Maze

• Maze Template (Teacher Resource)

• A bell or noisemaker

• Tape, to create a 5x5 square grid on the floor, each square measuring approximately 1'x1'

Maze introduces the idea of overcoming failure as a key component of success. A large grid—big enough for a student to stand in each grid box—is created on the floor. Teams must use trial and error to decode the correct path through the grid. All members must follow the correct sequence in a timed scenario to be successful.

1. Create an answer key that shows the correct path through the maze.

2. Have all students gather on one side of the grid.

3. Tell students that the goal is for every student to walk across the grid, but since there is only one correct path through the grid, they must use trial and error to reach the other side of the grid.

4. When a student steps into a wrong space on the grid, ring the bell. When a student steps into a correct space on the grid, make no sound.

5. Once a student makes a mistake, that student must immediately move to the back of the group line. Each student must go once before a student can go again.

6. Only one person can be on the grid at a time.

7. Once the pattern is found, all students must follow that pattern to the other side.

8. Close the activity with a verbal or written debrief using a few of the questions from the Stage 3 Debrief Prompts.

To increase rigor: 

• After students complete the first grid, create a “Correct Path #2” with a new correct path, adding one or more of the following restrictions: set a time limit, allow only non-verbal communication, blindfold students, and/or create a correct path that skips spaces.