For several years, escape rooms have been all the rage in towns across the country. Some "glass box" museums hopped onto the bandwagon, but historic houses, like the one I direct have been slow to the starting line. 

We were asked by a local 4th/5th grade teacher of the gifted to create a program for her students on the Pilgrims.  She likes that we don't sugar-coat history and do use lots of primary sources in our programs. So, we are creating the Mayflower Escape Room inside the historic house!  Clues and boxes will involve everything from how the English viewed the Native Americans to who was actually in the "New World" BEFORE the Pilgrims, what the Pilgrims may have brought with them, and who on the Mayflower was actually a Separatist and who wasn't. 

Presently we are in development for the Escape Room.  Watch this group for a report on what sources we used and how it worked out! 

We are using ideas from this site for puzzle ideas. https://www.activehistory.co.uk/

This site has links to some wonderful primary sources and transcriptions of original sources:  http://mayflowerhistory.com/primary-sources-and-books

Pilgrim Hall has images of some of the personal items owned by the Pilgrims: https://www.pilgrimhall.org/ce_17_century.htm

John Smith's 1616 map of New England: https://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/8500/8504/8504.htm

Bartholomew Gosnold's exploration of New England:  http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/bartholomew-gosnold-the-founding-grandfather-of-the-13-colonies-and-namer-of-cape-cod/

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