Thinkabara

🐘 Escape room: Jungle Safari

Google Classroom

A safari escape room for kids 6–9: count the monkeys’ bananas, guess an animal, add up elephant legs and find the code to the jeep.

The story

The safari jeep is locked, and the key is in a box with a code! The jungle animals are happy to help, but only if you solve their riddles.

Your guide, Ranger Rick, is a bit muddled: he put his sunglasses on his head and has been looking for them for an hour.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • A safari hat or toy binoculars
  • Bananas (real or paper)
  • Animal pictures
  • A locked box or envelope with the “jeep key”

Tips for the facilitator

  • Stick 12 paper bananas on a “tree” and take 5 off so the children can count what’s left.
  • At station 2 the children can make animal noises before they answer.
  • Announce each station like a safari guide with binoculars; that’s half the fun.

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 hungry monkeys

1/6

There were 12 bananas on the tree. The cheeky monkeys ate 5 of them.

🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌 − 🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒

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.

🐘 Jungle Safari: facilitator kit

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

Opening story: The safari jeep is locked, and the key is in a box with a code! The jungle animals are happy to help, but only if you solve their riddles. Your guide, Ranger Rick, is a bit muddled: he put his sunglasses on his head and has been looking for them for an hour.

Setup

  1. A safari hat or toy binoculars
  2. Bananas (real or paper)
  3. Animal pictures
  4. A locked box or envelope with the “jeep key”
  5. 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.
  6. Read the opening story to the group and start a timer.
  7. When the group gets stuck, give one hint from the table, one at a time.
  8. Stick 12 paper bananas on a “tree” and take 5 off so the children can count what’s left.
  9. At station 2 the children can make animal noises before they answer.
  10. Announce each station like a safari guide with binoculars; that’s half the fun.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. The hungry monkeys7Start at 12 and count back 5 times.
2. Who am I?zebraIts stripes look like a pedestrian crossing.
3. The elephant family84 plus 4.
4. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock4Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
5. Warm-up route · The number board10Look at the last number in the sequence. · Add 2 to it.
6. The jeep code78Write the number of bananas left, and right after it the number of legs.

Read at the end: The box is open and the key is in your hands! The jeep starts up, and Ranger Rick finally found his sunglasses… on the zebra’s head!

🐘 Jungle Safari · Stage 1 of 6

The hungry monkeys

There were 12 bananas on the tree. The cheeky monkeys ate 5 of them.

🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌 − 🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒

How many bananas are left on the tree?

✍️ Our answer:

🐘 Jungle Safari · Stage 2 of 6

Who am I?

An animal calls from the bushes: “I look like a horse, but I have black and white stripes!”

Which animal is it?

✍️ Our answer:

🐘 Jungle Safari · Stage 3 of 6

The elephant family

2 elephants stand by the lake. Every elephant has 4 legs.

🐘 🐘

How many legs do the two elephants have together?

✍️ Our answer:

🐘 Jungle Safari · Stage 4 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “Jungle Safari” you find another corridor of locks. Every 🐘 is worth 2. Add two symbols.

🐘 + 🐘 = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

🐘 Jungle Safari · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The number board

Each step to the right adds 2.

2 → 4 → 6 → 8 → ?

What is the next number in the sequence?

✍️ Our answer:

🐘 Jungle Safari · Stage 6 of 6

The jeep code

The box says: “The code is the answer from station 1 (the bananas), followed by the answer from station 3 (the elephant legs).”

What is the jeep code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: 🐘 Jungle Safari

What the room practices

Taking away from 12, animal riddles and doubling.

The 4 stations (without the answers)
  1. The hungry monkeys: How many bananas are left on the tree?
  2. Who am I?: Which animal is it?
  3. The elephant family: How many legs do the two elephants have together?
  4. The jeep code: What is the jeep code?

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 “Jungle Safari” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for kids 6–9, at easy difficulty, and usually takes 15–20 minutes. It has 4 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “Jungle Safari”?

A printer and these props: A safari hat or toy binoculars; Bananas (real or paper); Animal pictures; A locked box or envelope with the “jeep key”. 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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