Tenses at the Orsay Museum – KS3-GCSE French Grammar Escape Room

A short cinematic escape room to explore the perfect, present and near future tenses inside the Musée d’Orsay. Tense recognition, cultural deduction, and hidden clues guide students through the museum. Their mission? To repair the great clock that has just stopped — and only the right tense choices can restore the mechanisms of time.

Students move through Orsay’s galleries solving quick grammar challenges, ordering cultural clues, and uncovering secret details hidden in the challenges. Each success aligns another cog in the mechanism, bringing them closer to the final repair.

What’s included

• Three concise, interactive challenges:
  • Tense identification (present / perfect / near future)
  • Chronological sequencing using artist-themed life events written in three tenses
  • Gap-fill narrative with hidden painting reveals

Plus:

• Optional revision carousel (snapshot review of the three tenses)
• Instant interactive feedback
• Teacher guidance page included
• Playable via link or QR code provided — no prep required
• Works as a bridging resource for KS3-GCSE (Y9–10)
• Approx. 10 minutes for GCSE groups / 15-20 minutes for Y9

Best played projected for the whole class with speakers switched on to complete the cinematic feel, though students can also complete it individually on their device. This is ideal as a plenary, revision burst, or end-of-term treat that still earns its curriculum place.

I hope your students have as much fun restoring the clock as I did creating this.

You might also like these grammar resources in my shop:

• Tenses at the Orsay Museum – KS3-GCSE French grammar worksheet
• French tenses – KS3-GCSE grammar mat
• Fun tense starters – KS3 French grammar warm-ups

© Part of the La belle étoile collection, Les clés du français series