APS Phones-Away Classrooms: Printable Escape Rooms for Review Days
APS Phones-Away Classrooms: Printable Escape Rooms for Review Days
A review period in an Albuquerque Public Schools classroom can run well with every phone switched off and no devices handed out. The Classroom Escape Room Bundle holds five printable rooms for Grades 2–10: one in history, one in physics, one in statistics and two built around soccer and math. Teams crack puzzles on paper, so the attention a screen would take goes into the task instead.
See the five escape roomsFor an APS classroom where phones stay off and out of sight, the Classroom Escape Room Bundle ($49.99) is a set of five printable escape rooms: a history room, a physics room on levers and pulleys, a data analysis room on statistics with a World Cup 2026 theme, and two soccer-themed math rooms. They cover Grades 2–10, run without devices, and suit review days or the last day before a break. Nothing in them is written for New Mexico.
The resources
Classroom Escape Room Bundle, Grades 2–10
5 resources in one download: $49.99 instead of $77.95 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Classroom Escape Room Bundle | History, Physics, Data and Math Escape Rooms | Grades 2–10
Middle School History Units Bundle | Black Death, Peasants, Pompeii, Industrialization, Migration & U.S. Presidents | 9 Resources | Grades 7–9
Grades 3–5 Test Prep Bundle | ELA and Math Toolkits, Daily Practice & Warm-Ups | Grades 3–5
Elementary Sub Plans & Emergency Lessons Bundle | 50 No-Prep Lessons, Daily ELA, Math Warm-Ups & Escape Room | Grades 1–5
The real problem
What the APS phone rule changes in a review lesson
Albuquerque Public Schools bans phone use during instructional time, with limited exceptions. Phones are supposed to be powered off and out of sight for the school day, and how strictly that is enforced varies from one school to the next. Taylor Middle School has gone further since 2021, with students putting phones into storage boxes until their last period ends. Behind the district rule sits New Mexico's SB 11, signed on April 10, 2025, which requires every public school district and charter school to adopt a wireless communication device policy for class time. For a teacher, the practical effect shows up on review days. Many quick review formats lean on a phone or a laptop, such as a quiz app or a shared slide everyone edits. Take the phone away and the period can turn into a stack of worksheets that half the class finishes in ten minutes. What works better is a task that needs talk, sorting and checking with a partner, on paper, with a clear finish line. An escape room fills that gap, provided its content matches what your class has studied.
Why it fits
Why paper escape rooms suit a phones-away room
Each of the five rooms is printable and built for groups, which is what a device-free period needs.
- All five escape rooms are printable, so the lesson does not depend on phones, laptops or log-ins.
- The History Escape Room gives social studies classes a review day built on puzzles instead of screens.
- The Physics Escape Room on levers and pulleys works as a closing activity after a simple machines unit.
- The Data Analysis Escape Room uses a World Cup 2026 theme to practice statistics and critical thinking on paper.
- Two soccer-themed math escape rooms give younger or mixed groups a math review with a clear goal.
- The Grades 2–10 range lets one purchase serve an elementary teacher and a middle school colleague.
Getting started
Running a device-free escape room period
How a first run might go. Stretch or shorten each part to fit your bell schedule and your school's phone routine.
- Pick the room that matches your unitChoose history, physics, data or soccer math based on what the class has just finished. Read through the room yourself first so you know where groups are likely to stall.
- Print one set per teamPrint and sort the pages for each group of three or four before students arrive. Envelopes or folders help keep each set together, but you supply them yourself.
- Settle phones before the clock startsFollow your school's routine, whether that is phones off in bags or a storage box at the door, so nobody is reaching for one in the middle of a puzzle.
- Step back while teams workWalk the room and listen more than you talk. Offer a clue only after a group has tried several ideas, so students explain the content to each other instead of waiting for you.
- Debrief before the bellUse the final minutes to ask which puzzle slowed each team down and why. The answers show which content needs another look before the next quiz or unit test.
What to buy
Which bundle to buy for your classroom
The Classroom Escape Room Bundle at $49.99 is the right buy if you want device-free review days across subjects; the five rooms bought separately cost $77.95. A Grades 7–9 history teacher who needs whole topic units, not just a review game, should look at the Middle School History Units Bundle ($74.99): nine resources on the Black Death, Pompeii, industrialization and more, with the History Escape Room among them. Grades 3–5 teachers preparing for spring testing may get more from the Grades 3–5 Test Prep Bundle ($64.99). Elementary teachers who need days covered can add the Elementary Sub Plans & Emergency Lessons Bundle ($69.99).
Honest limits
Where the escape rooms fall short
The escape rooms are not written for New Mexico and contain no New Mexico standards codes, so check each room against your course and grade level before you plan around it. Each room reviews content; none of them teaches a topic from the start, and the history room will not match every APS course. You supply printing, envelopes and anything else for the setup. The licence covers your own classes, so a department that wants to share the rooms should write to Teach Lessons beforehand. Within 7 days of purchase you can swap the bundle for store credit of equal value if it does not suit you.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this bundle aligned with New Mexico standards or approved by APS?
It is not. Nothing in the bundle is aligned with, endorsed by or approved by the New Mexico Public Education Department or Albuquerque Public Schools, and it was written for classrooms in any state. Look at the content of each room and hold it up against the standards and the course your school uses before you rely on it for a specific grade.
Does any part of it need student phones or computers?
No device use is required by the product description. The rooms are printable and students work on paper. If you want to project instructions or show a timer, you can use your own classroom screen, but the puzzles themselves run without student devices, which is what an APS phone-free period needs.
Which grades can actually use these rooms?
The bundle covers Grades 2–10 as a whole, but not every room suits every grade. The soccer-themed math rooms fit younger students more naturally, while the data analysis room on statistics and the physics room on levers and pulleys suit middle grades and up. Preview each room before you choose one for your class.
Can I use it at Taylor Middle or another school with phone storage boxes?
Yes. The rooms do not depend on your school's phone routine at all. Whether students drop phones in a storage box, keep them off in a backpack or follow another rule, the escape room runs the same way because everything happens on paper. Nothing needs to be charged or connected.
How long does one escape room take?
The product does not state a fixed time. A reasonable plan is one class period per room, with a few minutes for setup and a short debrief at the end. Read the room in advance and decide whether your group needs more time or extra hints.
How do I get the files after I buy?
Everything arrives as a digital download. A link reaches your inbox as soon as the order goes through, and the same files wait in your customer account under Orders. You can print a room the same afternoon and run it the next morning if that suits your plan.
Set up a screen-free review this month
The product page shows what is in each of the five rooms, so you can choose the one closest to the unit you are finishing.
See the five escape rooms