By Lori Hood
If there is one thing I’ve learned as the parent of children with a sizeable age gap between them, it’s that finding an activity to do as a family can be an exercise in futility. Inevitably, one of them will spend the majority of the time whining, complaining, or staring at their phone so intently that they’re oblivious to what’s going on around them.
I don’t want to brag or anything, but I believe I have finally cracked the code – I’ve found something that appeals to everyone.
It’s called an escape room and the person at the front desk is the one that breaks it to your offspring that phones are strictly prohibited, leaving you to shrug sympathetically (yet completely insincerely as you laugh in your best evil genius voice in your head).
“A secret intelligence agency has taken over your elevator and tasked your group of regular, plainclothes civilians with a mission. You’re being sent deep underground to investigate the labs of an evil weapons corporation who have been making dangerous and unexplainable advancements that threaten the safety of humanity.”
That’s right, you start your mission in an elevator, and what an elevator is.
From the moment we entered and heard the door close behind us, we knew we were in for a good time.
As the elevator began to descend and the countdown timer started, our first clues were provided to us. This would prove to be the easiest task of the evening; the clues and tasks proved more and more challenging as the timer continued to count down and we moved through the seemingly never-ending spaces that lay ahead.
Want to convince your kids that they will indeed use that “stupid math” they’re taught in school? Take them to an escape room.
Have a kid who hates geography? Take them to an escape room!
Have a kid who wants to play video games all the time because “it’s the only fun thing” they get to do? TAKE THEM TO AN ESCAPE ROOM!
I can’t tell you much about The Extraction itself, but if I had to describe it, I’d say that if you threw all things sci-fi and Marvel into a blender, and then added a splash of Austin Powers for good measure, you would get an hour of fun the whole family can enjoy – even if you fail – like we did.
Newmarket’s Lori Hood is the mother of two children and does her best to get them out of the house as often as possible to explore local attractions and events, or just for a meal at one of their favourite restaurants.
