We have good moments and not-so-good moments right now as we’ve been holed up together in our house for going on three weeks. While are working quite hard to be respectful and kind, depending on the time of day, we sometimes verge on petulance and impatience. My kids are, well, kids and so that behavior is normal under any circumstances and my husband and I are trying really hard to manage our work, the kids’ online school as well as our own feelings around the uncertainty in this moment in time. Given the possibility that the quality of communication in your homes is also starting to swirl down the toilet along with your precious stores of toilet paper, I thought this might be a good time to introduce MAZEMASTER, a Dynamo Clubhouse activity that encourages communication, teamwork and problem solving in a relatively calm context.
How to Play (see video below)
Set up a 4×4 or 4×5 grid of different colored pieces of papers, colored poly spots, colored cones or a variety of objects that look different from each other — stuffed animals, pillows, socks, books. (Having items that are easy differentiate is important for playing with people who can’t tell the difference between their left and their right so that you can name the object/color they need to move to next.)
O O O O O
O O O O O
O O O O O
O O O O O
- This challenge can be played with at least two players and as many as you want.
- The Mazemaster is the person in charge of drawing her own version of the grid on paper and creating a route through the maze for the other participant(s) to guess. She does NOT let her sneaky players see her route — they will try to!
- The first challenge is for the player(s) to guess on which spot in the first row of spots the maze begins and from there, she will continue to guess the next steps through the maze. A few rules to remember:
- Players can only move one spot at a time.
- Players can move forward, sideways or diagonally.
- Players cannot move backwards or to a spot they have already used before.
- The Mazemaster will not speak during the challenge – she will only nod her head yes if the move is correct or shake her head no of the move is incorrect.
- If playing with more than one player, once the current player guesses the spot incorrectly, her turn is over, she goes to the back of the line and the next person has a turn to guess the route.
- The players are encouraged to communicate with EACH OTHER and remind their teammates what has already been tried. Hopefully this will foster some positive communication and teamwork in your house!
- The person who finishes the maze successfully becomes the new Mazemaster and must designer her own route through the maze for the other players to guess.
Here is a demonstration video to help understand the rules:
Video editing credit: Michaela Kroll
