Thinkabara

🖼️ Escape room: The Museum Mystery

Google Classroom

A detective escape room for grades 4–6: a painting has vanished! Decode a number note, count the visitors and use a suspect table.

The story

This morning the museum guard found that the painting “Cat at Sunset” had vanished from the wall! You are the detectives. Gather clues, crack the cipher and find out who took the painting, and where to.

Don’t worry: nobody was hurt, and it looks like someone simply “borrowed” the painting.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • Station sheets
  • A printed suspect table for each team
  • A magnifying glass (for atmosphere)
  • A sealed envelope with the solution

Tips for the facilitator

  • Print the suspect table with “glasses” and “sketchbook” columns so pupils can mark ✓ and ✗.
  • Hide a printed “painting” of a cat in a corner of the classroom labeled “Studio”.
  • At the end, discuss: how could Nora have asked for permission first?

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 visitors’ book

1/6

In the morning 12 visitors came into the museum. Then 5 left, 3 more came in, and finally 4 more left.

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 Museum Mystery: facilitator kit

Grades 4–6 · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: This morning the museum guard found that the painting “Cat at Sunset” had vanished from the wall! You are the detectives. Gather clues, crack the cipher and find out who took the painting, and where to. Don’t worry: nobody was hurt, and it looks like someone simply “borrowed” the painting.

Setup

  1. Station sheets
  2. A printed suspect table for each team
  3. A magnifying glass (for atmosphere)
  4. A sealed envelope with the solution
  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. Print the suspect table with “glasses” and “sketchbook” columns so pupils can mark ✓ and ✗.
  9. Hide a printed “painting” of a cat in a corner of the classroom labeled “Studio”.
  10. At the end, discuss: how could Nora have asked for permission first?

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. The visitors’ book6Start at 12, take away 5, add 3, take away 4.
2. The coded notestudio19 is S and 20 is T. · Keep going.
3. The suspect table1Mark who matches both witness clues. · Then cross out the person who was in the café.
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. Closing the case61How many visitors were left? · And what is the suspect’s number?

Read at the end: Case closed! Nora borrowed the painting for the studio to make a copy for the school art contest, and returned it with a note: “Thanks, and look after the cat.”

🖼️ The Museum Mystery · Stage 1 of 6

The visitors’ book

In the morning 12 visitors came into the museum. Then 5 left, 3 more came in, and finally 4 more left.

How many visitors are still in the museum?

✍️ Our answer:

🖼️ The Museum Mystery · Stage 2 of 6

The coded note

A note was found by the empty wall: 19-20-21-4-9-15. The key: every number is a letter’s place in the alphabet, A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 … Z = 26.

19 · 20 · 21 · 4 · 9 · 15

Which room of the museum does the note lead to? Write the word.

✍️ Our answer:

🖼️ The Museum Mystery · Stage 3 of 6

The suspect table

Four visitors were in the studio. 1 – Nora: wears glasses, carries a sketchbook. 2 – Ian: wears glasses, no sketchbook. 3 – Sara: no glasses, carries a sketchbook. 4 – Gus: wears glasses, carries a sketchbook. Witnesses say the person who took the painting wore glasses and carried a sketchbook. Also, Gus has a café receipt proving he was there all morning.

What is the number of the person who took the painting?

✍️ Our answer:

🖼️ The Museum Mystery · Stage 4 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Museum Mystery” you find another corridor of locks. Every 🖼️ is worth 2. Add two symbols.

🖼️ + 🖼️ = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

🖼️ The Museum Mystery · 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:

🖼️ The Museum Mystery · Stage 6 of 6

Closing the case

The sealed envelope code: the answer from station 1, followed by the answer from station 3. For example, if the answers were 9 and 2, the code would be 92.

What is the envelope code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: 🖼️ The Museum Mystery

What the room practices

Running totals, a letter-number cipher and a logic table.

The 4 stations (without the answers)
  1. The visitors’ book: How many visitors are still in the museum?
  2. The coded note: Which room of the museum does the note lead to? Write the word.
  3. The suspect table: What is the number of the person who took the painting?
  4. Closing the case: What is the envelope 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 “The Museum Mystery” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for grades 4–6, at medium difficulty, and usually takes 25–30 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 “The Museum Mystery”?

A printer and these props: Station sheets; A printed suspect table for each team; A magnifying glass (for atmosphere); A sealed envelope with the solution. 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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