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Mazes in real life…. ALA Midwinter 2007, Washington Convention Center, Seattle LA Freeways Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Subway System Wisconsin Bike Trails Queen Mary 2 Deck Plans Heathrow Airport Central Park Real life mazes? Mazes and children
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Mazes and children • Mazes help children learn decision-making and critical thinking skills. They have to think ahead and plan steps to be taken later. They understand that there are alternative ways to solve problems. • Mazes help children learn to judge spatial relationships. Real world applications for air traffic controllers and similar occupations. • Working with mazes is particularly suited to boys and reluctant readers. • Games involve mazes. Computer games like Donkey Kongand Pac Man (retro games that are coming back in style) and chess are mazes. • Also helpful in practicing “revision.” They have to backtrack and try another path. • For the youngest children, mazes help develop fine motor skills. Research has shown that maneuvering through mazes helps improve children’s handwriting.
Projects • Research and discuss historical and contemporary mazes, throughout history and throughout the world. • You can help children, and adults, make a Geometric Maze or a Random Roxie Reversing maze. I have the instructions up on my website today. (go to www.roxiemunro.com/webinar.html) • Create a maze sketch, let children draw it with chalk on the parking lot or sidewalk, and then have them walk through it. • Ask your patrons to think about and make a list of where maze-like environments exist in their own every day life. • Print out the 3-goal and the four alphabet mazes from my website and have patrons solve the mazes, do the finding/counting game, and color them in.
Good websites for more information • http://www.labyrinthos.net/f_homepage.htm (British website, lots of history, photo library) • http://amazeingart.com/maze-faqs/draw-mazes.html (maze resources; how to make a maze, downloadable mazes) • http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/index.htm(my favorite; history, particularly unicursal, and how to make a maze) • http://www.unmuseum.org/maze.htm (mainly history and terminology) • http://www.crystalinks.com/labyrinths.html (history, how to make amaze, modern applications) • http://www.geocities.com/mikesmazes/ (UK maze designers, definitions, types of mazes)
Thanks!Check out www.roxiemunro.comTo revisit parts of this WEBinar, and follow the step-by-step instructions for making the Geometric and Random Roxie mazes, go to www.roxiemunro.com/webinar.html