Family Breakout: A new holiday tradition

Three years ago I accidentally created a family Christmas tradition. 😯

Let me explain...

My wife and I have five kids: ages 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.

As you can imagine, Christmas is a pretty big deal.

Fortunately, my wife is super organized and LOVES Christmas.

Each year we buy 5 different rolls of wrapping paper - one for each kid. This helps us keep track of which present belongs to which kid.

Our wrapping paper trick also inspired a new family Christmas tradition...

Just before Christmas, I had purchased a BreakoutEDU box and needed a chance to test it out. 

(Watch this if you have no idea what a breakout box is)

I decided that Christmas morning was the perfect opportunity to give my breakout box a trial run! 😂
Here is what my kids saw when they woke up on December 25...

My kids had to solve a bunch of puzzles and follow clues (I had age-appropriate options for everyone) to open each of the locks and "breakout Christmas."

Inside of the breakout box was a small piece of all 5 wrapping paper designs with a name written on the back: the key to figuring out which presents went to which kid.

The first year was a big hit and now the pressure is on for me to create better and more elaborate breakout!

Perhaps a breakout game is something you should add to your family holiday tradition!

A breakout game is a fun addition to your classroom holiday party or family gathering!

Here are some tips to help you get started.

🧰 Purchase, build or borrow a breakout box

• Purchase a breakout box from BreakoutEDU for $150. It has everything you need.
• Assemble your own breakout box for $70 (or less) using these instructions​
• Borrow a breakout box from school during Christmas break!

Advice: a physical breakout box with combination locks and keys provides a unique experience, however dealing with the physical set up can be a pain (does anyone remember the combination?).

💻 Use Google Forms to create a digital breakout

If you would prefer a free option, you can use Google Forms to design a digital breakout by turning on the "response validation" option which turns free-response questions into a "lock".

The key to using Google Forms as a digital breakout is knowing how to enable "data validation." Watch this video (starting at 4:24) to learn more!

🔐 Find or create a breakout game

Designing the game is the fun part! Here are the essential elements:

1. Backstory - every adventure has a setting. Set up the story for your adventure (like my elf-on-the-shelf example).
2. Puzzles and clues - your breakout experience will require 3-10 puzzles. Each puzzle will reveal a numerical or alphabetical code that is used to open one of the locks. Check out this list of puzzle 
   ideas.
3. A reward or prize - What is the prize for solving the puzzle? Include an exciting surprise inside the breakout box (candy, movie tickets, and small presents work well).

💡Creating a good breakout takes a lot of time and testing. It is wise to use or modify an existing game for your first breakout. My Christmas morning breakouts are modified from the BreakoutEDU library.

🆓 Free games from BreakoutEDU
BreakoutEDU offers free and paid breakout games. The breakouts listed below are free, but you will need to create a BreakoutEDU account.

• ​🦌 Reindeer games (2017)
• ​🧝‍♂️​ Elf in a box (2018)
• ​🚂 Holiday express (this is the one I am using this year!)

🗝️ Sample breakouts using Google Forms

Google forms make it easy to build a digital breakout for FREE!

• ​Digital breakout template (use this to make your own)
• ​Sample breakout from the 2019 miGoogle conference​
• ​Digital CLUE game by Stephanie Howell.

💡 BONUS: The three examples above are included in my list of 30 ways to use Google Forms in the classroom. You can download the full list here.

I would love to know if you include a breakout in your classroom or family gathering this year.

Tag me in your Tweet or Instagram post!