How to Make a Kids Maze

In a series of posts I will show you how to make a maze in a wide variety of design constructions. The 23rd type of maze construction is the Kids maze. Let’s define what I mean, then get into the example. Every example will use the sample basic outline (the state of Ohio) to better illustrate the differences between each maze type. At the end of the post there is a free downloadable maze book for Kids !

Here is an outline for this blog post with jump links if you want to skip ahead to a section:

KIDS MAZE DEFINITION

THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN

HOW TO MAKE A KIDS MAZE

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF KIDS MAZES

FREE KIDS MAZE SECTIONS ON THE SITE

START AND GOAL OPTIONS

MAZE TEMPLATES FOR KIDS

FREE DOWNLOADABLE KIDS MAZE BOOK

KIDS MAZE DEFINITION:

Kids Maze - A maze that is geared for young children is an easy maze. You don’t want the child to get frustrated and quit before reaching the goal. Kids mazes have wide pathways and obvious, short dead ends. It also should include labels for the start and goal.

THE 5 RULES OF MAZE DESIGN:

These 5 rules apply to any maze you make so we start with them !

1. Always keep an open pathway for the solution

While drawing a maze you will need to juggle multiple open pathways each of which could become the solution. One of them will become the solution. Keep track of it. This is especially important if you are designing pathways in both directions (from the start and from the goal).

2. Clearly mark the start and goal, or the objective of the maze

A maze should have a start and a goal that you can assess just by glancing at it. There are many ways to start and end a maze I review in this blog post: Options for Starting and Ending a Maze

3. Ensure the difficulty matches the intended audience

Most people want to solve a puzzle/maze that is just slightly below or slightly above their skill level. Many things help determine the difficulty of a maze. Size, number of branches, the length of dead ends, the number of choices, the complexity of the rules (if the maze has them).

4. Ensure your maze has a solution

When your maze is complete, solve it to determine the difficulty level and to ensure it is a real, solvable maze. Depending on the complexity of the maze you may want to do this right away or wait so you can properly assess the difficulty.

5. Explain anything that needs explaining

Some mazes have rules or conditions. Explain them with directions. If it isn't obvious, make it so.

How to Make a Kids Maze

Step 1 - Draw the Outline

The outline of the maze makes the outer wall of the maze. It can be anything from a simple shape like a square, to a complex picture. The outline should be thicker than the internal lines to give the maze definition. In the example below I chose the state of Ohio.

Step 1.5 - Choose the Start and Goal

For the below example I chose the start of Cleveland and the goal of Cincinnati. Consider adding the words START and GOAL to the maze to replace the arrows, or in addition to them,

Ohio Map outline for maze

Note that a kids maze construction can be standard, grid, arrow, or really anything that is able to be adjustable in difficulty for children. Below is a Kids Standard Maze !

Step 2 - Start Drawing the Walls

Starting from entrance, begin drawing walls. Walls should be far apart to build wide pathways. Any dead ends you make should be short and obvious. I also widened the entrance and goal.

23.1 Easy Kids Maze start paths.png

Step 3 - Complete the Walls

Draw the necessary walls to make the final pathways and complete the maze.

23.15 Easy Kids Maze - finish paths.png

Step 4 - Label the Start and Goal

Give kids an extra cue by labeling the Start and Goal of the maze.

Ohio Kids maze

Step 5 - Make the Maze Solution

Highlight the correct path in the final version of the maze to create the final maze solution (shown here in red). Notice how the white spaces ( the dead ends) are obvious.

Ohio Kids maze - Solution

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF KIDS MAZES

You just learned how to make a standard style kids maze, but you have dozens of options to consider.

I have created a gallery of 15 different types of kids mazes. Each of these has it’s own how-to, but I wanted to give you an example of many so you get an idea of the many different types of kids mazes you could create. The use of many different maze types creates a more fun book in my opinion.

FREE KIDS MAZE SECTIONS ON THE SITE

This website is full of free mazes for kids. Here are links to the different styles:

Kids On Line Mazes

Arrow Mazes for Kids

Kids Weaving Mazes

Kids Dot Mazes

Kids Standard Mazes

Kids Laser Mazes

Kids Shape Mazes

Kids Circle Mazes

Kids Line Leads Mazes

Kids Animal Mazes

and more….

START AND GOAL OPTIONS

I want to take the time to show you some of the many options you have for starting and ending the maze. I did not use any labels above, but arrows are pretty standard. You have other options as I outline in Options for Starting and Ending a Maze. Here is the above maze but using 5 different choices to for the start and goal. You have options !

MAZE TEMPLATES FOR KIDS

I have been asked for templates so kids can create their own mazes. Here is a gallery of 7 maze templates with downloads. You can choose the type of start and goal to include and fill in the gaps you want to make a maze ! I included 3 holiday versions that come from my free Christmas Books.

FREE DOWNLOADABLE KIDS MAZE BOOK

Kids Maze Book Cover

EASY MAZES FOR KIDS BOOK

A free downloadable book featuring 30 different mazes. Includes standard mazes, mazes where you need to avoid items, and mazes where you need to collect items ! A nice beginning maze book.

File Size: 2,013 KB

Interested in learning how to make or draw other types of digital mazes ? I have step by step instructions on how to make over 40 different maze types.

If you prefer making labyrinths, you can find step by step labyrinth making instructions.

Maze and Labyrinth News - September 2026

It is that time again. Time for maze and labyrinth news from the past month. This month will focus on the upcoming corn maze season !

Before we get to the corn mazes I thought this article was fun:

Vote for the best corn maze in the USA !

  • Each year USA Today has a Reader’s Choice award for the best corn maze. Their are 19 nominees for you to vote on !

Corn mazes to check out:

  • Dolly Parton - there are over 20 corn mazes this year that were scheduled to celebrate Dolly that have a little extra meaning now. Here are examples from (Michigan)(Alabama), and this article from Canada talking about them. Here are 2 more video examples:

  • The Winnipeg Jets logo

  • This maze celebrates the 150th year of Colorado !

 
  • And a new Labyrinth in VA

I mentioned before that I had updated all of my labyrinth suggestions in the US for 2026. That includes the 10 Labyrinths to Visit in Virginia and 1 Maze. Well the Greenville VA HCC just opened a brand new labyrinth, as detailed in this article, and new labyrinths are always worth a visit !

Some news is evergreen and can be found in past monthly news posts:

June 2025, July 2025, August 2025, September 2025, October 2025, November 2025, December 2025, January 2026, February 2026, March 2026, April 2026, May 2026, June 2026, July 2026 and August 2026.