In a recreation of The Great Escape, two kindergarteners in Magnitogorsk, Russia, secretly used spades for several days to dig out of their school. After breaking out, they walked for 2 kilometers to a Jaguar car dealership. Their intention was certainly understandable: they wanted to buy a sports car. ABC News reports:
A female driver noticed the unaccompanied children and asked them what they were doing. They told her they had come from their kindergarten to buy a Jaguar but did not have any money.
She put them in her car and drove them to a police station.
The boys might have succeeded in their plot, if they had brought money and maintained a good cover story.
-via Dave Barry
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To answer your questions:
One: They had to dig a tunnel to get under a fence. A fence is a barrier designed to keep children inside, and to keep others outside, of the compound. This helps to prevent loved ones from smuggling contraband, like weapons and drugs, into the kindergulag.
Two: The article implies that the work of digging under the fence was done during the five days previous to the escape. Presumably, they were chained to their beds at night. It would be unreasonable to assume that they were picked up by their parents and taken home at night; otherwise, why on earth would they want to escape school during the daytime?
Three:
The children are indeed 5. The misleading picture in the article is from a detailed re-enactment of the events (from the made-for-tv movie). Hollywood is notorious for casting older actors in young roles.