DIY Marble Mazes with Kids: A Fun STEM Activity
Integrating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into lesson plans can be challenging, but marble mazes make it easy and fun. These mazes encourage creativity, planning, and problem-solving. In this post, I’ll show you a simple, low-cost marble maze activity that helps students develop fine motor skills while having a blast creating their own designs.
Why Marble Mazes are Great for Children
Children love marble mazes! These box mazes are easy to put together and customizable. I have my students make these every year in school, and it’s always one of the favorite activities in my classroom. They require minimal supplies, and are easy to adapt to many age groups or skill levels!
Materials
- Plastic Milkshake or Smoothie Straws (Larger than regular drinking straws for thicker maze walls and easier manipulation by young children)
- Scissors
- Small Cardboard Boxes (We used boxes from greeting cards, the lids of children’s shoeboxes, and small pizza boxes)
- Double-sided Tape
- Glue (Hot glue gun or fast-drying craft glue)
- Marbles
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prepare the Straws: Cut straws into small pieces. I let my four-year-olds try to cut the straws, but for most of them, the thick straws were too difficult to snip.
- Assemble the Maze: Give the children small pieces of double-sided tape to hold the straws temporarily in place. This gives the children the chance to try out different paths.
- Test the Maze: Give them a marble to test the maze. Some children spent a considerable amount of time perfecting their maze while others quickly placed the straws and were ready for the next step.
- Secure the Maze: Once a child was happy with a maze, I hot glued the straw pieces to the box. Another option would be to give students fast-drying craft glue to adhere the straw to the box.
STEM Skills & Lesson Objectives
Creating marble mazes allows kids to exercise many different valuable STEM skills, including:
| Subject | Skill | Objective |
|---|---|---|
| Science | Physics | Children learn about gravity, motion, and force as they move the marble through the maze |
| Technology | Problem-Solving with Tools | Kids use tools like, tape, scissors and glue, learning how to apply them to create something. |
| Engineering | Design and Build | Designing the maze involves planning and constructing a pathway, testing it, and making changes to ensure it works. |
| Math | Measurement and Geometry | Kids measure and cut straws to fit the maze and learn about shapes and spatial relationships. |
| Additional Skills | Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Fine Motor Skills | Creating and adapting the maze encourages children to think critically about what is and isn’t working, building problem-solving abilities. Cutting straws, placing tape, and manipulating small objects like marbles help develop fine motor control and hand-eye coordination. |
Age Group Adaptations & Tips for Marble Mazes
Toddler Adaptation: Instead of marbles and individual mazes, consider making a class maze using a large box like this one featured on Hello Wonderful.
Share the Mazes: We kept our mazes at school for a week so that everyone could try out each other’s mazes. Each morning during free choice time, I would find a group of children on the floor comparing mazes and passing them around.
Find New Ways to Make Box Mazes: After we sent the marble mazes home, some children wanted to make mazes in the open art center. We didn’t have any straws left, but that didn’t deter the children from designing their own versions of a maze. They discovered that old marker tops are the perfect substitute for straws. When the marker lids were gone, they found a box of broken crayons and used them for even more mazes!
Enjoy making these DIY mazes with your children either at school or at home! I’d love to hear if you have found other materials to build your marble mazes!
My Favorite Resources
Note: I don’t earn any commission from these links, I just want to share items that have worked well for me!
