THE LOST TOY SHOP KEY: a math escape room game for Kindergarten and Grade 1, with picture puzzles
Tibbet the capybara keeps the little toy shop beside the golden pyramid. Last night the wind blew the window open, the toys tumbled off the shelves, and the shop key fell into the mess. The shop opens at nine! Six shelves are six stations. Tidying a shelf gives a crew ONE number. In the Key Drop the six numbers lead the key down a pyramid of toy blocks into the toy where it is hiding. Find it, and the shop can open.
THIS IS A PRINTABLE ESCAPE ROOM GAME for a classroom or for 1 to 4 children at home. Players do not need to read words: every rule is drawn in a LOOK box, and a grown-up reads Tibbet's short lines aloud. It is not a book and not a worksheet pack: crews solve six picture puzzles, check every number on the Toy Board, and open one last lock together. Everything is paper: no padlocks or boxes needed.
TWO WAYS TO PLAY (55 to 70 minutes, or two short sessions)
- All together (best for Kindergarten): every crew does the same station at the same time, with the station's slide on the board
- Station rotation (Grade 1): six stations around the room, every crew starts at a different one
- Warm-up, Number Spotter: numbers hide in pictures (dots, ten-frames, dice, tally marks)
- The Toy Board checks every station number: the right number shows that shelf's toy, and a number one or two off shows a different toy
- The Key Drop: the key falls from the top block to one of the two blocks just under it, the one showing the next station's number. With a wrong number it gets stuck, so crews find their own slips
- Open the shop! Tap the toy on the shop-door slide (a picture lock), hand out gold key cards and certificates
Two Levels, One Answer Key
- One Block cards, Kindergarten: count to 20, ten-frames, teen numbers as ten and some more, add within 10, name shapes turned any way, put shapes together
- Two Blocks cards, Grade 1: add three numbers, add and take away within 20, tens and ones to 30, sort shapes by sides and corners, find a missing brick by taking away
- Both levels of a station give the SAME number, so a mixed K-1 class plays side by side and you check everyone with one key
Seven Kinds Of Puzzle
- 2 kinds of math pyramid puzzle: the Abacus Stack (bead bricks: every brick gets the beads of the two under it) and the Key Drop (a pyramid maze of number pictures; sums and take-aways on Grade 1)
- 5 picture puzzles: Fill the Trays (ten-frame trays: how many holes are empty?), Shape Sorter (which blocks fit the gold hole?), Domino Train (touching ends match: draw the hidden dots), Car Park (park every car in its numbered space: which space stays empty?) and Pattern Block Boat (how many green triangles cover the boat? cut-out triangles to check)
- 1 more kind of math pyramid, the Corner Stack (shapes worth their corners), is in the free bonus folder with three more Grade 1 challenges: 3 kinds of math pyramid puzzle in all
- Stations are numbered from the easiest to the hardest
Skills Practiced
Counting and cardinality to 20, ten-frames, how many more make 10, teen numbers, numerals 0 to 20, adding within 10 and 20, taking away within 20, adding three numbers, a missing addend, tens and ones, 2D shapes and their sides and corners, composing shapes. A skills page lists the US Common Core codes for Kindergarten and Grade 1 (a planning guide; not endorsed by the standards' authors).
WHAT YOU GET (instant download, 4 PDF files)
- Full kit, US Letter (42 pages)
- Full kit, A4 (42 pages)
- Projector slides, 16:9 (18 slides: story, mission, warm-up, the Toy Board, a slide for every station, move signal, the Key Drop, a tap-to-open shop door, answers)
- Tablet edition with tap-to-jump hint and answer buttons (classroom play needs the printed cards)
- Free bonus folder (QR code inside): After Hours (4 Grade 1 early-finisher cards with answers and hints) and ink-saver editions of every page
Inside The Kit
- For the teacher: what to print and how many, two ways to play, a 70-minute, a 60-minute and a 55-minute plan, a step-by-step script, skills, a 3-page answer key with solved pictures, 3-step hint cards for every puzzle
- For every crew: story page, Toy Board, Tidy Chart with three help hearts, crew badges, warm-up card
- For the room: six full-color station signs
- The puzzles: 12 station cards (six stations, two levels), green triangles to cut out (optional), two Key Drop cards
- To finish: gold key cards, two-up certificates with type-in names, a draw-a-new-toy coloring page
You Will Need
Printer (color looks best; ink-saver pages are in the bonus folder), paper, pencils, crayons; scissors and tape. About 30 minutes to print and set up the first time. Real ten-frames, dominoes, pattern blocks or toy cars are a bonus, not a must.
Good To Know
- Digital download only: nothing is shipped.
- Print at 100% (actual size), single-sided.
- Play times are plans, not promises: little ones vary a lot. Hints keep every crew moving.
- Not tested with a class: it was solved and set up from the printed pages alone by separate AI sessions, and their notes were acted on.
- No holiday theme: it suits a numbers unit, math centers, review, the first weeks of school, a math club or a party.
- Not suitable for children under 3 (small cut-out parts). Adults do the cutting.
- Love math pyramids? Creouts Publishing also publishes math pyramid puzzle books in paperback: see creouts.com/pyramid-puzzle-books/.
License
For one teacher's own classes, or one family or club. Print as many copies as you need for your own children. No resale, sharing, uploading or claiming as your own; no AI training.
Digital download, nothing is shipped. Because files can be copied at once, we cannot take them back after download; if something is wrong with your file, write to us and we will fix or refund it.
