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“Rebels, this is your captain speaking. Good job infiltrating the Order’s base. Your mission now is to find their plans and transmit them back to us so we can stop them. Good luck, and may the force be with you.”

This is what a group of 5th-8th Graders will hear when they walk into the Star Wars Escape Room at DPPL on June 9th and are greeted by a fully-functional robotic BB-8. Registration info here.

(I know, we’re the coolest library ever.)

Escape rooms are a growing international trend with over 7200 rooms in 105 countries and no signs of slowing down.

According to Wikipedia, an escape room is a mental and physical adventure based game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints, and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Players are given a set time limit to unveil the secret plot, which is hidden within the rooms.

Everyone’s looking to strain their brain!

The Star Wars escape room will be my third original escape room I have created, and as a fan of puzzles, mysteries, and secret codes, getting to design escape rooms for the library is basically my dream come true.

I grew up reading Nancy Drew, and now I get to help others be her!

I spend hours researching, planning, and connecting various types of clues, building puzzles, and creating elaborate décor.

The closer my program date gets, the more my coworkers hide when they hear me running over to them with another puzzle to test.

And escape rooms are more than just fun!

According to Elyssa Kroski, they are also secretly educational.

In her book, Escape Rooms and Other Immersive Experiences in the Library, she writes,

“Because these are games, the fear of failure that students might have about coming up with the wrong answer within the classroom is removed. In an escape room, players dive right in, try out a solution; if it doesn’t work, they can quickly adjust their strategies and try different tactics.”

To me, that means opportunities to learn without the fear of failure never stops being crucial to our brains, regardless of age.

And escape rooms are among some of the great ways to foster that fun.

And honestly, there’s nothing better than getting to watch tweens and teens develop their critical thinking skills while fully decked out in Jedi regalia and having an absolute blast.

If Star Wars isn't your thing, fear not!

Our Ghostbusters Escape Room for grades 5-8 begins registration on June 17 and we would love to see you there for your secretly educational but mostly FUN experience.

Go to the calendar for more info on registering.

And check below for some other equally awesome all-ages ways to strain your brain this summer.