Wire Bead Maze Toy

I've seen many wire hanger upcycling ideas over the past years, but somehow people usually fail to see its potential in creating toys. So, I'll start this Instructable with a question: What do wire hangers and heat shrink tubing have to do with children developmental toys? Scroll down and find out the answer...

• Wire hangers
• Wood (see Steps 1 and 5 for more details)
• Rods and dowels
• Large wooden beads
• Heat shrink tubing (I used a 4:1 type, ⌀10mm)
• Pliers
• Drill
• Wood glue
• Epoxy glue
• Non-toxic acrylic paint
• Scroll saw
• Sandpaper

Cut a pair of little wooden beams according to the size of your toy. For my standard model, I used the following pieces /measurements:

• 2 rods of 13 cm long, 1.
• 2 bars of 13 x 3 x 2.5 cm each.

Drill 2 symmetrical holes on each wooden bar, using bits of the same diameter as your rod (Because I didn't have a drill bit that matched my rods diameter, I had to shave the ends off a bit for a perfect fit)

Sand all the pieces thoroughly.

Glue your rods into their sockets.

*For my alternative version of this toy (the "zebra" one) I used a whole wooden board as base; if you choose to make it like that, you may skip this step.

Peel the plastic cover off your hangers (if any); straighten it as much as possible. Then bend your wires into different patterns (curves/ loop/ coil).

Use your Step-1 wooden base as reference to know the total width of your maze (meaning, the distance between the ending poles of each track). While creating your intertwined maze, make sure to leave enough space for your beads to slide from one end of the wire to the other without getting stuck.

Cover each maze track with a different color of tubing, and apply heat for them to shrink.

Drill holes on your base, according to your number of tracks/wires.

Insert a few beads into each wire, apply a bit of epoxy glue in the base drilled holes and fix your tracks permanently. (Don't forget to put in your beads before gluing!)

Leave it to dry according to the glue instructions.

I thought it would be cute to add a wooden zebra in the maze. So I drew a template (later scanned and attached here), taped it on the wood and scroll sawed it. Then I drilled holes on the rectangular base matching the ones under the zebra's feet, to insert the wooden dowels later on. After sanding, I painted the zebra, and glued it onto the base (with the aid of a couple of wooden dowels). For reference, the base measures 13.5 x 8.5 x 1.8 cm.

Then I redid the Steps 2-4 above, but with just one wire.

Since this is intended as child's toy, I want to add a cautionary note:

Test your toys before handing them over to your child. Try pulling the wires to make sure they are securely attached, check to see if there are no cracked beads, etc. And generally speaking, I would say that it's always good to supervise your child while playing.

Having said that, this is an amazing developmental toy that you can make mostly out of old wire hangers and wood scraps! As Wikipedia describes it: "Designed for children aged 18 months to 5 years, bead mazes are purported to encourage eye-hand coordination, spatial memory, and color and shape recognition through manipulation of the beads in three-dimensional space." Think about that next time you bring your clothes back from the dry cleaner.