost Jar of Oil” you find another corridor of locks. Every 🕎 is worth 2. Add two symbols.

🕎 + 🕎 = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil · Stage 6 of 6

The lock

The chest code is the answer from station 1 followed by the answer from station 4. For example, if the answers were 2 and 5, the code would be 25.

Which code opens the chest?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: 🕎 The Lost Jar of Oil

What the room practices

Counting candles, adding 1 to 8, letter values on the dreidel and a difference.

The 5 stations (without the answers)
  1. The shamash station: How many candles burn in the menorah on the third night, including the shamash?
  2. The candle box: How many candles (without the shamash) are needed for all eight nights?
  3. The number dreidel: What is the total of the four letters on the dreidel?
  4. The miracle: How many days longer did the oil burn than it should have?
  5. The lock: Which code opens the chest?

Age and group size

Best with teams of 3–5 children. In a class or a big party, print a kit per team and run the room in parallel.

Giving hints in this room

Online the hints open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit in the facilitator table next to each answer. Give the first hint after a couple of minutes of silence, not at the first wrong guess.

Questions and answers

What age is “The Lost Jar of Oil” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for kids 7–9, at easy–medium difficulty, and usually takes 15–20 minutes. It has 5 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “The Lost Jar of Oil”?

A printer and these props: A menorah (hanukkiah) or a drawing of one; A dreidel; A box with a code lock or a sealed envelope; Printed station sheets; Pencils. The printable kit includes a facilitator sheet with every answer and a card for each stage.

What if the players get stuck?

Every stage has graded hints. Online they open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit next to each answer on the facilitator sheet. The first hint never gives the answer away.

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