An escape room designed to encourage children to make healthier food choices has been delivered to schools across Lowestoft this spring.
The idea to create the interactive escape room was developed and delivered by East Coast College to help primary school children learn about which foods are considered healthy and unhealthy, with funding from East Suffolk Council’s Lowestoft and Northern Parishes Community Partnership.
The interactive game, themed around healthy eating, is made up of a series of educational puzzles designed for children to complete in teams. Activities such as word searches, quizzes and obstacle courses aim to teach children about the health benefits of having a nutritious diet as well as the negative effects that processed, sugary and salty foods can have on the body.
With 46% of primary school children in the Harbour and Kirkley area considered overweight or obese according to the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), the project was delivered as part of the Community Partnership’s commitment to improving physical health.
Cllr Paul Ashdown, Chair of East Suffolk Council’s Lowestoft and Northern Parishes Community Partnership, said: “It was fantastic to see how engaged children were with the escape room and seeing them immersed in the challenges to help them learn about the importance of healthy eating, as well as giving them the opportunity to practise vital teamwork and leadership skills.
“One of our partnership’s priorities is to improve physical health so we were eager to deliver a project that would engage with children from a young age to encourage them to make healthier food choices. By creating an interactive and immersive game the team hope to help children to build positive relationships with food and to take what they’ve learnt into their daily lives and home to their families.”
Children from five Lowestoft primary schools took part in the project; Poplars Primary School, Northfield St Nicholas Primary School, March Corton Church of England Primary School, St Margaret’s Primary School and Roman Hill Primary School. Backed by £5,000 in funding, the sessions were delivered to Year Five pupils either at their school or at Lowestoft Sixth Form, and were led by Sam Lee, college innovator at Lowestoft Sixth Form.
All children who took part were given a certificate and a slow cooker recipe cookbook to share with their families, helping to encourage them to prepare healthy, home-cooked meals.