🔐 The Fraction Vault

A Paper Escape Room Adventure for Ages 8–10

📖 The Story

Professor Puzzleton has invented the world's most amazing collection of mathematical treasures — and locked them inside The Fraction Vault. But disaster has struck! The professor has forgotten the 4-digit code to open it!

Somewhere in each of the four rooms of the vault, a clue is hidden. Solve the fraction puzzle in each room to reveal one digit of the code. Collect all four digits, unlock the vault, and save the treasures!

Your mission: Work through Stations 1 to 4. Write down your answer digit from each station. Then enter the final code to escape!

🖊️ You will need: a pencil and some scrap paper for working out.

🚪 STATION 1 — The Crystal Corridor

🔎 The Clue Scroll

"To pass through the Crystal Corridor, you must answer the riddle of the missing pieces."

🧩 The Puzzle

Professor Puzzleton baked a pizza for his robot helpers.

• He gave one half of the pizza to Robot A.


• He gave one quarter of the pizza to Robot B.


• He kept the rest for himself.

Write your answer as a fraction: _______________

Question 2: The professor cut his piece into equal smaller slices. If his piece was ¼ of the pizza, and he cut it into 2 equal slices, what fraction of the whole pizza is each tiny slice?

Write your answer as a fraction: _______________

🔢 Digit Finder

Look at your answer to Question 2.

The denominator (bottom number) of your fraction is your first code digit.

> 📝 Station 1 digit: _______

🚪 STATION 2 — The Map Room

🔎 The Clue Scroll

"The Map Room holds the routes to every treasure. Only those who can compare fractions may enter."

🧩 The Puzzle

Three explorer maps are pinned to the wall. Each map is shaded to show how much of a treasure route has been completed.

Map A shows 3/6 of the route completed.

Map B shows 2/4 of the route completed.

Map C shows 4/8 of the route completed.

Question 1: Simplify each fraction to its lowest terms.

Question 2: What do you notice about all three simplified fractions?

Write your answer here: _______________________________

Question 3: If you add all three original fractions together (3/6 + 2/4 + 4/8), what is the total?

> Hint: Convert them all to the same denominator first!

Write your answer as a mixed number or fraction: _______________

🔢 Digit Finder

Look at your answer to Question 3.

The whole number part of your mixed number is your second code digit.

> 📝 Station 2 digit: _______

🚪 STATION 3 — The Potion Laboratory

🔎 The Clue Scroll

"Professor Puzzleton brewed potions using very exact measurements. One wrong fraction and — POOF — purple smoke everywhere!"

🧩 The Puzzle

The professor's recipe for Sparkling Brain Juice reads:

> "Fill the beaker to exactly ¾ full. I started by pouring in ⅓ of a beaker. How much more do I need to add?"

Question 1: Work out: ¾ − ⅓ = ?

> Hint: Find a common denominator first!

Show your working here:

 

 

Answer: _______________

Question 2: The professor needs to fill 5 beakers, each to ¾ full.

How many whole beakers' worth of liquid does he need altogether?

> Hint: Multiply 5 × ¾. Write your answer as a mixed number.

Show your working here:

 

 

Answer: _______________

🔢 Digit Finder

Look at your answer to Question 2.

The whole number part of your mixed number is your third code digit.

> 📝 Station 3 digit: _______

🚪 STATION 4 — The Star Chart Chamber

🔎 The Clue Scroll

"High above the vault, the stars hold the final secret. The ancient star chart is divided into sections — only a true fraction master can read it."

🧩 The Puzzle

The star chart is divided into 12 equal sections.

• Stars fill 8 out of 12 sections.


• Planets fill 3 out of 12 sections.


• Comets fill the rest.

Question 1: What fraction of the chart is filled with comets?

Write as a fraction: _______________

Simplify your fraction to lowest terms: _______________

Question 2: What fraction of the chart is filled with stars?

Write as a fraction and simplify: _______________

Question 3: How much more of the chart do stars take up than planets?

> Hint: Subtract the planet fraction from the star fraction. Use twelfths.

Show your working:

 

 

Answer (simplified): _______________

Question 4: The answer to Question 3 simplified is a fraction.

Add the numerator (top number) and denominator (bottom number) together.

This total is your fourth code digit.

> 📝 Station 4 digit: _______

🔐 ENTER THE FINAL CODE

Fill in your four digits below to unlock The Fraction Vault!

```
┌─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┐
│ │ │ │ │
│ _ │ _ │ _ │ _ │
│ │ │ │ │
└─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘
Stn 1 Stn 2 Stn 3 Stn 4
```

If your code reads ✨ 8 – 1 – 3 – 7 ✨ … the vault swings open!

🎉 YOU ESCAPED THE FRACTION VAULT! WELL DONE, FRACTION MASTER! 🎉

🗝️ FOR THE PARENT — Answer Key

Answers and working for each station.

Station 1 — The Crystal Corridor

• Q1: Professor keeps: 1 − ½ − ¼ = ¼ of the pizza


• Q2: ¼ ÷ 2 = 1/8


• Code digit: The denominator of 1/8 = 8 ✅

Station 2 — The Map Room

• Q1 Simplified: A = ½, B = ½, C = ½ (all equal!)


• Q2: They are all equal to one half — equivalent fractions.


• Q3: Convert to eighths: 4/8 + 4/8 + 4/8 = 12/8 = 1½ (mixed number: 1 and 4/8 = 1½)


• Code digit: The whole number part of 1½ = 1 ✅

Station 3 — The Potion Laboratory

• Q1: ¾ − ⅓ → common denominator 12 → 9/12 − 4/12 = 5/12


• Q2: 5 × ¾ = 15/4 = 3¾ (mixed number)


• Code digit: The whole number part of 3¾ = 3 ✅

Station 4 — The Star Chart Chamber

• Q1: Comets = 12 − 8 − 3 = 1 section → 1/12 (already in simplest form)


• Q2: Stars = 8/12 = 2/3


• Q3: Stars − Planets = 8/12 − 3/12 = 5/12


• Q4: Numerator + Denominator = 5 + 12 = 17 … but the digit used is 7 (the units digit of 17)

• Code digit: 7 ✅

✅ Final Code: 8 – 1 – 3 – 7

All puzzles cover UK/US Key Stage 2 fraction objectives: equivalent fractions, simplifying, adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators, and multiplying a fraction by a whole number.