Everywhere you look you see green plants towering high above your head. You turn in circles trying to remember where you’ve been and to guess which way you should go. You decide to race down an open tunnel, only to find that you can’t make your way through the dense plants.
Where are you? A jungle? No, you’re in the middle of a hedge maze, trying to find the exit!
Mazes have been around for at least 4,000 years. Early mazes, however, were very different from today’s mazes. They were called labyrinths. In a labyrinth, there is only one continuous pathway to reach the goal. For a long time some groups, such as the ancient Egyptians, used these mazes for rituals.
It wasn’t until about a thousand years ago that mazes became the fun puzzles that we have today. In the 17th century English kings and queens began to use mazes called hedge mazes as amusement parks. In these mazes tall hedges prevent visitors from seeing the exit. Still popular today, many hedge mazes are found around the world. Some are even made from cornstalks!
If you can’t wind your way through a real hedge maze, try our three a-maze-ing mazes. You’ll get to navigate through a school of fish, help a cat chase a mouse, and find your way through a garden!
Just print and play!
Text by Monique Duwell
Photograph by James P. Blair
To learn more about mazes, check out these Web links:
Amazing Mazes
Channel Mazes
A Short History of Mazes
The UnMuseum's History of Mazes
Parents: To get more cool mazes, subscribe to National Geographic Kids magazine.
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