Snow Person Winter Maze

A few years back we made a bug maze for our eldest son to further explore magnetism and this year when our daughter was learning about magnets at school, she wanted to replicate her maze idea at home (with a few embellishments)!  This makes a great science project for kids interested in further exploring STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math)!

Materials

• Boot or cereal box (make sure your magnet is strong enough to move through the cardboard thickness)
• Magnet wand
• Acrylic paint
• Circular magnet
• Paint brush
• Pencil/ eraser
• Cotton balls or white pom poms
• Ruler
• Glue gun/ glue sticks

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Paint your beads to make your snow person.  We used a dowel inserted into floral foam to paint the beads.  Once they were dry, we glued them together, along with our black hat made from a bead and a button! Be sure to glue a strong circular magnet onto the bottom of your snow person.

• Have an adult cut off the edge of one of the thin sides of your box as shown in the video.

• Plan out your design on a piece of paper the size of your box.  Then draw these ideas onto one of the large surfaces of your box.  We used a permanent marker.

• Paint (make sure your layer is thin) your base.

• Take your ruler (or if you like you can skip this, making the the path more organic) and lightly with your pencil make a path for you snow person to maneuver through.  Be sure that it is wide enough for your snow person with a bit of buffer space.  Will your maze have some tricks to it?

• Glue your pom poms along your pathway on both sides and allow them to dry.

• Now place your snow person on top of your scene and slide your wand underneath and try to move your snow person throughout the maze!  Can you make it to the end?  How about a friend- can they?!

Pin this idea

We just love this magnet idea from our friends at

https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/magnetic-ice-skating-penguin-letter-writing-activity/

Purpose

• Discovering the power of magnets and how they work as applied in a hands-on way!

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Beads and magnets can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.  If a child shallows a magnet, seek medical help immediately!