Safety & Compliance

MazeCrafts kits are built to be taken apart, rebuilt, dropped and argued over. That only works if they are safe. This statement sets out how MazeCrafts Labs, Inc. grades products by age, which standards we test against, what our kits are made of, and exactly what happens if we ever need to issue a safety notice.

1. Our safety commitment

Every product we sell is designed in Portland, prototyped with children in supervised play sessions, reviewed against the toy safety standards listed below, and tested by an accredited third-party laboratory before it reaches a subscription batch. We treat safety findings as blocking: a kit that fails a test does not ship late, it does not ship at all until it is redesigned and retested.

2. Age grading

Age grades are not marketing. They reflect part size, tool use, force required, and the reading and sequencing load of the instructions. Choose by the youngest child who will handle the parts, not the oldest child in the room.

Our printable path-logic packs carry their own reading-level guidance and are safe at any age, since they need only paper and a pencil.

3. Small parts and choking hazards

Kits graded for ages 8 and up and ages 11 and up contain small parts. Every carton, every retail sleeve and every product page carries the required warning:

WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD. Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.

Kits graded ages 5 and up contain no component that fits within the small-parts cylinder specified by 16 CFR 1501, and they are tested for that after use-and-abuse conditioning, not only as delivered. Magnets in the ages 8 and up and ages 11 and up tracks are fully encapsulated in wooden or moulded housings, are tested for flux index and pull force under the small-object criteria of ASTM F963, and carry the ingestion warning where any loose magnet is supplied. Never allow magnets to be put in mouths or near the face; swallowed magnets can attract through tissue and require immediate medical attention.

Bags, films and elastic cord are printed with suffocation and strangulation warnings and should be removed before a child unpacks a kit.

4. Standards we test against

4.1 United States

All products are children’s products under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and are certified accordingly. We test to ASTM F963-17, the standard consumer safety specification for toy safety, which the CPSIA makes mandatory. Testing covers mechanical and physical properties, small parts, sharp points and edges, use-and-abuse conditioning, flammability of solids, and heavy-element migration in surface coatings. Total lead in substrate and in coatings, and the phthalate limits of 16 CFR 1307, are tested on every new colourway and every change of supplier. A Children’s Product Certificate accompanies each production lot and is available to retailers, schools and regulators on request from [email protected].

4.2 Canada and Europe

Products sold into Canada also meet the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and the Toys Regulations. Because we ship printable and wooden products to educators who compare specifications internationally, our kits are additionally tested to EN 71 parts 1, 2 and 3, covering mechanical and physical properties, flammability, and the migration of certain elements. Where EN 71 and ASTM F963 differ, we build to the stricter requirement.

4.3 Laboratory testing

Testing is performed by a CPSC-accepted third-party laboratory, not in-house. Each production lot is sampled, and results are retained for five years alongside the lot’s tracking label data. We repeat full testing on any design change that affects part size, coating, magnet strength or fastener type, and at least annually for carry-forward products.

5. Materials

• Plywood. Maze panels, tiles and bases are cut from FSC-certified birch plywood from a chain-of-custody supplier, using formaldehyde-limited adhesive that meets CARB Phase 2 and TSCA Title VI.
• Finishes. Colour panels and printed faces use water-based, non-toxic inks and finishes with no added solvents. Coatings are tested for the eight heavy elements listed in ASTM F963 and EN 71 part 3.
• Fasteners and mechanisms. Steel screws and springs are zinc plated and free of accessible sharp points after conditioning. Dowels are beech, sanded to a minimum radius so a snapped end cannot present a point.
• Packaging. Unbleached corrugate, paper tape and moulded paper pulp trays. No expanded polystyrene, and no plastic film beyond the small-parts bags required for counting accuracy.

Kits contain wood dust from cutting and sanding. Children with a birch or beech sensitivity should handle parts with the cotton gloves included in the ages 11 and up track, or with any clean glove.

6. Tracking labels and batch codes

Every kit carries a permanent CPSIA tracking label on the underside of the base panel and a matching label on the carton. The label shows the MazeCrafts name, the production city and month, the lot code, and the model number, in the format MC-PDX-2026-03-L14. Keep the carton label or photograph the base panel; it is the fastest way for us to identify exactly which batch a part came from when you report a problem or when we publish a safety notice. Printable packs carry a version stamp in the footer of every page.

7. Adult supervision guidance

• Read the parts map and the warning panel before the first build, and count the small parts into a lidded tray.
• Keep the build area clear of younger siblings, pets and food. Small wooden parts on a carpet are hard to find.
• Supervise all use of the hand drill, clamps and craft knife in the ages 11 and up track, and store tools out of reach between sessions.
• Check finished builds for loose fasteners before free play, and re-check after any drop.
• Retire parts that are split, splintered or chewed. Request free replacements through Shipping and Returns.
• Wash hands after sanding, and sand over a damp cloth rather than a fan-cooled surface.

8. Classroom and group settings

School kits ship with a one-page risk assessment sheet, a small-parts inventory card and a spares pack. We recommend the following for group use: one adult per twelve pupils for the ages 8 and up track and one per eight pupils for the ages 11 and up track; a tool sign-out board so every clamp and drill is accounted for at the end of a lesson; a designated parts-return tray; and a written check that no small part leaves the room with a pupil. Kits used in early-years and special-education settings should be reviewed by the setting’s own safeguarding lead, and we are happy to supply full material and dimensional data for that review at [email protected].

9. Recalls and safety notices

If we identify or are told about a defect that could create a substantial product hazard, we act on a fixed timetable:

We publish safety notices even where reporting is not legally required, because a teacher with thirty kits deserves to know before a lesson rather than after it.

10. Reporting a safety concern

Tell us immediately if a part breaks in a way that creates a sharp edge or a small piece, if a magnet comes free of its housing, if a coating flakes, or if a child is injured while using one of our products. Email [email protected] with the subject line “Safety Report”, include the tracking label code and photographs if you can, and telephone +1 (503) 555-0142 for anything urgent. Every safety report is read by a named engineer, not a queue, and you receive a written response within two business days. Seek medical advice first in any suspected ingestion or injury; report to us afterwards. United States consumers may also report to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Canadian consumers to Health Canada.

11. Related policies

See our Terms of Service for the supervision obligations that accompany a purchase, Shipping and Returns for free replacement parts and the satisfaction guarantee, and Accessibility Statement for tactile and low-vision accommodations in the physical kits.

12. Contact

MazeCrafts Labs, Inc., 214 Birchwood Ave, Suite 3, Portland, OR 97214, USA. Telephone +1 (503) 555-0142. Safety and product quality: [email protected]. Schools and compliance documentation: [email protected].