Pumpkin Maze
Created for free at puzzleandprint.com
Your maze
Pumpkin 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 pumpkin keeps about three quarters of the grid it is cut from, which makes it the roomiest of the seasonal shapes and by some way the longest puzzle of them. A star keeps under a fifth for the same setting, so a pumpkin at twenty squares takes noticeably longer than a star at twenty-eight. Treat the sizes here as real rather than generous.
It is the Halloween sheet for a room that is not all doing Halloween. Nothing here is a ghost, a skeleton or a spider, so it goes out to a whole class without anyone having to decide whose family marks the day, and it stays welcome from the end of September through to the end of November rather than for one week in October.
The stalk is deliberately fat, which is a puzzle decision rather than a drawing one. A slender stalk looks better and samples down to a single column of squares, and a single-column corridor is a dead end a child cannot turn round in. Wide enough to hold a route is the version that prints.
One way through, no loops, and the solution on page two. If none of the four sheets is right, the maker on this page will carve a pumpkin at any size from eight squares up.
Common questions
Is this a Halloween sheet or an autumn one?
Both, and that is the reason to print it rather than a ghost. A pumpkin is welcome from the end of September to the end of November, where anything with a skeleton on it has about a fortnight, and it does not need a class to be marking Halloween at all.
Why does this take longer than the star maze?
Because of how much grid the outline keeps. A pumpkin is nearly round and holds about three quarters of the squares it is cut from; a star holds under a fifth. At the same setting the pumpkin is by some way the longer puzzle, which is worth knowing if you are printing for a range of ages.
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.