When you think about mazes what comes to mind ? For most people I think it is a black and white maze on a piece of paper in front of them to solve with a writing utensil. For a few people they might think of physical mazes like a hedge maze or a corn maze that can make for a fun outing. I think about mazes a lot and have come up with a few new ideas for types of mazes and even wrote an 11 part series (post #1) showing my experiments. You can see all 11 in this post: EXPERIMENTAL MAZES REVIEW. Today I want to consider other creative ways to use mazes.
6 Creative ways to use mazes
1. Use the solving of a maze as a team-building exercise, where participants must work together to find their way out. For a workplace this would mean using a large maze that would take one person a long time to solve on their own that could be solved much faster wit some teamwork.. A good team would have one person solving from each direction, both from the start and goal, while other people could be marking dead end pathways so they are never taken in the middle portion of the maze.
2. Use a maze as a fun and challenging activity for kids by having maze races. I have mentioned this before and in the right situation this could be fun for a classroom (let’s be honest - it could also be a disaster). HOW TO RACE MAZES - RULES, AND IDEAS FOR MAZE COMPETITIONS. If the kids have some friends over, if it is an inside day (rain?) instead of sitting them in front of the television/videogames opt for a boardgame or some maze races !
3. Use a framed maze as decoration instead of a painting. There are 2 ways to do this. One is the standard black and white maze which would give you a modern look, while the second is using some of my maze art for a more standard look. I used Starryai to create what a maze museum would look like (gallery below) and I added a few of my favorite maze art I think would look good framed on a wall. A subset of this, slightly different, but not enough for it’s own line, use a maze as décor in a photoshoot.
4. Add a maze to your garden landscaping. When you think of outdoor mazes you probably think of very large hedge mazes in public places that take years to grow and a lot of gardeners to maintain. But, you can also scale this down to a personal garden. You can use flowers, edible plants, and local grasses to create a maze. If you want to get really fancy and ambitious add a knot garden. They do not need to be as fancy as this one at the Hatfield House. Another variation of this is by adding a labyrinth to your property with a company that specializes in it.
flickr - Jayembee69
5. Use a maze as a clue/quest in a real world game. This could be any number of types of games. A scavenger hunt that includes a maze (physical) with clues along the way or at the exit. A scavenger hunt with a paper maze with multiple exits with different clues, but only a solved maze leads to the correct clue. An escape room as many clues that need to be solved to exit. Incorporate a maze as one of them. Honestly combining an escape room with a hedge maze would be cool but that wouldn’t be a room would it ? A corn maze with clues and obstacles might be a better version of the idea. The Evionnaz Adventure Labyrinth in Switzerland contains obstacles in the maze. You can get a sense of them here:
6. Use a maze for protection. Well there had to be one wild suggestion. Remember when castles were surrounded by moats to help prevent attacks from invading armies ? Couldn’t you do the same thing with a maze built of a solid material ? If the army could climb the walls they become easy targets. If the maze is boobytrapped Indiana Jones style the same for troops in the maze. I could even see it being flooded to repel attacks or lit on fire. This could be a movie…?
Mazes aren’t just for solving sitting at a desk ! What are some other ways mazes could be used ?
More posts you may like:
The 10 Most Famous Labyrinths from Around the World