Feather Maze

On hands and knees or on their tummies, children blow a feather along the floor through a maze of blocks and ropes to the exit. It works on breath control, finding their way in space, and making choices about which path to take.

How to play

1. The teacher and children build several mazes on the floor together with big blocks and ropes, each with a marked entrance and exit (3 min).
2. Each child sets their feather at the entrance and blows it, crawling or on their tummy, down the maze path without touching it (3 min).
3. At each fork, the child decides which way to go and says it out loud: "I'm going right!" (2 min).
4. The teacher moves some blocks to open new paths and they try again (3 min).
5. To finish, they crawl through the maze themselves, slowly and without the feather, breathing calmly (1 min).

Rules

• The feather only moves when I blow.
• If it leaves the maze, I put it back where it was.
• If someone is ahead of me, I wait.
• My body doesn't touch the blocks.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: put the maze on a table and the child blows while seated.
• Visual impairment: a brightly colored feather on a plain floor and a maze made of pool noodles they can touch.
• Less breath control: swap the feather for a tissue paper ball, which doesn't fly off as far.

Learning goals

• Adjust their breath to steer a very light object.
• Find their way in a space with paths.
• Choose a path and try it out.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Feathers: 25
• Large building blocks: 40
• Ropes: 8

Teacher tip

Feathers take off if you blow from above, so show them how to blow with the mouth almost touching the floor. If there's a draft, close the windows first or the feather won't listen to anyone.

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