Christmas Tree Maze
Created for free at puzzleandprint.com
Your maze
Christmas Tree Maze, Solution
Created for free at puzzleandprint.com
Or take one that is already made
Four mazes, each a different size. Every one is a two-page PDF, the maze, then the solution on its own page.
A triangle over a trunk keeps a little over a third of its grid, so these run larger than a square maze to give the route the same amount of room. The taper does something a rectangle cannot: the top of the tree is only a few squares across, so the last stretch of the route is forced narrow and the puzzle finishes on its hardest section rather than its easiest.
The tree is one clean triangle rather than the tiered branches a drawing would use, and that is a printing decision. A notch has to be two or three squares deep before it reads as a branch, and a notch that deep on paper reads as a ragged edge instead. The single taper looks more like a tree in the hand, which is the opposite of how it looks on a screen.
The moment for it is the last week or two of term, not the days before Christmas: that is when the lessons have finished, the room is restless and there is time that needs filling. It prints black and white on ordinary paper, so a class set costs what any other sheet costs.
It also has a second life as something to decorate. A finished tree maze with the route drawn through it is a thing a child can colour, and it needs no cutting and no glue to become a card.
Common questions
Why is the tree one triangle rather than tiered branches?
Because a notch has to be two or three squares deep before it reads as a branch, and at that depth on a printed maze it reads as a ragged edge instead. One clean taper looks more like a tree on paper than three tiers do, which is the opposite of what it looks like on screen.
When in December should this go out?
Earlier than feels right. The useful window is the last week or two of term, when lessons have finished and there is time to fill, rather than the days just before Christmas when nobody is at a desk at all.
Is there always a way through?
Yes, and there is exactly one. Every maze is generated so that all squares connect and no route loops back on itself, which means a wrong turn always ends in a dead end rather than sending you round in a circle.
Where is the answer?
On page two of the PDF, printed as a line through the maze. It is on a separate sheet so you can hand out the puzzle and keep the solution.
What size suits a young child?
Easy, at twelve squares. The corridors are wide enough for a crayon and the route is short enough to finish in a couple of minutes. If that is still hard, use the stepper to go down to ten or nine squares.
Can I get a different maze at the same difficulty?
Press New maze. It generates a completely different layout at the same size, so you can print a set where no two children have the same puzzle.
Do you have circular mazes?
Not yet, rectangular only for now. Round mazes are a different drawing problem and we would rather ship one shape that prints properly than two that half work.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Mazes are generated in your browser, so nothing you make is sent to us.
Want to know when new printables go up?
New printables when they go up, mostly seasonal, a few times a year.