Abead mazeorbead roller coaster is a children's toy. Bead mazes feature 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.[1]
Bead mazes were introduced to the North American market in 1982 by Anatex Enterprises[5][6] and in 1983 by Educo International,[7][8] 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.[7][8][9]
Anatex marketed bead mazes to pediatricians and teachers for use in doctors' offices and classrooms, and promoted them through the American Academy of Pediatrics.[5][6]
A typical bead maze contains a wooden base with metal wires travelling in loops. Some bead mazes contain multiple wires with beads on each wire. The beads are normally made of wood to minimise friction.
^ abcHoffmann, Frank; Augustyn, Frederick J.; Manning, Martin J. (2004). "(Classic) Bead Maze". Dictionary of Toys and Games in American Popular Culture. The Haworth Press Inc. p. 17. ISBN0-7890-1503-X.
^Van, David Allan (2021-10-18). "Best bead maze toy". BestReviews. FOX31 Denver. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
