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Activity Inspiration: Robot Maze

Robots are perpetually fascinating for kids. Capitalize on that interest with a fun robot game that’ll keep their bodies moving and their brains engaged. Bonus? This game requires only a few minutes of setup and can be played indoors or outdoors.

How to play

Set-up

The setup is simple. Draw or tape out a large maze on the floor. Make it larger and more challenging based on the age and number of participants who will play. Be sure to include several dead ends and obstacles that must be climbed over or under.

Instructions
  1. Have participants get in touch with their inner robots. Spend a few minutes practicing robot voices and robot style movements. The more robotic the better!
  2. Position your robots at the start of the maze. Remind the robots that they can only perform functions that they’re programmed to do, and you’re the programmer!
  3. Your robots can only proceed through the maze based on the programmer’s commands. If they’re programmed to walk forward and encounter an obstacle, they must await new programming.
  4. You can program individual robots or the whole group.
  5. If a robot doesn’t follow their programming, send them back to the start of the maze.
For advanced robots

Got advanced robots? Make the game more fun by allowing them to take turns being the programmer. You can even pair off robots and programmers and see which team can get their robot to the end of the maze fastest.

Extend the fun

There’s so much to say and do about robots when you’re a kid. Why not whip out the aluminum foil for a robot craft? Allow the kids to cut out foil shapes and glue to black construction paper to design their own bots. Children can also tape cardboard boxes, toilet paper rolls, pipe cleaners and other bits and bobs together to construct robots. When it comes to this fanciful side of childhood engineering, there’s simply no way to do it wrong.

Wrap up your robot day with a book. Here are a few of our picks:

  • Boy + Bot by Amey Dyckman, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
  • And the Robot Went . . .by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier
  • Clink by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Matthew Myers
  • Robots, Robots Everywhere! by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Bob Staake

Well, we hope you have a blast without any glitches, malfunctions, meltdowns or emergency shutoffs. We want to see photos of your CACFP partici-bots! Email us at nca@cacfp.org or tag us in the photos @NationalCACFP on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and stay tuned for more activity ideas.

Children walking in a line pretending to be robots.