Breakout Boxes Part 2 – Running a successful breakout box activity

April 8, 2018 Bryan

A great breakout activity reviews content in a fun, interesting, creative way. But for me, the development of soft skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, as well as listening skills, problem solving skills, perseverance, and empathy are more important because students can apply these intangibles in a wide range of situations.

Having done many breakout box activities, I have observed some best practices and some pitfalls that I hope you may benefit from before you do one on your own.

Pre-activity Preparation

Put the candy (or other prize) in the boxes. So frustrating to lock up your boxes and forget to put in the prize! And teachers, please don’t argue that the box doesn’t need a prize. Yes it does. Students who work hard enough to get into the box should have some kind of reward. What would Pavlov say!
Double check the locks. Make sure all the combinations have been reset correctly. Check out my Part I blog post for more tips on this.
Lock the locks and spin/clear the combos. Reset the directional lock by pushing in the shackle twice and check that it is reset by pulling on it. It’s not an accomplishment if a student can simply pull on the lock and open it. Obviously, this defeats the purpose of the activity.
Double check the clues. Make sure all the clues are in tact, especially after doing multiple rounds with different classes. It’s easy to have papers get lost along the way. Paper clip the clues together or put them in a large envelope labeled with the team # or color matching the box labels. (e.g. Team 1, Team 2, or Blue Team, Red Team, etc…)
Make the groups. Teachers should think about the groups carefully depending on the dynamics of the class. Can this class sit with their friends and work effectively? Would they benefit from groups made up by personalities, leadership traits, or achievement levels? This should all be done BEFORE the students arrive. Getting in groups should NOT take more than 1 minute. If it does, precious instructional time is being wasted.

Pre-activity Instructions – Consider giving these instructions in this order before students start the activity.

Introduce the boxes. Show the students the boxes and explain how to open every lock without revealing the combination, of course. You don’t have to actually open the lock, but make sure students know how. For example, “To open the 4-digit lock, the numbers should be aligned down the edge. The directional lock should be reset by pressing the shackle in twice.” Don’t assume they know how to do this.
“Don’t guess, work the clues.” Many students are impatient (big surprise) and they rather spend time guessing the combinations rather than working the clues. Admonish the students that guessing is not a strategy for success. Make them aware of the 100’s to 1000’s of possible combinations for the locks.
Emphasize Teamwork. Students should be aware that a breakout activity isn’t just about the content, it’s also about teamwork. I ask them to think to themselves what team strategies they can use to be successful and what it means to them to be a good teammate. For 30 seconds, they reflect on this to be more mindful of how they should act in a team activity. I DO NOT tell them strategies because I want them to develop them on their own.
Distribute the boxes and clues. The students should be in their groups so have them pick one person to get the boxes and the clues. Make sure their desks are clear other than a pencil perhaps. If you are doing this activity with multiple classes, you may want to tell students to NOT write on the clues so they can easily be reused for the next class. In this case, provide scratch paper for showing work.

During the Activity Instructions

Answer questions with questions. As teachers, we all want to help our students, but sometimes we help too much which can foster an environment of enabled students who exhibit learned helplessness in the face of adversity rather than resilience and persistence. The struggle, the brainstorming, the grit are what we want students to develop by working through a breakout activity on their own. This is arguably just as important as knowing and applying the content embedded in the clues. When students ask a question about a clue, ask them what they’ve tried and what else they can try. Ask them if they’ve carefully read the directions. or consulted with all their teammates. I only help if the students don’t understand the directions or I may tell them one part of their answer is incorrect. I don’t tell them the correct answer. This can be hard for many teachers who feel they aren’t doing their job if they don’t tell students how to get the answer. Resist the urge so that the students feel a deep sense of accomplishment, empowerment, student agency, and self-efficacy when they figure it out.
Let them use their resources. In the “real” world, people who are solving problems don’t restrict themselves to their memory. They use textbooks, notes, other people’s expertise, and yes, the Internet! I know some teachers bristle at the notion of letting students take out their smartphones for any reason but is it realistic to ban this modern day source of infinite knowledge? Shouldn’t we teach students to use technology for learning rather than for just entertainment and social media? Who will teach them how to leverage the Internet properly to find important answers if we don’t do it? The only thing I prohibit is groups asking other groups for answers. This practice robs groups from practicing teamwork and persistence and fosters the notion that someone will bail them out when the task is too difficult.
Celebrate breaking out. As groups breakout, celebrate with student pictures holding the “We Broke Out” signs, high fives, and encouraging words. Don’t wait until every group is done breaking out to do this. If you have time, have a little conversation in which you ask questions that foster reflection such as “What was the most difficult (easiest) clue and why?”, “What was your groups’ strategy?”, or “What would you do differently next time?”

Post-Activity Suggestions

Return materials. After a group breaks out and the celebration has concluded, have them put all the locks (unlocked) back into the box and reassemble the clues into their original condition. Perhaps have another activity or reflection for the students to complete as other groups work on the boxes or just give them some free time to relax and enjoy their candy.
Reflect, reflect, reflect. Even though multiple studies have concluded that student self-reflection is incredibly effective in promoting learning and growth, it is this first thing teachers drop from their lesson plan — usually due to time constraints. Allocate some time to lead a discussion on what worked and what didn’t work. I like asking the students the following questions to debrief the whole class about their experience in the activity:
- “When you got your clues and opened them up, what team strategy did you use to solve the clues?” – This usually leads to a discussion that reveals multiple strategies that groups can listen to and learn from such as the divide-and-conquer strategy or the group think strategy. Many groups divide the clues between the members and work independently on them. Other groups all work on one clue at the same time to pool their knowledge and ideas. Some choose a hybrid approach in which pairs of students work a clue together. The students should understand that all of these strategies have merit. There is no right or wrong strategy aside from one or two people doing all the work.
- “What was the hardest clue and why?” – This gives students a chance to reflect on their approach to the most difficult question and how they could adjust their thinking next time to solve it faster. Of course, you can also ask about the easiest clue.
- “Think to yourself about how you worked within your group. How could you have been a better teammate?” – Many of the adolescents I teach can be self-centered and infallible in their eyes. Shocking, right? This question asks what could they do better to contribute to the team. I follow up with the question, “What does a good teammate do when they’re done with solving their clue?” In this attempt to develop mindfulness of others, I hope someone responds that he or she should go help his or her group members with another clue rather than simply disengage from them.
- “What would you do different for the next breakout box activity?” – Again, this question gets students reflecting on their overall strategy and experience including those aforementioned soft skills. Many students talk about listening better to each other, reading directions more carefully, or using their resources more effectively.

Breakout boxes are almost always an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. They are student-centered, highly engaging, and a great way to get students excited about your content. It’s nice when every group breaks out for their first experience. But as you do more of these activities, remember that not every group has to breakout (you can even impose a time limit). In my experience, some students actually thought the clues were too easy and they wanted the next activity to be harder. I think of it as buying a video game from the store and being able to win the game on the first try. Students will tell you that if that happened, the game would be considered boring and they would take it back. Students want to be challenged, so don’t feel like a breakout activity has failed if the clues are too difficult for everyone to solve in the time allotted.

Failure IS an option.

Many school systems dogmatically hold onto a mantra of every child succeeding everyday. But are we not doing our students a disservice by complicitly setting up an alternative reality in which they do not experience setbacks or failure? I think we are. Students can learn A LOT from failure, including how to deal with it emotionally and intellectually. If a student cannot handle failure, they will inevitably choose the easiest option available which will severely diminish their growth. Let them fail, reflect, learn, and fail again. And after they fail, show them that it isn’t the end of the world. Foster a growth mindset, not a fatalistic one.

If you missed the first part of this blog post, here it is:

Breakout Boxes Part 1 – What nobody told me about breakout boxes

I welcome your comments below. What are your experience using breakout boxes?