⚽ Escape room: The Locker Room Before the Final

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A soccer escape room for kids 7–12: crack the shirt numbers, count the coach’s formation and open the locker room before the whistle.

Kids and tweens
Medium
15–20 minutes
3 story stations

The story

Your team is about to walk out for the final, but the locker room is locked. Solve the clues to find the door code before the whistle.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

5 shirts or sheets with numbers
A coach’s board with the formation drawn on it
A ball
A whistle or a timer

Tips for the facilitator

Hang the “shirts” on chairs like a real locker room.
Draw the formation on green paper with a circle for each player.
Run a 15-minute timer; the “whistle” builds the tension.

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 shirt numbers

1/6

Shirts lie on the bench with the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, __. The last shirt is face down.

👕3 👕6 👕9 👕12 👕?

Which number is on the face-down shirt?

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 Locker Room Before the Final: facilitator kit

Kids and tweens · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: Your team is about to walk out for the final, but the locker room is locked. Solve the clues to find the door code before the whistle.

Setup

5 shirts or sheets with numbers
A coach’s board with the formation drawn on it
A ball
A whistle or a timer
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.
Read the opening story to the group and start a timer.
When the group gets stuck, give one hint from the table, one at a time.
Hang the “shirts” on chairs like a real locker room.
Draw the formation on green paper with a circle for each player.
Run a 15-minute timer; the “whistle” builds the tension.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

Stage	Answer / code	Hints
1. The shirt numbers	15	The numbers go up in equal jumps of 3.
2. The secret formation	11	Add up all the players in the sentence.
3. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock	4	Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
4. Warm-up route · The number board	10	Look at the last number in the sequence. · Add 2 to it.
5. Warm-up route · The key cabinet	8	Count the keys in all the drawers. · Count in twos: 2, 4, 6…
6. The whistle code	26	15 plus 11.

Read at the end: The door opens and the team runs onto the pitch. The coach smiles: “A team that solves together plays together.”

⚽ The Locker Room Before the Final · Stage 1 of 6

The shirt numbers

Shirts lie on the bench with the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, __. The last shirt is face down.

👕3 👕6 👕9 👕12 👕?

Which number is on the face-down shirt?

✍️ Our answer:

⚽ The Locker Room Before the Final · Stage 2 of 6

The secret formation

On the board the coach wrote: “One goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards.”

How many players are on the pitch in this formation?

✍️ Our answer:

⚽ The Locker Room Before the Final · Stage 3 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Locker Room Before the Final” you find another corridor of locks. Every ⚽ is worth 2. Add two symbols.

⚽ + ⚽ = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

⚽ The Locker Room Before the Final · Stage 4 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 Locker Room Before the Final · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The key cabinet

The cabinet has 4 drawers. Each drawer holds 2 keys.

🔑🔑 | 🔑🔑 | 🔑🔑 | 🔑🔑

How many keys are in the cabinet?

✍️ Our answer:

⚽ The Locker Room Before the Final · Stage 6 of 6

The whistle code

The lock says: “The code is the number on the face-down shirt plus the number of players in the formation.”

What is the code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: ⚽ The Locker Room Before the Final

What the room practices

Skip counting, adding a list and combining two answers.

The 3 stations (without the answers)

The shirt numbers: Which number is on the face-down shirt?
The secret formation: How many players are on the pitch in this formation?
The whistle code: What is the 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 Locker Room Before the Final” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for kids and tweens, at medium difficulty, and usually takes 15–20 minutes. It has 3 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “The Locker Room Before the Final”?

A printer and these props: 5 shirts or sheets with numbers; A coach’s board with the formation drawn on it; A ball; A whistle or a timer. 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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