The Mom I Want to Be

A marble, some paper towel tubes and tape can be the basis for this fun game. Challenge your kids to move a marble from one spot to another through tube tunnels. Start easy (say, from a chair to the other side of the room), then get harder (around the corner and downstairs).

For older children, you can push the challenge even further.  Tell them that thier taskis to design a maze that makes a marble roll as slowly as possible through it.  This can even be a friendly competition if you have 2 or more older children.

 

Provide materials: 

 

flat box without lid

25 craft sticks

10 pipe cleaners

roll of masking tape

scissors (may not be part of the solution)

marble (may not be altered)  

Using the box and materials that are provided, create a maze that uses as much time as possible to roll a marble through it. Plan to have the box stand up on one of its sides. Put a hole for the marble in the upper left corner. You may practice with the marble and make changes as long as you do not destroy the box. Stand the box up on one of its sides. Insert the marble in the upper left corner to begin its journey. The marble needs to roll to the lower right corner as slowly as possible. Once the marble has begun its run, no touching!

 

If doing as a competition, you can score it to declare the winner:

 

10 points for rolling the marble successfully to the end of the maze

5 points for every 10 seconds (rounded to the nearest 5 sec.) that the marble continues to roll (60 points max.)

Up to 15 points for the creativity of your maze