If your kids loves adventures, puzzles and challenges, then they're going to love escape rooms.
A popular activity for the whole family, escape rooms are group adventures where you're 'locked' in a room as a team. You then have to crack codes, solve puzzles, play games and work together to escape the room before your time's up.
Great brain-scratching fun, most escape rooms have a theme – anything from Ancient Egypt and wizarding wonderlands to spies and bank heists. They're usually indoors, too, so perfect for a rainy day.
Can kids play escape rooms?
Most escape rooms are suitable for ages 10+ so they're great for tweens and older kids.
And there are plenty of escape rooms that are designed with younger kids in mind , too. These have easier games and puzzles and there are no frights, surprises or blood and gore. Some are even suitable for kids as young as five.
Most venues list the difficulty level of their rooms and the age they're suitable for on their websites. if you're unsure, give them a ring before visiting. They'll be able to talk you through the room, what's involved and its suitability for children.
Think your family has what it takes to crack the codes and beat the clock? Check out these brilliant UK escape rooms for kids.
1. CyberQ, Worcester, age 5+
There are a number of different escape games to choose from at CyberQ but if you've got younger kids, The Virus Man is a good first choice.
The game can be adapted to suit kids as young as five and involves a cartoon super-villan – Virus Man. You'll need to complete games and tasks to stop him spreading his virus across the world!
Kids will also love the Alice in Worcesterland game. Aimed at beginners and younger players, it involves solving puzzles to find Alice, who's gone missing in a magical world.
2. Si5 Spy Missions, across country, age 6+
At Spy Missions, there are two missions specially designed for kids.
Operation: Malice's Revenge is for kids aged 6-7. As undercover spies, they'll explore a ship, clambering through tunnels and vents searching for secret codes and buttons as they battle to save the world.
For kids aged 8+, there's Operation: Shadow Force. Using a top-secret hovercraft they'll board a ship, dodge lasers, solve puzzles and crack safes to complete their mission.
Spy Missions also does kids parties and there's a family mission so you can all play together, too. Choose from six different venues including Cambridge , Nottingham and London .
3. Escape Rooms Scotland, Dundee, age 8+
Kids aged eight and over will have a blast at Escape Rooms , where three of the four rooms are kid friendly.
There's Black Pearl, where you're immersed in a world of pirates and buccaneers aboard an 18th-century pirate ship. In Gold Rush, you'll explore an underground cave and escape back to the surface, while in C.A.R.A you'll rescue an artificial life from from a secret lab.
4. The Panic Room, Gravesend, age 8+
One of the UK's largest Escape Room venues, there are 20 different rooms to choose from at The Panic Room in Kent.
Most rooms are suitable for kids aged eight and over, but the Marvellous Magic School is specially designed to be family friendly. As a group of wizards, you need to help your friend who has been turned into an owl and locked in a cage by the stern headmaster! Can you help them escape?
5. Blackout Escape Rooms, Milton Keynes, age 8+
The Candy Shop room at Blackout Escape Rooms is a sweet treat, designed for families with kids aged eight and over.
Jessie Jelly has locked away the secret ingredients for her world-famous chocolate bar. But she can't remember where she put them. Can your family help? If you've got older kids (who don't scare easily) they might enjoy the Hostage room, too. It's suitable for ages 12 and above.
6. Escape Hunt, across UK, age 8+
Escape Hunt has 13 different venues across the UK, including Basingstoke and Norwich . There are a number of rooms suitable for ages eight and above. Try stepping onto a pirate galleon in Blackbeard's Treasure, escaping from a mysterious cave in Aladdin, or get your brain working in Alice in Puzzleland.
Some sites also offer magical outdoor escapes that kids will enjoy and Virtual Reality Escape Rooms (VR suitable for ages 12+).
7. Locked in a Room, across UK, all ages
Locked in a Room has five escape room venues including Bristol and Southampton. While there's no age limit (even babies are welcome), the best room for kids is Jungle. Available in the Bristol venue, it's the easiest of the rooms where you'll visit a rainforest to try and find jungle treasure.
8. Prison Island Belfast, all ages
Prison Island is an escape room with a difference, you have to solve a series of challenges in themed prison cells! It's loads of fun with giant balls to clamber over, walls to push and loads more. The cells aren't locked and kids aged nine and above can play as a team without an adult. Kids above six can play too, as long as they're in a group with an adult, so it's perfect for families.
9. LockHouse Escape Games, Cambridge, all ages
While all ages are allowed in all games at LockHouse , the Egyptian Tomb is recommended as being most suitable for families and beginners. Make your way through an ancient tomb and help find a missing archaeologist, without getting locked in!
10. The Crystal Maze Live Experience, Manchester and London, age 9+
Take part in your own version of TV show The Crystal Maze at the Manchester and London venues. Don bomber jackets and work as a team to solve mysteries, test your skills, win crystals and unlock zones. It's suitable for ages nine and up and there are four adventure zones to discover, Industrial, Futuristic, Medieval and Aztec.
11. Aim Escape Rooms, London, age 10+
Aim Escape in East London has four different rooms, with Spy Heroes being the most family friendly.
Suitable for kids aged 10+, you'll go undercover to find your friend who's gone missing. Using cunning, speed, daring and lots of cool gadgets, you'll search his abandoned restaurant for clues. Will you find him?
Aim Escape also offers outdoor games, including The Magic Portal, suitable for kids aged eight and over.
12. Department of Magic, Edinburgh, age 10+
Older kids and Harry Potter fans are going to love the Department of Magic . Take part in one of two quests, Prophecies Quest and Dark Lord Resurrection, and solve magical puzzles, brainteasers and riddles to save the wizarding world!
Love Harry Potter? Check out our recommendations for top Harry Potter-themed days out
13. Can You Escape?, Edinburgh and York, age 10+
With venues in both Edinburgh and York , Can You Escape? has won a Best Family Day Out award and is suitable for kids aged 10 and above – or clever younger kids.
In York, the easiest room is Operation Lone Eagle, where a doctor has been working on a machine that will erase people's memories.
In Edinburgh, it's Operation Odyssey, where The International Space Station has been hit by a devastating meteor impact.
14. Enigma Quests, London, age 10+
There are no age restrictions at Enigma Quests , but it's probably best suited to kids aged over 10. Choose from three different quests including diffusing a bomb on a submarine, graduating from magic school, or navigating tight security to carry off a massive bank heist.
15. The Escapologist, Yorkshire, age 10+
With venues in Leeds , Castleford and Selby, The Escapologist makes a great Yorkshire day out with older kids. Themed rooms vary between each site but you can expect adventures such as The Gunpowder Plot, Mr McGoo’s Chocolicious Emporium, Sherlocked In, Frozen In Time, Almost Alice, and the magical All In A Muggle!
16. Adventure Rooms Wales, Cardiff and Bridgend, age 10+
The Adventure Rooms at Cardiff and Bridgend are perfect for nervy kids as there's nothing too frightening to worry about, the age limit here is based solely on the puzzles. The Mad Scientist themed room is specifically aimed at newbies and a younger audience, so is perfect to do as a family. You've got 60 minutes … the clock's ticking!
17. Escape, Across UK, age 10+
With venues across the UK, including Newcastle and Leicester, Escape have a choice of rooms suitable for kids aged 10 and up. While rooms vary across venues, most feature a Witchcraft & Wizardry room, where families can explore magical settings to find a hidden wand.
18. Escape Room Centre, Blackpool, age 10+
At these seaside escape rooms you've got eight different adventures to choose from all rated by difficulty. Two of the easier rooms are those that will also appeal to kids: Grand School of Sorcery – a wizarding adventure full of puzzles and potions and Egyptian – you have 60 minutes to escape an ancient pyramid. Can you do it?
19. Breakout, Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, ages 10+
Visit one of Breakout's North West venues including Manchester , and take on a number of puzzles from Cursed Carnival to the Emporium of Magic. There's also a Wild West themed Most Wanted Adventure. Rooms can vary between sites so make sure you check before booking.
20. Tulleys Escape Rooms and Games, Crawley and Hatton, ages 12+
If you've got older kids or teens and fancy something a bit trickier, head to Tulleys Escape Rooms in Crawley or Hatton . The games are suitable for ages 12 and above, although younger kids can join in too, as long as there's an adult in the team. One of our favourite games is Mutiny with its swashbuckling pirates and stolen treasure; it's perfect for families and beginners.
21. Operation Sabotage, National Museum of Flight, North Berwick, ages 14+
The year is 1942 and you are stationed at the RAF base at East Fortune. There has been an act of sabotage and one of the aircraft is unknowingly carrying live ordnance with instructions to bomb the town. Solve a series of fiendish puzzles to call off the flight and save North Berwick! Operation Sabotage is an escape room experience at the
National Museum of Flight
for 4-8 people that lasts up to an hour. Working together as a team, you must race against the clock in two Second World War-themed rooms to decipher the identity of the saboteur before it’s too late.
When: Until 9 Jul
Got any ideas for great places to take the kids? Let us know in the forum below…
Related stories
The best trampoline parks for kids in the UK
The best musicals for kids in the UK