Printable Christmas escape room · Ages 8 and up · A4 and US Letter
The Sleigh That Wouldn't Fly: a Christmas escape room for kids.
It is Christmas Eve, and the sleigh won't lift off the roof. Its navigation panel is locked, and the only one who knows the magic word is Tock the toymaker elf, who has fallen asleep by the fire. A note in Tock's pocket says six secret words hidden around the North Pole each give one letter of it. Your children are the elf helpers, and they have until midnight to find it.
11.99 EUR
Instant download · A4 and US Letter PDFs · personal use only
The game has 6 pencil puzzles in three parts: the sleepy workshop, the reindeer barn and the workshop roof. Each part opens with a painted picture. The children finish a pattern on a wooden garland, do the sums on a tray of cookies, find a path across a snowy yard and answer reindeer riddles. Then they read a gift tag written in picture code and unscramble a list of toys. Each answer is a secret word, and the children write it on the Answer Tracker.
The last page is the sleigh's navigation panel. A tag under each of its six windows names a secret word and stars one of its letters. The children copy the starred letters into the windows and read out the magic word.
A grown-up hosts. The two-page Host Guide covers printing, setting up and when to step in, and the Lockmaster Key lists every answer on one page. Each puzzle has three hints, from a small nudge to the answer itself. You can read them out from the Hints pages, or the children can open them on the free companion page, which also tells them whether an answer is right.
Every page of the game also comes as line art in a coloring edition. It plays the same way as the color pages and uses much less ink, and the children can color the pictures in as they go.
No sentence on a puzzle page is longer than 20 words, so an 8-year-old can read them alone. Nothing in the game needs cutting out.
What you download
- The game, 13 pages in full color, for the players
- The coloring edition: the same 13 pages as line art
- The Answer Tracker, a single page
- Hints, a page for each puzzle and one for the panel
- Solutions, laid out the same way
- The Lockmaster Key, every answer on one page
- The Host Guide, 2 pages
- Extras: invitations with lines to fill in, a door sign and a sign for the group photo
- Illustrated extras: the same pages on painted backgrounds, with the invitations as postcards, four to a sheet
There are two ZIP files, one for A4 paper and one for US Letter, each with all nine files. Print the game in color or the coloring edition, not both. Each team needs its own copy of the game and an Answer Tracker. If your printer can't print borderless, each page gets a white edge.
Is this the right one?
- Your children are 8 or older and can read short sentences on their own.
- A grown-up is happy to host: read the story out, keep the hints and check the answers.
- Everyone playing reads English. The puzzles are built on English words.
For teens and adults, try The Midnight Carnival, a printable escape room with a carnival ghost story.
Questions before you print
What age is it for?
Children aged 8 and up, with a grown-up hosting. The pages use short sentences, and pictures carry many of the clues. The grown-up reads the story out, keeps the hints and checks the answers.
Can a big group play?
Print one game set and one Answer Tracker for each team, so every table works on its own pages. A big group can split into teams and race to the magic word.
What do we need?
A printer, paper, a pencil for each player and an eraser. Nothing in the game needs scissors, glue or the internet.
What is the coloring edition?
The same game drawn as line art, so the players can color the pictures in. It plays exactly like the full color pages and uses much less ink. Print one of the two.
What if they get stuck?
Every puzzle has three hints, and the third one gives the answer. The grown-up reads them out from the Hints pages, or the players open them on the free companion page.