Mazes are a fun activity for children which helps them learn to manipulate their fingers and develop muscle tone, strength and balance. Problem-solving with mazes requires your child to interact and concentrate in a fun way. Age isn’t necessarily an advantage when it comes to problem-solving in mazes – chances are your cluey kid will beat you to the end.

Mazes and handwriting skills

Well before your child’s ready to write his hands are getting ready. There are a series of small muscles in his hands and fingers that need to be developed to help with handwriting. Fine motor activities, such as mazes, are the perfect way to help develop these muscles.

The benefits of mazes

A maze might just look like a fun way to pass time, but they’re actually a valuable learning tool for children. Here’s why:

• For children, completing mazes is a great way to boost their problem solving skills.
• Solving mazes also boosts their patience and persistence and teaches them about the rewards of work.
• Mazes can also help improve a child’s cognitive thought processes.
• Solving mazes are wonderful for improving hand-eye coordination.
• Concentrating on a maze also helps with memory too

Find printable mazes:

• Easy mazes
• Medium mazes
• Hard mazes

This article was written by Linda Drummond for Kidspot, New Zealand’s largest educational resource.