Critical Thinking Tool

Create-A-Maze

As an internal project, our team developed an critical thinking maze game that allows children 5 and up to play with. Create-A-Maze helps children with their critical thinking and problem solving skills, along with making it fun and exciting. The game is a unique concept, having a distinct, fun and colorful appearance.

An educational tool that provides children with a fun and creative way to think critically.

Learning Resources is a leading global manufacturing company that creates innovative and hands-on educational products that are loved by children and reliable to teachers and parents. Wanting to create a game that targeted critical thinking and problem solving skills, Learning Resources came to Beyond Design to help develop and brainstorm ideas that incorporated creativity and design to their vision. This game represented our client’s mission to provide a high-quality game that kids want to play and enjoy.

Researching a Unique Concept

Design research was imperative in the product design because of the age range that Learning Resources wanted to capture, which was ages 5 and up. We immediately understood the concept and got to work right away to design their vision of the game. Our team provided Learning Resources with “first boards” to demonstrate new and fresh ideas they hadn’t thought of, which helped our team evaluate how successful the design could be. Our development team was able to combine form and function to come up with a creative idea that provides a strong image presence that is attractive to kids. Through a strategic design planning process, the Create-A-Maze was design to be sold through different channels of distribution.

Create-A-Maze Game

The Create-A-Maze game is an open-ended, critical thinking maze game instantly attracts children. This very distinct appearance of multiple colored maze pieces were fun to create, however having a large play surface base was challenging and difficult for manufacturing purposes. In the end, our team designed a board that split the two halves, making it easy to assemble, with a simple snap together design and helped reduce the shipping size of the product.

Performance and Design

It is a strong new entry into the STEM category for younger children, making it a selective and positive game for practicing critical thinking and problem solving skills. With just a few preliminary drawings and a collaborative work environment, we helped Learning Resources fulfill the vision they had for their design. The current product will be used to provide children with educational skills that will be carried out throughout their life and give them an opportunity to grow.