Escape rooms have become a sensation, and it’s easy to see why. They’re the perfect blend of challenge, fun, and teamwork. As a huge fan of escape rooms myself, I know how thrilling they can be, and kids are no different. Imagine the excitement of turning an ordinary birthday party into a thrilling adventure right at home!
An escape room-themed party is the perfect way to keep the fun alive as your kids grow older. Best of all, many escape room setups require minimal preparation or can be fully digital, making them convenient and stress-free. With endless themes to choose from, you can craft the ultimate escape room home party experience that’s sure to be unforgettable. Let’s get started reviewing how to do this!
Reasons To Have an Escape Room Home Party for your Kids Birthday Celebration
There are so many advantages to having an escape room party at home:
- It can be relatively inexpensive. Most escape rooms can be purchased for $5-15
- They are easy to set up. Most escape rooms make it pretty simple to assemble and organize.
- They are good for several different ages. You can typically find an escape room for many ages, including 8-18 years-old when looking to do one for kids.
- It can take up a good chunk of your party time. Sometimes it can be hard to fill the time in a party, but when you do an escape room, you can easily spend an hour or more playing.
- It’s a great bonding activity. Escape rooms are perfect for team building skills and learning to get along.
What Is a Good Age for an Escape Room Party?
Young kids might lose interest in escape rooms quickly because they may not fully engage with the challenges. However, children aged 8-18 and even adults can have a great time with escape rooms.
Most of the escape rooms I create are designed for children aged 8-13, but I also offer some specifically tailored for older youth. There are so many different kinds of escape rooms for all ages and I will be sharing some of my top picks for them below.
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Types of Escape Room Home Parties
To start there are different types of DIY escape rooms, which create many options. This includes:
- Digital escape room
- Physical escape room (with no prep)
- Physical escape room (with prep)
A digital escape room is an online or virtual version of a traditional escape room. Instead of physically being in a room, participants solve puzzles and complete challenges on a computer or device. The goal is to solve a series of puzzles to “escape” from a virtual scenario within a set time limit. An escape room with no prep is designed to be used immediately with minimal to no preparation.
If you are doing an escape room that requires prep work, it is more engaging, but also more work to put together. These can be fun for the kids and adults if you’re willing to put in the extra work. The themes for escape rooms are endless. You could literally create an escape room about anything.
Escape Room at Home Party Theme Ideas
One of the first things you need to do as part of the escape room home party planning is pick a theme. Here is a list of escape room home party themes to choose from. There are quite a few options listed, so hopefully you will find one that interests you or your child.
1 – Mystery
This one is open to interpretation, but ultimately, it’s just an unsolved mystery that could be about anything.
2 – Wizard
Harry Potter is definitely all the craze, so doing a wizard escape room at a Harry Potter party would be perfect. I have a fun digital and physical wizard escape room that you can download here.
3 – Seasonal
Do an escape room that is connected to the season. Summer can be a very generic theme which comes with a lot of seasonal decorations and games. You can get some ideas for games in this article about at home summer camp ideas.
4 – Dessert
Who doesn’t love dessert? You could do a dessert escape room at almost any party because everyone loves it, and it is at every party! Ice cream is a trending theme right now too.
5 – Scripture Themed
Have you ever thought about doing a scripture themed escape room? This would also be good for a Sunday School activity. You can download a New Testament or Book of Mormon Escape room.
6 – Candy
Can’t go wrong with candy.
7 – Pizza
Another fun party idea is having it all about pizza. Try out a pizza escape room.
8 – Treasure
I think every child dreams of being a treasure hunter. Bring it to life with a treasure hunt escape room. You can download my treasure escape rooms. One has no prep, while the other is a full in-home experience with some prep work.
9 – Animals
Does your child have a favorite animal? Center the escape room around their favorite creature, or even expand the theme to include a whole zoo, jungle, or farmyard adventure. Add in these cute little animal puppets. Check out this zoo escape room.
10 – Mermaid
Another trending party idea is all about mermaids.
11 – Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs make great escape room themes. You can could use Jurassic Park as the theme.
12 – Holiday Escape Rooms
Consider planning an escape room as a holiday activity or for a birthday party that falls near a holiday. I offer both digital and physical escape rooms perfect for occasions like:
13 – Characters
I bet your kids have a favorite TV or movie character! Why not design the entire party and escape room around that beloved character? If your kid loves Pokemon, then check out my Pokemon-themed birthday party printables.
Supplies Needed To Host an Escape Room Home Party for Kids
Start by choosing your theme, then gather decorations and supplies that bring that theme to life. You will need:
- Balloons or other decorations
- Tablecloth
- Banner
- Fun food and labels. For example, make croissant crabs for a mermaid party and label them “Crabs”.
- Purchase the escape room
- Depending on the escape room scenario, you can enhance the experience by decorating the escape room to match the theme. For example, if it is a pizza theme, then you could make the room look like a pizza restaurant.
- Depending on the type of escape room, you might need some simple supplies to set up the escape room.
Escape Room Home Kids Birthday Party Sample Schedule
Most birthday parties should be about 2-3 hours. An escape room birthday party schedule could look something like this (if the birthday party was 10am-1pm):
- 10:00-10:15 Arrival.
- 10:15-10:30 Opening activity. A break the ice activity is a good activity to do here because the kids can open up and get used to each other for the escape room.
- 10:30-11:30 Escape room.
- 11:30-12:00 Snacks or lunch.
- 12:00-12:30 Open presents and cake.
- 12:30-1:00 Free play or another fun activity.
Games That Are Good To Pair With an Escape Room Home Party
You can pair some smaller games with your escape room game to cover your party time and get the ball rolling. Here are a few different ideas:
- Human knot. Players stand in a circle, reach across to hold hands with two different people, then work together to untangle themselves without letting go.
- Blind drawing. One team member describes a picture while the others, who cannot see the picture, draw based on the description.
- Paper tower. Teams use sheets of paper to build the tallest tower possible within a set time limit. No other materials are allowed.
- Silent line-up. Team members must line up in order of height, birthdate, or another characteristic without speaking.
- Storytelling round. One person starts a story with a sentence, and each team member adds a sentence to continue the story.
- Pipeline. Teams use pipes or tubes to transport a ball or small object from one point to another without dropping it.
- Pass the hula hoop. Teams stand in a circle holding hands and must pass a hula hoop around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands.
- Try to spell words using only your bodies.
Do you think your child would absolutely love having an at home escape room birthday party?
An escape room birthday party isn’t just an event; it’s an experience that will leave your kids and their friends talking about it long after the final puzzle is solved. With so many themes and easy setups, you can create a memorable celebration that’s packed with excitement, teamwork, and creativity—all within the comfort of your home.
Whether it’s their first escape room or their tenth, the thrill of solving mysteries together will make this birthday one for the books. So get ready to unlock the fun and watch as your party guests escape into a world of adventure.
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