World War 2 Escape Room Activity: Code Breakers & the Secret War
Students learn how WW2 was fought in the shadows, then decode the top-secret D-Day invasion plans.
It’s the spring of 1944, and your students have just been recruited into a top-secret Allied code-breaking unit. The biggest invasion in history is coming, and the most important message of the war has been split into six coded pieces.
To put it back together, they’ll have to learn how spies, code breakers, and clever deceptions helped win WW2.
This exciting “escape room” style lesson is a simple print-and-go lesson that doesn’t need locks, boxes, or complicated prep. Just print the readings, set up six stations around the room, and let the code breaking begin.
The lesson includes 6 illustrated readings to use as stations, where students learn about:
- Enigma and Bletchley Park
- Alan Turing and the First Computers
- The Battle of Midway
- The Navajo Code Talkers
- Spies and the OSS
- The Ghost Army and the D-Day Deception
Each station has 4 questions that ask Who, What, Where, and Why & How. Students fill in their answers on a special worksheet, one letter per box. Certain letters are highlighted, and once students finish a station, they unscramble those letters to decode one piece of the secret message.
After visiting all six stations, they put the pieces together to discover exactly where and when the Allies will land on D-Day!
It’s a great fit for both U.S. History and World History classes, covering American, British, and Native American contributions to the secret war, with real stories students won’t find in most textbooks.
Here’s everything included in your PDF download:
- 6 illustrated station readings
- Station question cards
- Student escape room worksheet
- Printable and Google Slides directions
- Google Doc versions of the readings and worksheet
- Teacher notes with tips and an extension activity
- Complete answer key
Your students will love the challenge of cracking the code while learning about the secret side of World War 2.
