39: All About my New Music Composer Escape Rooms for Homeschools, Co-ops, and Classrooms to learn about 10 famous composers

Join us in Episode 39 of the Music in Our Homeschool podcast with your host, Gena Mayo! This week, we dive into the exciting world of educational escape rooms designed specifically to enhance your homeschool music education.

Despite battling laryngitis, Gena takes us through the captivating concept of composer escape rooms, ideal for elementary and middle school students. Discover how these low-prep, high-engagement games can transform your music curriculum with fun puzzle-solving activities that teach about renowned composers like Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi.

Perfect for homeschool co-ops, classroom settings, or even rainy-day activities, these escape rooms blend critical thinking, teamwork, and time management skills. Don't miss out on this unique way to make music learning interactive and enjoyable for your kids! See the discounted resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/My-Products/category:1326190.

Enhance your child’s cognitive development with these immersive and memorable learning experiences.

Find all links to resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/composer-escape-rooms-for-music/

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Transcript

E39 Escape Rooms

[00:00:00] Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. My name is Gena Mayo, and if you listen to me each week, you might recognize that my voice sounds a little different today. I have had laryngitis all week, and this is the best I've been able to talk, and I didn't want to miss a podcast, so I decided to go ahead and film it like this.

So hopefully you can hear me and there will be a blog post as usual that goes along with this podcast episode. So if you do miss anything, you can definitely check the show notes or description and find that blog post with all the links and resources I'm going to talk about today. And what is our topic today?

Something really exciting. I've just created some escape rooms for music. These all are composer studies and I'd love to tell you all about it today.

If you want to get your kids more interested in music by using a game but you don't have time to prepare one, well these composer escape [00:01:00] rooms are perfect for you. Great for elementary and middle school ages. They're an excellent addition to your music curriculum. They're low prep and engaging , and they're ideal for a composer themed class, a music class at school, or a homeschool co op, or if you just need some rainy day or even substitute teacher activities. 

An educational escape room is an interactive learning activity, in case you've never heard of them before, where students solve a series of puzzles and challenges related to a specific topic in order to escape or to complete the game.

What are the key elements of an escape room that a teacher or homeschool mom might want to use? First, you'll need to set up your escape room. Choose a subject or a topic to focus on, whether it's math or science or music in my case. Then you create a storyline or scenario to engage the students, like they're trapped in a time machine or they're [00:02:00] solving the mystery. Then you design four or more puzzles or challenges that review key concepts about that topic. And then you set a time limit, maybe it's 30 minutes or 60 minutes. 

What are the types of puzzles or challenges that you can include? Well, you can decode messages using ciphers. Solve a math problem to get a lock combination. Put events in chronological or alphabetical order. Find hidden clues in text passages. Match vocabulary terms to definitions. Complete a crossword puzzle with subject specific clues. There's so many options. So what are the materials you need to do this educational escape room with your class? You just need the printed clues, the puzzles, and worksheets, a timer and the answer key for the teacher.

Now, I want to tell you specifically about the Composer Escape Rooms that I have. These are posted over at Teachers Pay Teachers [00:03:00] and soon I will get them listed at learn. musicinourhomeschool. com as well. They're print and go games that teach your students about the lives and works of ten famous composers.

Each Music Escape Room includes six to nine puzzles that students complete in order to find a four digit code that helps them escape and that's how they win. The puzzles require some basic math skills and critical thinking, so they're best for ages 7 to 12. 

Why would you want to use an escape room for music? Well, first of all, they're low prep. They're ready to go. All you have to do is print a couple of pages. We all have those days when we aren't as prepared as we wish we were, or we're tired, or we're sick, or maybe our students just aren't interested in what we want to teach them.

This is where these escape rooms come in. They can easily be used by a substitute teacher, or as an early finisher activity. And they're [00:04:00] absolutely perfect for homeschool co ops as well.

In my Composer Escape Rooms you get everything you need for the game. Directions, FAQ, Puzzles, even hints if you want to use those, and of course the answer keys. All you need to do is copy the answer recording sheets for your students, print the puzzle challenges, and place them around the room and you're ready to play.

Another reason you'll want to include these Fun Games is that they have high student engagement. What kid doesn't like to solve a mystery? Composer Escape Rooms are exciting and motivating for students because they're trying to crack the code and escape using their puzzle solving skills. Each puzzle is unique and requires a different skill. Some tasks involve math and rhythm and others are based on the alphabet. 

Third, they will get to learn about famous composers. Who are the 10 famous composers that I have escape rooms already complete for? [00:05:00] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert, Peter Tchaikovsky, John Rutter, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Eric Whitacre, Antonio Vivaldi, and John Williams.

And of course these composer escape rooms are very flexible. They can be used in a variety of ways. A small group activity. An individual activity, or as a team building exercise. Many different ages of students can play these games, ranging all the way from 2nd grade to 7th grade. 

And of course, teachers and homeschool moms love them. Here's a recent review I received for the Mozart Escape Room: "I purchased this resource and used it with 5th grade students who absolutely loved it." That was from Christopher S. 

So how do escape rooms enhance problem solving skills in children? The escape rooms help them develop critical [00:06:00] thinking skills. Children are presented with a series of puzzles and challenges that require analytical thinkinggto solve. This encourages kids to examine clues carefully, make logical connections, and think creatively to find solutions.

The games require teamwork and communication. Most escape rooms are designed for group participation, requiring children to work together to solve puzzles. This fosters collaboration and effective communication, as well as the ability to share ideas and listen to each other.

Another skill children will learn is adaptability. As children encounter obstacles and setbacks, they learn to adapt their approach, try new strategies, and persevere. 

Children also learn time management. There's usually a time limit for the game, so there's a pressure there, and they have to learn to prioritize tasks, manage their time effectively and make quick decisions under pressure. 

Furthermore, they need [00:07:00] to have attention to detail. Many escape room puzzles require careful observation and attention to the small details. This helps children sharpen their focus and teaches them to look beyond the obvious. 

A few more skills that learn are memory, logical reasoning, creativity, confidence building, and application of knowledge.

By combining all of these elements in an immersive, fun environment, escape rooms provide a unique and effective way to develop and strengthen children's problem solving skills. The hands on experiential nature of escape rooms makes the learning process engaging and memorable for children, potentially having a lasting impact on their cognitive development and approach to problem solving.

I would love for you to head over to check out these composer escape rooms. If you are catching this podcast early, they are actually on sale for 50 percent off right now. So be sure to go over [00:08:00] and check them out at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It's called Music in Our Homeschool and I do have them in bundles as well. You can buy each one individually or as a part of one of the two bundles. 

Well, it's been so fun talking to you today. Hopefully next week I'll have a more of a strong voice. I'm excited about the rest of this year because we have some great podcasts coming that relate to music of Christmas and I think you'll really enjoy it.

So until next time, keep the music alive.

Find all links to resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/composer-escape-rooms-for-music/