Escape Room

UConn 4-H Escape Moves to the Next Level

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group of girls wearing masks with their screen that says Escape RoomThe UConn 4-H program introduced escape rooms in 2019 as a tool for teaching concepts and content to youth in a fun and interactive manner. This saw great success among audiences of all ages and was repeated a second time in early 2020. Then March 2020 introduced the pandemic and shuttered all in-person 4-H programming. This necessitated the need to switch gears and discover new ways to reach young people in non-traditional formats.

Thus, the 4-H Escapes digital breakout website begun. There was a desire to replicate the success of these in-person breakout activities into a format that could be delivered in the new digital environment everyone suddenly found themselves living in. We designed the first digital escape room activity titled The Secret Clover Stash in the summer of 2020. This first escape room was very rudimentary in its presentation due to limited knowledge by designers at the time. Over the course of the summer new skills were learned and more sophisticated ways to present the content was developed. Using Google Drive software such as Sites, Slides, Forms and Docs, designers crafted immersive, educational experiences for youth using video game design concepts. Similar to the live escape rooms, this digital model challenged participants to solve a series of puzzles to unlock doors to delve deeper into the experience until they reach their ultimate goal.

From the beginning, the desire of the design team was to develop a series of digital breakout experiences on a variety of topics. Many teachers from around the country have used this format to create fun and interactive learning opportunities for their students. However, there was nothing that directly focused on 4-H themed topics. Therefore UConn Extension 4-H educators Marc Cournoyer and Emily Alger began creating content that would fill this void. The Secret Clover Stash was the first but not the last. Since its start in the spring of 2020 the 4-H Escape website now houses a total of seven separate digital breakout activities with more added regularly.

This led to additional partnerships within UConn, as well as with outside educators from other institutions around the country. In the spring of 2021, Michael Puglisi from the UConn Department of Nutritional Sciences inquired on ways to potentially partner some of his students with the design team. Like 4-H, the EFNEP program was in search of innovative ways to deliver educational content to their youth audiences throughout the state. 4-H educators partnered with nutritional sciences undergraduate students to give them the tools to create additional content they would be able to deliver electronically to their audiences. This was a win for everyone, since now EFNEP had new resources and the 4-H Escapes website benefited from the additional content available to their growing audiences.

The summer of 2021 saw the addition of undergraduate Colleen Brady to the design team as part of her summer internship with the Windham County 4-H STEM program. Colleen quickly became a valuable asset to the team designing five new digital breakout activities during the summer months. She is now serving as a peer mentor to the next batch of nutrition students who are interested in becoming content designers.

The growth of the 4-H Escape project goes beyond UConn as partnerships have been developed with 4-H educators throughout the country. This includes universities such as Michigan State, Virginia Tech, the University of Wisconsin. The most recent partner is a 4-H educator from Hawaii who was interested in replicated The Secret Clover Quest to use with her 4-H members throughout the state.

There is also a proposal to design a 4-H horse themed digital breakout in partnership with Dr. Jen Nadeau of the UConn Department of Animal Science to be presented in the spring of 2022 at a national level conference.  This will provide the design team with additional opportunities to share what they have created and the various ways this technology can be replicated and used throughout the country.

The greatest value is that this resource is not limited by geographic borders or space limitations.  Anyone can participate from anywhere.  For more information of the program contact Marc Cournoyer at marc.cournoyer@uconn.edu or 860-774-9600.  All digital breakout activities can be found at https://4-h-escape.extension.uconn.edu/.

UConn 4-H is the youth development program of UConn CAHNR Extension. 4-H is a community of over 6 million young people across America who are learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), leadership, citizenship and life skills through their 4-H project work. 4-H provides youth with the opportunity to develop lifelong skills including civic engagement and healthy living. Learn more and enroll your child in the UConn 4-H program at http://4-H.uconn.edu/.

UConn CAHNR Extension has more than 100 years’ experience strengthening communities in Connecticut and beyond. Extension programs address the full range of issues set forth in CAHNR’s strategic initiatives:

  • Ensuring a vibrant and sustainable agricultural industry and food supply
  • Enhancing health and well-being locally, nationally, and globally
  • Designing sustainable landscapes across urban-rural interfaces
  • Advancing adaptation and resilience in a changing climate.

Programs delivered by Extension reach individuals, communities, and businesses in each of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities.

Article by Marc Cournoyer

UConn 4-H Virtual Escape Rooms Keep Youth Engaged

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4-H Escape Room banner photoEscape rooms have gained popularity with youth and adults worldwide as small groups work together to find clues, solve puzzles, and other tasks that allow them to escape from a room. Depending on the activity, there can be one or more rooms, and there is usually a time limit. Once the team has completed the task for each room there is a prize – in some cases the prize is just that they have escaped.

UConn 4-H, the youth development program of Extension in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, first introduced escape rooms in 2019 at the Middlesex County 4-H skill-a-thon event for youth ages 7-19. There were puzzles and a series of six treasure chests. The youth needed to unlock all six to get a prize. The escape room event was extremely popular and a fun way for youth to build teamwork skills and test their 4-H knowledge. Popularity was so high that parents and adult volunteers requested an opportunity to play and the entire experience was repeated with a new theme and puzzles at the same event in 2020.

When COVID-19 cancelled all in-person events, Marc Cournoyer, a member of the UConn 4-H team and designer of the 4-H escape rooms decided to move them to a virtual format to provide youth with an opportunity to continue participation.

“Teachers often use escape rooms as a fun way to teach learning concepts through puzzles,” Cournoyer says. “We created our first virtual escape room for younger 4-H members, primarily ages 7-12 in the summer of 2020, it’s called the Secret Clover Stash. Youth have to help Cris Clover find his way through all the puzzles to unlock doors and collect all the clovers.”

Youth from across Connecticut participated in the Secret Clover Stash. This virtual escape room was created using Google Forms and was basic in its design.

Several states from the northeast have adopted the Secret Clover Stash escape room developed by UConn 4-H and are using it with their youth members. The states are collaborating with UConn 4-H on a Computer Science Pathways grant through Google and National 4-H. Cournoyer shared the original escape room template with 4-H educators from other states.

A second version called “The Secret Clover Quest” is geared towards 4-H members of all ages. It was built in the format of a website through the use of Google Sites with gamification through the use of Google Slides, Docs and Forms. “This version is a much more immersive experience than the original due to the additional puzzle gaming aspects,” Cournoyer says.

“Youth can work as an individual or group to solve these escape room puzzles,” Cournoyer says. “These activities help youth build skills in creative thinking, problem solving and retention of key concepts through the use of gamification. Kids are learning through play.”

Cournoyer is currently submitting a proposal to educate others about escape rooms as a teaching tool this fall at the upcoming National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals annual conference. He is also meeting with colleagues interested in learning more about how these escape rooms work and the science behind the design. A future goal is to assemble a team of 4-H educators from around the country to design new escape room experiences that will be hosted on the UConn 4-H Escape website. “It only makes sense to work together to give youth learning opportunities that are also fun and interactive. Since these activities are virtual there is no geographic limitation to who can participate. Therefore, it makes sense to work in collaboration with educators from other states rather than everyone inventing their own unique versions,” Cournoyer says.

All these breakout experiences can be found on the new UConn 4-H Escape website at https://4-h-escape.extension.uconn.edu/. A new breakout activity is added each month. There are three additional breakouts currently under development that will be appearing on the website in the coming months.

UConn 4-H is the youth development program of UConn CAHNR Extension. 4-H is a community of over six million young people across America who are learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), leadership, citizenship and life skills through their 4-H project work. 4-H provides youth with the opportunity to develop lifelong skills including civic engagement and healthy living. Learn more and enroll your child in the UConn 4-H program at http://4-H.uconn.edu/.

UConn CAHNR Extension has more than 100 years’ experience strengthening communities in Connecticut and beyond. Extension programs address the full range of issues set forth in CAHNR’s strategic initiatives:

  • Ensuring a vibrant and sustainable agricultural industry and food supply
  • Enhancing health and well-being locally, nationally, and globally
  • Designing sustainable landscapes across urban-rural interfaces
  • Advancing adaptation and resilience in a changing climate.

Programs delivered by Extension reach individuals, communities, and businesses in each of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities.

Article by Stacey F. Stearns