Small Maze for Ages 4-5 — Set 136259
A wandering route and a direct route end at the same exit, and this 8×6 maze lets a four- or five-year-old discover which of the two is shorter.
1 A4 page · for home and classroom use
Maze: small (ages 4-5)
How to use this worksheet
- First solve the maze in pencil, exploring freely; trips into dead ends are allowed and stay on the page.
- Then trace only the correct route, the one with no detours, in a bright crayon.
- With a grown-up's help, lay a piece of wool along the pencil trail and another along the crayon route, then put the two pieces side by side.
What this worksheet teaches
Because the maze has one correct path, the shortest way from the entrance to the exit is always the route without detours. Comparing the two lengths gives young children hands-on experience of longer and shorter, an early measuring idea, while the maze itself practices looking ahead, choosing a direction and drawing with control.
Play idea
Make a short-and-long display: glue the two pieces of wool onto card under the labels "my wandering walk" and "the no-detour route", then talk about which one a tired explorer would choose.
Questions and answers
Questions from parents
Does this maze have two different ways to the exit?
No, there is only one correct path; the longer route is your child's own first try, including the trips into dead ends.
Why use wool instead of counting squares?
Four- and five-year-olds understand length best by holding and comparing real objects; counting squares can come later.
What if my child solves it without any detours?
Then both pieces of wool are the same length, which is a great discovery too, so celebrate the careful planning.