Lamb to the Slaughter Escape Room

A fully resourced, detective-themed escape room for studying Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. Perfect for S1-S3 English, cover lessons, end-of-term activities or revision lessons. Includes printable evidence cards, coded messages, clue hunts, witness statements, detective slides and final lock code challenge.

This engaging and highly visual lesson transforms your classroom into a crime scene investigation where pupils work in teams to uncover the truth behind Patrick Maloney’s murder. Pupils complete a series of linked detective tasks including sequencing evidence, decoding secret messages, analysing witness statements and examining police evidence to crack the final code before time runs out.

The resource is designed to feel immersive and exciting while still encouraging close reading, inference, sequencing and analytical thinking skills.

Included:

Teacher instruction slide
Intro escape room slide
Printable witness statement
Evidence timeline cards
Coded message task
Evidence bag challenge
Final clue cards
“Resources to Print” slide
Fully themed detective-style PowerPoint slides
Printable evidence materials
Final lock code challenge

Perfect for:

Secondary English
End of unit lessons
Fun Friday activities
Cover lessons
Reading comprehension
Group work
Escape room activities
Roald Dahl study
Lamb to the Slaughter analysis

The lesson works particularly well as a high-engagement final lesson after finishing the story and requires very little preparation beyond printing and hiding clues around the classroom.