100th Day of School Escape Room, Grades 1-2, Hundred Gumballs Count-Up, Printable

Designed by Creouts Publishing using original prompt(s) and AI (Claude by Anthropic). Illustrations made with AI image tools. Every puzzle is computer-checked to have exactly one answer.

THE HUNDRED GUMBALLS COUNT-UP: a 100th Day of School math escape room game for Grade 1 and Grade 2
Pobbin the quokka keeps the little sweet shop beside the golden pyramid. On the 100th Day, the giant gumball machine is locked: it opens only when it holds exactly 100 gumballs. But this morning, pop! The lid flew off and gumballs bounced everywhere. Six counting stations each give a crew ONE number. In the Hundred Machine the six numbers fill a math pyramid that must make exactly 100. Then the lock opens and the golden gumball rolls out: which cup does it drop into?

THIS IS A PRINTABLE ESCAPE ROOM GAME for a classroom or for 1 to 4 children at home. It is not a book and not a worksheet pack: crews solve six picture puzzles, check every number on a Hundred Chart that catches the usual slips, and open one last lock together. Everything is paper: no padlocks or boxes needed. A grown-up reads Pobbin's short lines aloud; every rule is also drawn in a LOOK box.

TWO WAYS TO PLAY (60 to 75 minutes, or two sessions)
- All together (best for Grade 1): every crew does the same station at the same time, with the station's slide on the board
- Station rotation (Grade 2): six stations around the room, every crew starts at a different one
- Warm-up, Hundred Hunt: which jars hold exactly 100? (tubes of ten and loose gumballs)
- The Hundred Chart Check: the right number shows that station's fruit, and a number one, two or ten off never does
- The Hundred Machine: write each number in its brick, fill the empty bricks, and the top must make exactly 100. With one wrong number it never does, so crews find their own slips. Then the golden gumball rolls to the bigger number each time
- The cup lock: tap the cup on the projector slide (a picture lock), hand out golden gumball cards and certificates

TWO LEVELS, ONE ANSWER KEY
- One Gumball cards, Grade 1: tens and ones to 100 (ten loose make a new ten), count on by 2s, a picture graph with three colors, ten more and one more on the hundred chart, dimes and pennies as tens and ones, add within 20
- Two Gumballs cards, Grade 2: hundreds, tens and ones, count back by 5s, a bar graph with four kinds and a two-step question, several moves on the hundred chart, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies and the change from a gumball, a secret value in a math pyramid, take away within 100
- Both levels of a station give the SAME number, so a mixed 1-2 class plays side by side and you check everyone with one key

SEVEN KINDS OF PUZZLE
- 2 kinds of math pyramid puzzle: the Gumball Stack (bottom bricks are worth their gumballs; every brick is the two under it added) and the Hundred Machine (a pyramid that must make 100, then a roll-down path to the bigger number)
- 5 picture puzzles: Tubes of Ten, Counting Ramps, Gumball Graph, Sticky Chart (a torn hundred chart) and Coin Cup
- 2 more kinds of math pyramid are in the free bonus folder: the Odd-Even Run (a Pyramid Maze) and the Hundred Tower (a take-away pyramid to 100), with two more Grade 2 challenges: 4 kinds of math pyramid puzzle in all
- Stations are numbered from the easiest to the hardest

SKILLS PRACTICED
Counting to 100, tens and ones, hundreds, skip counting by 2s and 5s, the hundred chart (ten more, ten less, one more), picture graphs and bar graphs, comparing numbers, coins and making change, adding within 20 and 100, taking away within 100, finding an unknown. A skills page lists the US Common Core codes for Grade 1 and Grade 2 (a planning guide; not endorsed by the standards' authors).

WHAT YOU GET (instant download, 4 PDF files)
- Full kit, US Letter (41 pages)
- Full kit, A4 (41 pages)
- Projector slides, 16:9 (18 slides: story, mission, warm-up, the Hundred Chart Check, a slide for every station, move signal, the Hundred Machine, a tap-the-cup picture lock, answers)
- Tablet edition with tap-to-jump hint and answer buttons (classroom play needs the printed cards)
- Free bonus folder (QR code inside): The 101st Gumball (4 Grade 2 early-finisher cards with answers and hints) and ink-saver editions of every page

INSIDE THE KIT
- For the teacher: what to print and how many, two ways to play, a 75-minute and a 60-minute plan, a step-by-step script, skills, a 3-page answer key with solved pictures, 3-step hint cards for every puzzle
- For every crew: story page, Hundred Chart Check, Count-Up Card with three help tokens, crew badges, warm-up card
- For the room: six full-color station signs
- The puzzles: 12 station cards (six stations, two levels) and two Hundred Machine cards
- To finish: golden gumball cards, two-up certificates with type-in names, a color-100-gumballs page

YOU WILL NEED
Printer (color looks best; ink-saver pages are in the bonus folder), paper, pencils, crayons, scissors and tape. About 25 minutes to print and set up the first time. Base-ten rods, a class hundred chart or real coins are a bonus, not a must.

GOOD TO KNOW
- Digital download only: nothing is shipped.
- Print at 100% (actual size), single-sided.
- Play times are plans, not promises: young children vary a lot. Hints keep every crew moving.
- Not tested with a class: it was solved and set up from the printed pages alone by separate AI sessions, and their notes were acted on.
- Made for the 100th Day of School, and it works any day for a numbers-to-100 unit, math centers, review or a math club.
- The coins are US coins drawn plainly, each with its value printed on it. Pobbin's gumballs are vegan fruit gumballs; no real candy needed.
- Not suitable for children under 3 (small cut-out parts). Adults do the cutting.
- Love math pyramids? Creouts Publishing also publishes math pyramid puzzle books in paperback (search "Creouts Publishing" on Amazon).

LICENSE
For one teacher's own classes, or one family or club. Print as many copies as you need for your own children. No resale, sharing, uploading or claiming as your own; no AI training.

Digital files cannot be returned.