Escape rooms have become a great way to encourage peer collaboration and problem-solving. My Hunger Games escape room activity practices both, with some text-dependent challenges thrown in. It's best to play this AFTER students have read the book because there are spoilers to the events in the 74th Games.
In this challenge, students will be thrust into the 74th Games and will have to think their way out. Of course, there's an important rule change when you play in your classroom: they aren't chasing or killing other tributes and if they all complete the challenge, they all survive. But only one team can be Victors.
Students begin with the Opening Ceremony in which each group has to solve a puzzle. The group that solves the puzzle first will get to choose which part of the arena they want to go to first: either the Lake, the Cornucopia, the Grass Field, or the Woods.
Each area of the arena is a separate station that you can easily set up. Students will have an answer sheet that has all four areas, so they can move around to each without needing a new sheet.
At the Lake, students will relive the moment when Katniss realized the Career supplies were rigged with explosives. Students will have to navigate and map a safe route through the maze. Along the way, they'll collect letters that will need to be unscrambled, revealing a secret code word they'll need in the next task: answering a series of questions that, when completed, will detonate the Career supplies.
In the Woods area of the arena, students have to find water and dodge fireballs in two separate tasks. The first one is another word puzzle with text-dependent questions. After they answer the questions correctly, certain letters will need to be unscrambled to create a code phrase. The second task is a critical-thinking challenge where students have to create new words from an existing one.
Students will test their knowledge of figurative-language devices in the Grass Field. By doing so, they'll unlock a 12-digit code that will propel them to the next area of the arena.
The first task at the Cornucopia has students identifying items and food from the arena. In the second task, students must outsmart the wolf mutts by answering text-dependent questions--each one taking them a step closer to the top of the Cornucopia.
After students travel to each area of the arena, they'll all conclude with the Closing Ceremony. In this challenge, students will use clues they solved in the four areas of the arena to answer questions relating to the novel. The first group to finish will be crowned Victors. The rest who complete the challenges are Survivors.
For differentiation, I offer Oops! and Hint cards. I also make it possible to skip the Opening and Closing ceremonies if time is a factor. In addition, you can allow students to use the novel for additional help.
I included teacher directions, example pictures of stations, and a complete teacher answer key.
I think you and your students will love this fun & engaging activity at the conclusion of your novel unit. If you have already purchased my Growing Mega Unit, it is included! You can download it now. Or you can add it to your existing unit.
