The Boy finished 5th grade and graduated Elementary School!
It feels a bit like a punch in my mama gut. Six years of elementary school flew by! I’m so proud of him and so happy that he’s excited to go to middle school, but I just need him to stop the growing he’s doing and stay little for awhile longer.
No? Not going to happen?
Well then, as tradition goes at our school, a celebration for this milestone was about to happen and I am grateful that the PTO asked me to co-chair the event.
I teamed up with my lovely, hilarious, hard working and imaginative friend, Heather, to throw an awesome celebration for this class of 2017!
Heather is the owner and creative genius behind Respond if you please, a sweet little shop in my town of Southbury, Connecticut offering invitations, announcements, favors and gifts for all of life’s celebrations.
And can I just tell you, without sounding too corny, we just get each other.
This was our first time working together to co-chair an event and our energy and enthusiasm match. Our creative juices bubble over when you put us across from each other at a table to plan. A 15 minute meeting turns into a few hours of non-stop over-the-top discussions, visions and ideas that most people would call us crazy for. Our sense of humor keeps us sane even when the most unexpected circumstances are thrown at us. And there were plenty.
First up, we needed a theme. Without giving it a second thought, we wanted to do an Escape Room for the 5th graders. “Escape to Middle School” was going to be full of fun for the students.
And since this year marked 50 years since Pomperaug Elementary School opened, we decided that the setting for our Escape Rooms should be classrooms and school supplies through the last 5 decades.
With a tight budget to keep in mind and a tricky space to host our party (the school gym), our imaginations (and our texting) were on overload for a good 2 months.
To help focus the planning and organizing, we went with a patriotic color theme.
Star-shaped paper plates worked as a backdrop to the 5th graders’ adorable kindergarten photos. These plates also helped divide the kids into small groups since each plate had a team number on it. 
Generous parents donated their pop-up tents which served as “classrooms” in our gym. 
We hit up local thrift stores and consignment shops for props and all things classroom related. We shopped dollar stores, Goodwill, and even the home of Heather’s parents. We enlisted the help of some strong moms to find and borrow school furniture from an unused room in the building. 
After their future Middle School Principal, the “Game Master,” announced the rules and objectives it was time to start.
Each room focused on a school subject matter and the students had to cooperatively solve a series of tasks and brain teasers in that room.
Our clues and tasks were printed on festive stationary from Heather’s shop, pulling the patriotic color theme into those classrooms. 
The final task in each classroom led them to a code or a key, where the kids unlocked a box to discover a letter of the alphabet. 5 classrooms meant 5 letters were collected. Those letters spelled EAGLE.
EAGLE. Pomperaug Elementary School’s mascot and the beautiful legacy gift that would live forever in the school’s garden. This Eagle sculpture that these students raised money for was revealed to them and it held the final clue.
The final clue lead them to the concluding code hidden on their t-shirts that would unlock the red box that sat as a teaser in the middle of the gym.
The big red box that held 70 school locks.
70 school locks for these (perhaps, slightly anxious) 70 5th graders that were off to Middle School to use personal lockers for the first time.
The excitement on these graduates’ faces once they “escaped” these rooms and earned a lock for summer practice was simply priceless!
Any great party has festive food and drinks too. The spirited snack table showcased some All-American treats like freshly made popcorn, lemonade, and even root beer floats.
The graduates enjoyed their treats while watching a video of memorable pictures from their elementary days.
And finally, the yearbooks were set up for the students to sign at the end of the party.
I think these soon-to-be 6th graders left smiling, set for summer vacation, and ready to tackle middle school!
(And hey, Heather…we did it!!!)
Check out Respond if you please on Facebook!
T-shirts designed and made by Logoz Custom Apparel.
What a fantastic idea for a graduation party! I love how you incorporated fun activities that really capture the essence of middle school. The decorations sound adorable, and I’m sure the kids will have a blast! Thanks for sharing such creative inspiration!
What a fantastic idea for a graduation party! I love how you incorporated the Middle School theme with fun activities and decorations. The kids must have had an incredible time celebrating this milestone. Thanks for sharing such inspiring tips!
What a creative way to celebrate a 5th grade graduation! I love the theme and all the fun activities you included. The decorations sound amazing and I can already picture all the smiles on the kids’ faces. Thanks for sharing such inspiring ideas!
I happen to come across your site while researching 5th grade send off party activities. This looks amazing! Great job putting it together! I was curious. How long did it take for the students to get all the clues to unveil the final prize?
Thanks so much!
What a fun and creative way to celebrate a 5th grade graduation! I love the idea of incorporating a Middle School theme with activities that prepare the kids for what’s coming next. The decorations sound amazing, and it’s great to see the kids feeling that sense of accomplishment. Can’t wait to see more party ideas like this!
I’m planning our end of year celebration for the 5th graders and would love to get ideas from your amazing party! I’m so impressed!! I’m going to share the idea with a planning group this evening. Please let me know if you are willing to share your stations and creative puzzles. Thank you!
Hi, is there any chance you still have the escape room resources available? This is such a terrific idea!
Would you be willing to share the resources you used for each escape room?? I love this idea! Looking for something to do with my 5th graders this year.
Love this!! I know I’m late to the party, but I sent an email too…I’d love the details to this amazing game
This is incredible, I am in awe of your creativity! My son is graduating 5th grade this spring and I’m dying to do an escape party. Can’t wait to pass this on to the committee.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING! 🙂
Oh my goodness this is the most amazing thing! Americans know how to do it!! I live in NZ and we are way more low key but my son would have LOVED something like this. What an incredible memory made by you and your team. The kids will never forget it! My son graduates tomorrow and so I’m just skimming some Mum ideas and this caught my eyes. Just so so epic! You should feel so proud of the life you are making for your kids, they are so lucky! Thanks for sharing so well
We’re doing the same activity for my son’s 5th grade celebration. Would you be willing to share in more details the tasks and brain teasers they had to accomplish at each station?
Yes, please send me a message at [email protected]. Thanks!
I would love this information as well. I love this idea. I just sent you an email.
Oh my gosh this is just what our school needs! We are trying to bring our 6th grade party back to the school vs off-site at a bounce place. Can we get a copy of your clues? )👍🏻
Hi! By chance, do you have the clues available to share or purchase?
Awesome party planning! May I ask you what size budget you were working with?
Thank you! I believe our budget was 500 but we were able to keep costs lower since we hit up thrift stores and had food donated from parents.
Where did you order the locks from?
We collected the locks from local Dollar stores.
Love it! I am not a creative bug. This is one dream escape room party. How many students attended this ? We would have at least 140 kids and we have a small budget too. Can I please get your email ?
Thank you! If I recall this was for about 75 kids. You can message me anytime! [email protected]
Hello,
I also love this theme and am working on a very small budget. We have about 120 students. We are also only doing snacks but Love the Root Beer float idea.
My favorite decor is the round paper decorations that are accordion folded, and the paper plates with the students’ pictures are such a clever idea! What a fun party!
Love the Escape Room theme! Great party 🙂
OMG – how lucky is your son’s school to have you!? I LOVE the plates with the pictures on the wall – great idea. You did a great job 🙂
Aw-thank you!
What a FUN party!! My daughter graduates from 5th grade in a few weeks too. They get to have a pool party at the community pool. Still in shock she is going to middle school next year:)
This is such a cute idea! I love that the kids were working cooperatively and that they got a useful party favor.
Thank you! They worked really hard and remained enthusiastic the whole time. It was cool!
What a fun party!! I love that they all got their own lock; always a good idea to practice before going to school!
Lauren
This is SOOOOOO cute! I had a student that was obsessed with escape rooms. We wanted to do one as a fundraiser, but admin wouldn’t let us. It looks like you all had a blast. Love the practice locks as a party favor – I bet they felt so grown up!
Thank you, Heather!! The kids loved the locks and my son has been practicing all summer! We pushed the fact that the kids would be working cooperatively and using critical thinking skills so our party was enthusiastically supported. 🙂
That is awesome! You two are so creative! Looking forward to what you come up with for the next one ????
Thanks, Sara! Heather and I have already been talking about the Class of 2019! Lol!
Wow how cool is that??? The kids must have absolutely loved it! Amazing job!
Thanks, Caitlin! The kids seemed to love it…it was something different than the typical celebrations at school!
I love this so much!! I am a huge escape room fan plus a mom and former teacher so this touched my heart! My mom was a big participant in our school growing up, so I had to read this to her because it sounded like the things she loved doing. Fantastic job!
Thank you for the wonderful compliments! I am grateful I could be a part of my son’s 5th grade celebration!
I bet this was a ton of fun! What a great idea to come up with an Escape party for middle schoolers. Neat idea! 🙂
Thanks! It sure was fun!! Worth every minute of planning!
A) Escape rooms are awesome
B) Parties that become escape rooms are awesomer
C) Escape room parties for kids “escaping” to middle school is the best idea I’ve ever heard!
Genius.
Boom! I agree, Jen! Thanks for the fun feedback! The party was a hit!
What an amazing, thoughtful, fun, and memorable party for these kids!! The locks at the end were awesome. Way to go Jen (and Heather!). You are so so good at this.
Thank you, Dawn!! It was a lot of fun to plan this party and then see it all come together!