Little Mouse Finds the Cheese

Little mice travel through a maze of hallways made of ropes and cones to reach the cheese (beanbags) and carry it back to their mouse hole. Kids practice following paths, the ideas of between, around and through, and choosing a route.

How to play

1. Before class, build a wide maze on the floor with ropes and cones, with three entrances on one side (the mouse hole) and yellow beanbags in the middle (the cheese).
2. Walk the maze with the whole group in a line behind you, between the ropes: “This way, around this cone, down this hallway” (2 min).
3. All at once, each mouse goes in any entrance, takes one piece of cheese and comes back to the mouse hole without stepping on the walls. They drop it in the hoop by the mouse hole and go back for another (5 min).
4. You play a sleeping cat in one hallway: mice have to tiptoe around the cat without waking it (3 min).
5. Move two ropes to close one hallway and open another. The mice have to find the new way (3 min).
6. To finish, all the mice take the cheese back to the middle, one piece at a time, walking (2 min).

Rules

• Ropes are walls: don't step on or jump over them.
• Walk or crawl, never run.
• Take only one piece of cheese at a time.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: hallways at least 5 feet wide for a wheelchair or walker, with no cones on the turns.
• Visual: thick ropes in a color that contrasts with the floor, and walk the first route with the child.
• Skill level: skilled kids crawl; kids who get lost can go with a buddy guide.

Learning goals

• Follow paths through a marked space without leaving them.
• Understand between, around and through while moving through a maze.
• Pick a route and change it when it's blocked.

Equipment for a class of 25

• ropes: 16
• cones: 12
• beanbags: 30

Teacher tip

Make the hallways wide with several entrances so no one waits. Set it up before kids arrive and walk it together the first time.

More activities like this

More main activities for Elementary