Make a marble maze

You’ll need

Paper drinking straws
Glue sticks
Pens or pencils
A4 paper
Marbles
Newspapers
Cardboard boxes

Before you begin

You could ask everyone to save cardboard boxes at home, so you can gather enough for this activity.
Prepare the boxes by cutting off or tucking in any flaps, and getting rid of any tape.
Decide whether you’ll make the mazes and play the game in one session, or whether you want to make the mazes in one session and play at a later date.

Make mazes

Everyone should split into teams.
Each team should get a big piece of cardboard to be the base of their maze.
Each team should cut different lengths of straws (and pieces of cardboard) to make the walls for their maze—think about making short and long channels, and don’t forget the dead ends! Teams should test that the marbles will fit through the space between the walls before they stick anything down.

Teams may want to design their maze with pens or pencils before they get start sticking bits on. They may also want to add a barrier around each side of the cardboard, so the marble doesn’t fly off across the room.

Once the team’s happy with their design, they should glue all of the straws and pieces of cardboard on to their base.

You may need to help teams stick some bits down with stronger glue. If you use stronger glue, an adult should do this step.

Teams should use a pen to write ‘N’, ‘E’, ’S’, and ‘W’ on each side of the box, to represent the compass points north, east, south, and west.

If no one’s a confident writer, the person leading the activity can help with this step.

Play the game

The person leading the game should check that everyone knows the four points of the compass—people could point to the different points when the person leading the game calls them out.
The person leading the game should remind everyone that the points of the compass are used when navigating and reading maps. They should stick signs for north, east, south, or west to the sides of the meeting place, to help teams remember.
Teams should stand with their maze the right way around, so the letters they wrote on their maze match the letters in the space around them.
The person leading the game should put the marble at the start of the maze, and the team should work together to gently move their maze and guide the marble to the end.

If there isn’t a clear start and end to the maze, put the marble somewhere along the northern edge and ask the team to guide it to a specific point on the southern edge.

Players can use their voices and call instructions to help each other, but they can’t use each other’s names, or directions except the compass points. For example, they could call ‘A bit more to the west!’ or ‘South, can you lift your end?’
Each team should have several goes to practise working together. They could swap edges of the maze each time, or teams could even swap mazes for an extra challenge.

Reflection

This activity needed you to be a team player, both when you were making your maze and when you were guiding the marble through it. What teamwork skills did you need to use to get the marble through the maze? You probably needed to listen to each other and be patient. Talk to your team, and decide on three things you did well together. All of the teams can share what they were good at.

This activity also needed you to problem-solve. Did you find the best way to move the marble straight away, or did you try different things to find what worked best? Did you plan ahead when you were moving the marble, to avoid the dead ends? When we solve a problem, it’s often useful to think ahead, so we know if our solution may actually make things trickier again later (just like sending a marble down a dead end). What was the trickiest part of this activity? By working in a team and using your problem-solving skills you got the marbles through in the end—well done!

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Active games: The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.
Scissors: Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
Glue and solvents: Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.