Ages/Grades

Toddlers, Preschool

 

Learning Domains

Approaches to Learning, Physical Development

 

Materials

• Tunnels

• Hoops

• Household sheets, shower curtains or large pieces of light fabric

 

Preparation

Gather the items you need to set up a physical maze in the classroom. Set up a maze that is appropriate for the ages and abilities of the children in your classroom. If you don’t have access to tunnels and hoops, improvise with classroom furniture. Find out what the children know about mazes. Are they familiar with that word? Explain that you are going to turn an area of your classroom into a maze. Every maze has a beginning and has an end. Sometimes when you follow a maze you go straight; sometimes, you make turns; and sometimes you go up or down.

 

Activity

Children take turns moving through the maze. Ask children to describe the parts of the maze that they liked. Were there some parts that were hard or challenging? Did they ever feel scared? Ask for their suggestions on how to change the maze.

 

Follow Up

Introduce other kinds of mazes to the children that they can use during their free play time. Here are a few you can try. Children can use the same vocabulary words to describe their actions as they use these tabletop mazes.

• • Marble Maze
• • Q-Ba-Maze (Ages 6+)
• • Magnetic Maze Board
• • Classic Bead Maze

 

Vocabulary Boosters

Here are some new words and phrases to introduce during this activity.

Maze - A set of pathways that are meant to be confusing

Straight, Turn, Zigzag, Up, Down, Sideways, etc. - The best way to teach directional words is to act them out!)

Hard/Easy - Use this as an example to teach opposites. Is the maze hard or easy?