Like I’ve written before, the librarians always introduce me to the coolest things. And apparently, the coolest thing this year is Breakout Boxes. They were all over both conventions I went to. It’s sort of like those escape the room challenges–you have a locked box., with a variety of locks. You have a clues to opening the locks. A timer is going, and— Start! It’s super fun, and I say that not just because my group at TASL Road Trip East was the first to breakout…

It’s also great educationally. The “clues” can relate to whatever curriculum. Math problems that reveal the numbers for a dial-lock. History questions with a year for a four digit lock. Science or geography might unlock a directional lock. There are a lot of possibilities. And did I mention fun? There’s lots of motivation here.

And the big surprise? When we got the first one open, there were TWO more inside to break into! (Which I somehow didn’t get a picture of–I was in too much of a hurry to WIN.)