Escape room: Superhero Headquarters
A superhero escape room for kids 6–9: mix colours, add up a workout, read a backwards word and open the secret door. A birthday favourite.
The story
Captain Spoon and Wiggle Girl, the neighbourhood superheroes, are locked out of their headquarters! Only a new team of heroes, you, can crack the code and open the door.
Captain Spoon’s superpower is stirring anything super fast. Wiggle Girl’s superpower is wiggling. Neither of them can remember passwords.
4 story stations · online you can pick a level that adds more locks.
Run it at home or in class
What to prepare
- Capes made of fabric or towels
- Blue and yellow poster paint (for the experiment)
- Letter cards: O, L, L, E, H
- A door or box with an “HQ” sign
Tips for the facilitator
- At station 1, really mix blue and yellow paint on a plate; the children love it.
- Stick the letter cards O, L, L, E, H on the door in that order and let the children rearrange them.
- Hand out capes at the start and let every child choose a superhero name.
Difficulty level for “Superhero Headquarters”
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.
🦸 Superhero Headquarters
Captain Spoon and Wiggle Girl, the neighbourhood superheroes, are locked out of their headquarters! Only a new team of heroes, you, can crack the code and open the door.
0 of 6 stages solved
Stage 1: Captain Spoon’s lab
1/6Captain Spoon mixed blue paint with yellow paint and got a brand-new colour: the colour of grass.
Facilitator guide: 🦸 Superhero Headquarters
What the room practises
Colour mixing, adding past 10, reading backwards and counting letters.
The 4 stations (without the answers)
- Captain Spoon’s lab: Which colour did he get?
- Power training: How many boxes did Wiggle Girl lift altogether?
- The backwards word: What is the word?
- The secret door: What is the HQ code?
Preparing and printing
On the easy level the printed kit has 7 pages: a facilitator sheet with the opening story, the setup list and every answer, plus an A4 card for each of the 6 stages. Besides printing, get ready: capes made of fabric or towels and a door or box with an “hq” sign.
Most important: At station 1, really mix blue and yellow paint on a plate; the children love it.
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.
Frequently asked questions
What age is “Superhero Headquarters” for, and how long does it take?
It was written for kids 6–9, at easy difficulty, and usually takes 15–20 minutes. It has 4 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.
What do I need to run “Superhero Headquarters”?
A printer and these props: Capes made of fabric or towels; Blue and yellow poster paint (for the experiment); Letter cards: O, L, L, E, H; A door or box with an “HQ” sign. 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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