How to Make a Wire Bead Maze

Things You'll Need

Wooden board
Sandpaper
Wire cutters
Plastic-coated coat hangers or wire
Pliers
Beads
Drill
Wood glue

A bead maze builds hand to eye coordination.

A wire bead maze is a popular doctor's office or waiting room toy that many children wish they could have at home. Since some elaborate bead mazes cost $50 or more, as of this publication, it can be worth it to make your own. Making your own bead maze allows you to customize the beads according to the interests of your child without breaking your budget. You can use colored beads, alphabet beads or even beads shaped like animals.

Step 1

Sand any splinters and rough edges off of your wooden board.

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Step 2

Cut the coat hangers about 1 inch from the twisted part. These wires are the tracks for your beads.

Step 3

Bend your wires into loops and zigzags. Use pliers if the wires are difficult to bend. Bend each wire into a different pattern.

Step 4

Thread the beads onto each wire and make sure they can travel from one end of the wire to the other without getting stuck.

Step 5

Drill two holes into your board for each wire that you shaped. Make them the same diameter as the wire that you used. Drill the holes at opposite ends of the board.

Step 6

Push one end of the wire into each hole in the board. Your wires can intersect and cross over each other or not.

Step 7

Run the beads from one end of the wire to the other to make sure they do not get stuck.

Step 8

Remove the wires from the holes in the board and squirt a bit of wood glue into each hole. Replace the wires

Step 9

Dry the glue as directed on the package.

Tip

Have your board cut to size at the hardware store if you do not own a saw. An adequate size on each side is 7 or 8 inches. If you aren’t sure which drill bit to use, drill a test hole in a scrap piece of wood and make sure it accommodates your wire before you drill into your sanded board.

Warning

Pull and push on your maze to make sure the wires do not come loose before you give it to a child. Supervise your child when he plays with this toy to make sure the wires do not come loose.

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