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A bead maze or bead roller coaster is a traditional children's toy. It generally features a wooden base with brightly colored rigid wires strung from one side of the base to the other, often in intricate tracks that loop and intertwine with one another. Large wooden beads, often themselves brightly colored and sometimes having differing shapes, are strung along these wires, allowing the child to move the beads along the tracks from one side to the other.
Designed for children aged 18 months to 5 years, bead mazes are purported to encourage eye-hand coordination,
A bead maze or bead roller coaster is a traditional children's toy. It generally features a wooden base with brightly colored rigid wires strung from one side of the base to the other, often in intricate tracks that loop and intertwine with one another. Large wooden beads, often themselves brightly colored and sometimes having differing shapes, are strung along these wires, allowing the child to move the beads along the tracks from one side to the other.
Designed for children aged 18 months to 5 years, bead mazes are purported to encourage eye-hand coordination, spatial memory
In cognitive psychology and neuroscience, spatial memory is a form of memory responsible for the recording and recovery of information needed to plan a course to a location and to recall the location of an object or the occurrence of an event. Sp ...
, and color and shape recognition through manipulation of the beads in three-dimensional space.
They are a common fixture in waiting rooms of doctors' offices to keep children entertained while waiting to be seen.
History
Bead mazes were introduced to the North American market in 1982 by Anatex Enterprises and in 1983 by Educo International, whose original designs featured five wires. Educo discovered and licensed the invention from Australian educator George Valentine, a school principal who originally developed the toy for special needs children. Anatex marketed bead mazes to pediatricians and teachers for use in doctors' offices andclassroom
A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...
s, and promoted them through the American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C.
Background
The Academy was founded ...
.
Accolades
The original bead maze designs have been recognized over the years since they were first introduced. * Anatex Rollercoaster ** 1991 Parents' Choice Award: Toys ** 1999 Dr. Toy Best Classic Toys ** 2003 Parents' Choice "Best 25 Toys of 25 Years" * Educo Super Maze ** 1994 Parenting Magazine Toy Hall of Fame ** 1999 Dr. Toy Best Classic ToysReferences
Educational toys Mazes Traditional toys Wooden toys Physical activity and dexterity toys {{Toy-stub