FIELD TRIPS IN VANCOUVER
Vancouver Field Trips with Vancouver Mysteries!
In a Vancouver Mysteries game your students are the heroes of their own outdoor adventure — they’ll sharpen their deductive reasoning skills while they complete a series of challenges and collect clues to solve a mystery on the streets of downtown Vancouver.
Field Trips in Vancouver – We’ve reduced our regular prices ($35 per player) to just $21 per K-12 student, plus GST — plus teachers and chaperones attend for free. Note a minimum of 6 students are required to secure this price. We also have a $18 per player group rate for large groups (30+ players).
What to Expect on the Field Trip
Students are divided into teams of up to 6 players competing for first place in an Amazing Race style game. Points are earned by answering each challenge correctly, completing the game within a time limit, and by being one of the first teams back.
Game kits include a map, game book, worksheet, and any tools required to solve the mystery (examples: magnifying glass, measuring tape). Players use the map to navigate the streets of downtown Vancouver, cracking codes and solving puzzles along the way. Landmarks, sculptures, parks, and historic sites all play their part as the story unfolds.
Games are facilitated by Vancouver Mysteries’ Game Operators who arrive in character as detectives or secret agents to introduce the game and send the teams out on their adventure. At the end of the game Game Operators meet the teams to calculate their scores and award team certificates.
Vancouver Field Trips that Complement High School Curriculum
Grade 11/12 Field Trips in Vancouver
Gastown murder mystery Crime in Downtown is a perfect fit for the following grade 11-12 field trips:
- Social Studies
- History
- Law (Criminology)
- Psychology
- Social Justice
- Geography
Download our Lesson Plans
Do you need some lesson plan inspiration? Luckily our team of detectives have already picked the brains of some local teachers. We’ve worked with local high school teachers to create a set of lesson plans for grades 11-12, providing teachers and students with the resources they need to get the absolute most out of their field trip with Vancouver Mysteries. Here are the results of our investigation:
Vancouver Field Trip Lesson Plans Grades 11-12
In addition to downloadable lesson plans purpose-built for these classes, we’ve created four different Kahoots! games you can play!
Kahoots! games available
- Social Studies 11/Geography 12 and Crime in Downtown
- History 12 and Crime in Downtown
- Law 12 and Crime in Downtown
- Social Justice 12 and Crime in Downtown
Creative Writing Field Trips, Drama Field Trips and PE Field Trips
High school teachers, please click on the appropriate tab for your department:
Creative Writing
At Vancouver Mysteries we pride ourselves on our games’ immersive story-based experience. Let the game be their muse as they complete a creative writing assignment using one of our mysteries as a writing prompt. The students themselves are characters in the story, allowing them to find inspiration that much easier. In Heroes and Villains each team is a superhero league trying to save the planet from the evil Muck Monster. In Crime in Downtown, students are tough, street-wise detectives solving a murder mystery. Or maybe they are newly recruited secret agents whose mission is to save Vancouver from utter destruction in the spy thriller Secret Mission.
The ideas are endless! Here are just a few of them:
- Continue the mystery by writing a short story about what happened after the mystery was solved.
- Dive into the psyche of one of the characters or create your very own.
- Create an alternate ending.
- Write a film script, whether inspired by Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, or Marvel.
- We can’t wait to see what your students create!
All private games (groups of 6 or more players) include a Game Operator who arrives in costume and in character as a secret agent or detective who starts and ends your game. The majority of our Game Operators are actors by training. You might even recognize them from local productions. Why not have your students join in on the fun? Make the game into an improv exercise by only giving your students a brief description of the chosen game beforehand. From there they must create and remain in character for the duration of the game. Vancouver Mysteries also has a soft spot for teams who arrive in costume, so go wild!
Exercise your students’ minds and bodies by playing a Vancouver Mysteries game. All of our games take place outdoors and cover 2-2.5 km. Our current record for the fastest game completed while still earning a perfect score was 52 minutes. Think your students can beat that?
Field Trips – ages 12 and up
Are Your Students Up to the Challenge? – Absolutely! Vancouver Mysteries’ games offer an opportunity for students to use critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills during an outdoor activity.
Elementary School Field Trips – Grade 7s – 8-12 year-olds play Heroes and Villains Family: The Superhero Quest. This game was specifically designed for elementary school students.
Grade 8 – High School – Any of our three games are suitable for high school students ages 12 and up!
Scouts Canada and Girl Guides – Our field trip price offer extends to Scouts Canada and Girl Guide groups.
Day Camps – Please phone the Mystery Hotline to speak with the Experience Manager directly about incorporating a game into your scheduled activities.
Under 8-years-old? We don’t recommend our games for superheroes under the age of 8 – but we’d love if they come back once they have a few more years of saving the world under their belt!
Easy Field Trips to Book – Flexible to Fit Your Schedule
Choose a Date and Time that Works For You
We can host groups of 2 to 120 players with start times as early as 9:00am or as late as 7:00pm, seven days a week.
Contact us with your date, time, and game and we will confirm your request. Once confirmed, a 50% deposit based on your estimated group size is required to secure your spot on our calendar. We ask you to confirm your numbers a few days before the game and then pay the balance. Paying by school cheque? Please contact us to make your payment arrangements, we are flexible.
Contact us to book your game by phone: 1-778-707-1962 or email us at [email protected]
Game capacity is 120 players – groups of over 40 players compete in an exciting Mega Mystery (multiple games played simultaneously – this is A LOT OF FUN!).
Parent Volunteers and Teachers Play Free
Chaperones and teachers on field trips play for free at Vancouver Mysteries (one adult for every team of up to 6 students). Each team of students who are 15 years or younger must have at least one adult chaperone accompanying them. Young adults who are 16-18 years old may play alone if their parents or guardians provide documented permission in advance; however, this is up to the teacher’s discretion.
Make this Field Trip an All Day Adventure
Interested in making your mysterious field trip into an all day excursion? Fortunately our games are near just about everything, including Vancouver museums, art galleries, and learning centers. You might even walk past the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Bill Reid Gallery, or the Vancouver Lookout during your game. Science World and the Vancouver Aquarium are a short transit ride from the games.
Please allow for 2 to 2.5 hours game time (depending on group size) when planning the rest of your day. There are 3 nearby food courts for fast and easy lunch options and also many local parks to use as picnic areas.
Contact us for more information. Our Experience Manager will answer your questions and work with you to incorporate a Vancouver Mysteries game into your school year.
Examples of skills students use during the field trip:
- active listening
- attention to detail
- leadership
- team building
- deductive reasoning
- logic
- map reading and wayfinding
- critical thinking
- memory
Three outdoor games to choose from (downtown Vancouver):
- Gastown murder mystery Crime in Downtown
- Downtown spy game Secret Mission
- Superhero adventure Heroes and Villains
Virtual Games (play from anywhere!):
Check our website for virtual games available.