Can you use your knowledge of grid coordinate systems to find the Queen’s treasure? The Medieval Maze: Grid Coordinates Worksheets offers students a fun and purposeful way to practise mapping, direction and location skills through differentiated tasks and imaginative problem solving.

This medieval-themed resource invites students to take on the role of a knight or thief, navigating a treasure map using grid coordinates. Each task challenges students to place and find treasure, plan routes and describe them using location-based language. Whether students are seeking gold or plotting a sneaky escape, they’ll be developing spatial awareness, sequencing and written communication skills along the way.

With three differentiated worksheet options included, you can cater to a variety of learning needs and support students as they build confidence. The activity can be printed in A4 for independent use, or enlarged to A3 for collaborative problem solving in pairs or small groups. Add extra layers of challenge by introducing barriers and hazards to the map that must be avoided!

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Use grid coordinates to locate and describe positions on a map
• ✅ Plan and describe routes using directional and sequencing language
• ✅ Develop spatial reasoning and map-reading strategies
• ✅ Apply creativity and logic through storytelling and navigation
• ✅ Engage in collaborative problem solving and peer feedback

What’s Included:

• Three differentiated worksheets with medieval-themed map tasks:
  • - Knight: locate treasure and describe a retrieval route
  • - Knight partner task: place treasure, then swap to find and describe paths
  • - Thief: write a path to hidden treasure and swap maps to locate each other’s loot
• Grid map templates with clear visuals and pathways

Materials Needed:

• Printed worksheets (A4 or A3 depending on group size)
• Pencils or coloured markers
• Ruler for drawing routes accurately (optional)
• Optional: sticky notes or mini icons to mark barriers or obstacles

How to Use:

1. Select the worksheet variation that best suits your students’ learning goals.
2. Introduce the task: are they a knight retrieving treasures or a thief hiding them?
3. Students place or locate treasures on the grid and draw the route to reach them.
4. Students write clear step-by-step directions using coordinate and directional language.
5. Encourage swapping worksheets with a partner to test their written directions and map interpretation.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as a consolidation task during your mapping or geometry unit
• 💡 Include as a paired problem-solving challenge in maths rotations
• 💡 Enlarge to A3 and use with game pieces or tokens for kinaesthetic learners
• 💡 Connect to literacy by having students write a short narrative about their knight or thief
• 💡 Assign as an assessment of direction, mapping and procedural writing

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Model how to read coordinates correctly and give directional steps aloud before students begin
• 💛 Allow students to decorate or personalise their treasure map for increased engagement
• 💛 Challenge advanced learners to add barriers, guards or secret routes for added complexity
• 💛 Laminate maps and reuse with whiteboard markers during small group rotations

The Medieval Maze: Grid Coordinates Worksheets is a versatile and imaginative way to build mapping and direction skills while inviting students into an exciting medieval world of knights, thieves and hidden treasure. A must-have for your next maths or mapping lesson!