Projection mats are images projected onto the floor that act as large, light rugs. They do not react to movement - all the magic happens in the ideas of the leader and the children.
In a single Animation Mats: Creative Play collection you get as many as 40 different mats, including:
Film, Mini Storyboard, Rope Tracks, Pitch, City, Countryside, Zoo, Observation Beach, Emotions, Faces, Gymnastics, Fruit Twister, Water and Land, Stage, Parachute…
On top of that, you can easily add simple props - toy cars, little figures, conkers, small balls, boats, footbags, coloured slips of paper. Together they create a huge base for creative, movement and drama games.
Motioncube projection mats for creative and educational activities
In this article we will show you how to use three selected mats: Mini Storyboard, Rope Tracks and City - and a few others that combine well with them. At the very beginning, we briefly introduce the mat collection and discuss the basic rules of working with projection mats.
What are the Animations Mats in this collection?
They are static but very clear boards with distinct fields, tracks, scenes and motifs.
Story and drama mats
Mini Storyboard, Film, Frames, Stage, Emotions, Faces, Snowman
They make it easier to create stories, scenes, mini-theatre and conversations about feelings.
Movement and sports mats
Rope Tracks, Pitch, Gymnastics, Long Jump, Sports Tracks, Fruit Twister, Water and Land, Podium, Parachute
They are ideal for races, relays, balance tasks, reflex training and team competitions.
Theme mats-“worlds” for role play
City, Countryside, Zoo, Observation Beach, Sheriff’s Hat, Picnic, Animals, Battlefield
They create a scenography for role play and story building.
Thanks to this, from one set you can create dozens of scenarios, changing only the background, theme and… a few props from the cupboard.
Why are projection mats great for creative play?
Decorating, arranging and organising your own games on Motioncube animation mats
Working with the board supports and extends children’s activity:
- it triggers imagination - the image is only a starting point, the children fill in the rest;
- it organises the space - fields, scenes and tracks help to maintain the form and boundaries of the game;
- it supports co-operation - children decide together on rules, roles and order;
- it is easy to modify - you can move the same game from City to Countryside or to the Zoo and you have a “new adventure” to offer;
- it combines very well with props - the board marks out the places, while toy cars, little figures or balls add an “interactive” element to the game;
- it creates an excellent opportunity for interaction between children - communication between participants is a key element of the play.
How to prepare the space and the group?
1. Positioning
Display the mat using a projector. Make sure the image of the mat is clearly visible and safe - the children have space to move freely (without sharp-edged furniture sticking out).
2. Brief instructions
Before you start playing, show the children how to move around the mat (for example, no running blindly, no pushing, respect the props).
3. Trial run
Do a 1–2 minute “test version” - walking along the tracks, standing in the frames, identifying places in the city. Only then carry out the full scenario.
Play scenarios
1. Story and drama games - Mini Storyboard mat
For story-based games, mats that divide the space into frames or panels work best:
Mini Storyboard, Film, Frames, Stage, Emotions, Faces.
The Mini Storyboard mat is a practical small plan for stories created by younger children. Instead of a complicated script, they have a few cloud-style frames in front of them:
- main character,
- other characters,
- time,
- place,
- action / task,
- result / goal.
Mini Storyboard with story clouds for children’s stories - Motioncube Animation Mats
Children then “fill in” these clouds one by one with movement and short utterances - in this way they learn what a story is made of, but in a very accessible, play-based way.
Example game on the “Mini Storyboard ” mat - creating a story step by step
Game: “My Story” (or “Mime”)
- Age: 5-9 years
- Group: 6-15 children
- Goal: building sentences, stories, understanding story elements, teamwork, working with one’s own body
Course:
- Show the children the clouds on the mat and name them:
- our main character - who is it?
- other characters - who is with them?
- place - where is our character?
- time - when is this happening?
- action - what happened?
- result - how did it end?
- Draw the topic of a new story. Together with the group, choose the main character and other characters - the children can play them themselves.
- The children stand on the clouds one by one and fill them in, building a new story and practising their new roles.
When all the clouds are “set”, you act out the whole thing: the children move through the clouds in the agreed order, telling and showing the story with their bodies. Remember that the most interesting stories are those with emotions, so at each cloud let there be an emoji, a facial expression, a body pose, or simply talk about what our hero is like – what they like to do or how they feel today ;). In the non-verbal version, the children can perform a mime.
“Dragon” variant:
A version of the game for slightly older children who can already write and read. The game is about creating funny stories. Each person has a sheet of paper with questions matching the clouuds: Who? With whom? When? Where? What are they doing? Why? The children write answers to one question on their sheets, fold the paper and swap with each other. After filling in all the answers to the questions in this way, each child unfolds their sheet, reads the story silently and remembers it. Then they retell it, jumping across the clouds in order. The more humorous the answers written by the children, the more amusing the finale of the game will be.
Variant with another mat:
Instead of the clouds in Mini Storyboard you can use Film (the clouds will turn into frames on a film strip) or the Frames mat (each frame is a different shot, which the children draw on paper and place in the frames, decorate or show using a shadow theatre). With older children you can introduce a more difficult element: a change in one of the clouds (for example, the place or the result) or starting the story from another cloud and observing how it affects the entire story.
2. Movement games with your own rules - Rope Tracks mat
For movement games and inventing rules, the following mats work very well:
Pitch, Gymnastics, Sports Tracks, Long Jump, Rope Tracks, Fruit Twister, Water and Land, Podium.
- Rope Tracks, Sports Tracks and Pitch are suitable for races, relays and team games.
- Gymnastics, Long Jump, Rope Tracks - for balance exercises, jumps and strength-fitness tasks.
- Fruit Twister and Water and Land - for games with colours and changing instructions during the game.
- You can finish a series of games on the Podium - by awarding symbolic medals and congratulating the participants.
Rope Tracks for dexterity games and races - Motioncube Animation Mats
Example game on the “Rope Tracks” mat - races and dexterity games
Game: “Circus Performers”
- Age: 3-10 years
- Group: 4-20 children
- Goal: co-operation, planning, creating rules, practising body balance and dexterity
Course:
- Divide the children into two teams; each takes its own track and lines up at opposite ends of the mat.
- First play a simple version of the race: start - completing the route (for example, heel to toe) to the finish.
- After the first round, stop the game and say: “Now you make the rules. How can we change this race to make it more interesting?”
- The children suggest their ideas, for example:
- on one track we move like frogs,
- on another - we walk backwards,
- certain sections on the track must be jumped over, etc.
- Choose 3-4 rules together and repeat them aloud so that everyone remembers. Then play a new race according to these rules.
Variant 1 - swapping mats:
Instead of the Line Tracks mat you can use the Sports Tracks (three identical tracks for races and dexterity contests), the Gymnastics mat (movement sequences to repeat), Fruit Twister (taking positions according to the command) or the Sun mat (each ray is a track for a child leading to the centre of the mat).
Additionally, you can finish the series of games on the Podium mat - with a short “medal ceremony” and applause for all participants.
Variant 2 - with props to pass:
Add simple equipment to the game:
- small balls, footbags, sensory beanbags or toy cars,
- gymnastics sticks,
- rings / hoops.
Agree with the children that during the race:
- each team has one prop,
- the children must pass it to each other on specific sections of the track (for example, when switching track),
- without passing the prop, the task is “not completed”.
Additionally, agree on the way the prop is carried while moving along the track, for example:
- on the head,
- pushing it in front of you,
- tossing it from left to right hand.
You can also agree that the way the prop is passed is part of the game:
- once they pass the ball over the head,
- once between the knees,
- once they roll it along the ground to the next person (who has to catch it in the designated zone).
In this way, the race turns into an exercise in co-operation and co-ordination, and not just a “who gets to the finish first” game.
3. World and role play - City mat
For role play and creating scenes, world mats are the best:
City, Countryside, Zoo, Observation Beach, Coast, Sheriff’s Hat, Picnic, Animals, Snowman, Water and Land, Battlefield.
- In the City, children can be drivers, pedestrians, residents, and shopkeepers.
- In the Countryside - farmers, animals, helpers on the farm.
- In the Zoo - animal keepers, guides, visitors.
- Observation Beach is suitable for calmer observational games.
- Sheriff’s Hat - is a ready-made Wild West world for adventure stories.
- Picnic - is a blanket with a spread for games involving shared picnicking.
Role play and learning how to move around the city - Motioncube Animation Mats
Example game on the “City” mat - city traffic and life in a small town
Game: “Stories from my little town”
- Age: 3-9 years
- Group: 2-8 children
- Goal: role play, understanding urban space and traffic rules, creativity
Course:
- Ask the children to choose a “place in the town” on the mat: home, square, playground, school, crossroads.
- Each child comes up with a role from the town (resident, bus driver, shopkeeper, police officer, tourist, etc.).
- Start the narration, and the children act out with movement what is happening:
- “In the morning the town wakes up…” - everyone carries out the everyday activities of their characters,
- “Suddenly the power goes out in the town…” - how do the different characters react?
- “After a while everything goes back to normal, but an important guest appears…” - the children decide who it is and what happens as a result.
- Encourage the children to talk to each other in character (using simple dialogues), moving along the streets between places on the mat.
Variant 1 - other worlds - swapping mats:
You can transfer the same game onto the Countryside mat (life in the country instead of in town), Zoo (keepers and animals) or Coast (a tourist town by the sea).
Children will quickly see that one play pattern works in many worlds - each time a new story is created.
Variant 2 - with props (toy cars, figures, boats):
Add small props to the game:
- figures / little characters, small dolls,
- various props for the characters, e.g. boats, small balls, towels, toy cars,
- blocks for building new structures on the mats, etc.
The children place them on the mat in the places where the action happens:
- a car at the crossroads,
- a doll by the shop,
- figures, animals in the park.
First you arrange the scene with props, and only then the children “step into the roles” of their figures - moving them on the mat. For many younger children this is a natural bridge between playing with cars on the carpet and acting out scenes with their own bodies.
How to weave these games into the daily schedule?
As a warm-up (5-10 minutes) - offer a short story version using the clouds on Mini Storyboard or a quick race on Tracks.
In the middle of the session - organise a fuller role play in the City, Countryside or Zoo using props.
At the end - summarise the day or the weekly topic in the form of a mini-theatre on the large Stage, in the Frames or with Mini Storyboard.
Summary
The projection mats in this collection are 40 ready-made worlds, obstacle courses and sceneries that can be used in countless ways.
Movement sequences, animal imitation - Motioncube Animation Mats
Mini Scenario with story clouds, Tracks with ropes in various shapes and a lively City are just three examples that show how easy it is to:
- turn an image into a story,
- turn tracks into a race with self-made rules,
- turn a city board into a bustling role-play theatre - with or without figures.
By adding a few simple props (vehicles, character and animal figures, small balls, sensory beanbags), you get a tool that develops alongside the children and their ideas. It is enough to start with one game on each of these mats and you will quickly see that it is the children who will suggest:
- “Shall we come up with a new story on the clouds?” or
- “Today we’ll make a new race with cars on the Tracks!”.
Finally, we suggest that many of the props that will be useful during games on the mats can be prepared by the children themselves during art classes: colourful paper balls, vehicles and houses made from boxes, drawings of characters, fruit, fish, Christmas baubles - practically anything you would like to include in the game on the mat.
--
LavaVision Team - creators of Motioncube.io educational and interactive apps
Useful links:
- Description of the Animation Mats: Creative Play collection
- Mini Storyboards mat
- Rope Tracks mat
- City mat
