Montana Sam and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Grab your fedora and your whip and buckle in for a puzzling adventure! In this game the children collaborate with one another to solve a mysterious puzzle and get to the prize at the end of the dungeon.

Stepping stones mark our hero's path through a dangerous, booby-trapped dungeon. Only 1 path allows the hero through unharmed. One wrong step and you're done for! Children must work together to traverse the path 1 at a time, memorizing the correct - and the incorrect - steps. It never fails to keep the children engaged, all while promoting teamwork and problem solving.

This game lends itself to story telling. If you have a particularly creative leader they can weave a tale of action and suspense as the children are attempting to capture the treasure.

1. Cut out about 16 "stepping stones" from construction paper. These can be cut freehand into rough stone shapes. Brown, gray, or black paper look the best. Use more steps for a more difficult and longer game, or fewer steps to keep it easy for younger children.

2. Tape the stepping stones to the floor. They should form a rough path from the entry point to the prize at the end of the tunnel. Every stone should be within stepping (not hopping!) distance from 2 or 3 other stones.

3. Grab a piece of paper and draw out the one true path through the maze. Starting with 16 stones you should have between 6-9 steps from beginning to end. Make the path zigzag, go sideways, or even make it back track for a trickier maze!

4. Have the kids line up and attempt the maze one at a time. They must always start at the entry point, and take one step to another stone. The bigger kids will want to hop across stones, so remind them that the correct path is within reach for even the littlest guys. Everyone not going through should be watching closely so they can remember the correct path!

5. As the child steps to each stone they should pause for a moment. You then tell them if that was the correct next stone, or if they fall into the bottomless pit! We find it is significantly more entertaining to use a sound effect toy to tell them they're out. Otherwise you can be creative and make up a silly reason for why they are "out."

6. If they step to the correct stone they can continue on. If they make an incorrect step, the child goes back to the end of the line and the next kid begins from the start of the maze.

7. This is where it's important for the children to be watching and remembering the correct path. Remind them that this is a collaborative game where everyone can share in the prize. They are not competing against each other, but working together. Allow them to help each other remember the path through the maze.

8. At the end of the maze is the prize! But it can only be obtained after the correct path has been taken. We used a giant Easter egg full of candy that could be shared with everyone.

When playing this game, it took the children a few minutes to realize that not only did they have to step on the correct stones to get through the maze, but they had to step on them in the correct order. To make the game easier for a younger group you could rescind this rule and only make them find the correct stones. You could also remove incorrect stones (they "fall into the pit when stepped on") to make it quicker for them.