Animation zone for children and families “MuBaBaO Imagination Yard” | Poland
Creators: Storyteller Museum - MuBaBaO
Idea, performance: Michał Malinowski
Date: August 24, 2025 | Sunday
Time: 12 pm - 4 pm
Place: Power Plant, Fuzja - Łódź, 6a Milionowa Street
Admission: free
Duration: 4 hours
Age Restrictions: children aged 3+, with guardians, families, friends
Language: Polish, English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian
DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT
The Animation Zone for children and families "MuBaBaO Imagination Yard" is a space that will not only fit into this year's festival theme "IN FORM", but will redefine it! This is an extraordinary kingdom of sensory well-being and creative freedom for the youngest, where form becomes a living adventure and imagination knows no bounds. What awaits you?
SENSORY FAIRY-TALE-CREATURES - Sea of Shapes, Touch and Movement!
Soft, colourful islands made of pillows with magical shapes. Fairy-tale-creatures are more than toys: they are sensory ecosystems in which children jump, roll, and hide - experiencing proprioception and the bliss of touch. They can build fortresses, bridges and hideouts - learning cooperation and spatial thinking. They create their own worlds in which the pillow becomes a mountain, a boat or a dragon's wing! The effect? Harmonious development of motor skills, reduction of tension and an explosion of laughter - form in pure action!
POP-UP WORKSHOPS - Paper Wonders That Come to Life in Small Hands!
Workshops led by an artist-illustrator, during which an ordinary sheet of paper turns into a theatre of moving scenes! Children create three-dimensional illustrations - learning paper engineering and the rules of perspective. They write and illustrate their own stories - developing narrative and aesthetic sense. They are delighted by the magic of "opening" - when their work suddenly... emerges from the page! This is not handicraft - it is the alchemy of imagination!
CREATIVE THINKING BLOCKS - MuBaBaO
Here, form is born from chaos, and instructions are forbidden! Creative Thinking Blocks are not just toys - they are a revolution in the pedagogy of creativity! Designed by Michał Malinowski, fascinated by neurodidactics, they combine infinite freedom of building - without patterns, without “one right way”. Their intriguing shapes and textures stimulate the sense of touch and spatial imagination. And the philosophy of “err and create” makes “mistakes” the seed of a brilliant construction! Why is it a hit? They develop lateral thinking - children connect elements in an unconventional way, creating bridges between the hemispheres of the brain! They strengthen mental resilience - there is no “wrong” here, there is only “what if I try differently?”. They provoke cooperation - large, joint structures are born from the dialogue of young architects! And in addition, The Wooden-Blocks - giant blocks that turn the zone into a living urban sculpture, created by children's hands!
FAIRY-TALE PERFORMANCES - every 30-60 minutes the Heart of the Zone will beat faster!
This is where magic is born, which captivates hearts big and small! Every hour (or maybe even more often!) our Theatre of the Living Word will open the curtains of imagination. The Storyteller does not only tell the story - he lives the story. His gestures are storms, his whispers are secrets, his laughter is the sun illuminating the stage! Stories are like living organisms - dynamic, full of plot twists, they draw you in like a vortex! Children feel every emotion, follow every movement - this is total theatre! The audience becomes the heroes, they suggest solutions, clap with joy - the stage and the audience are one! This is not a performance - it is a joint beating of hearts to the rhythm of an adventure!
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST
Michał Malinowski - a visionary of education, a master of storytelling and adaptive thinking, who is revolutionizing the future of learning. Thanks to his extraordinary organizational sense, boundless creativity and passion for interdisciplinarity, he is lighting a new luminosity in pedagogy. As the creator of the Storyteller Museum - MuBaBaO, he has turned storytelling into a dynamic educational tool. His exhibitions, workshops and festivals combine tradition with technology, and innovative methods - such as the Extended Creativity Method - to intertwine old narratives with artificial intelligence, robotics and interactive design. A lecturer at the Pontifical University of John Paul II, he promotes non-linear pedagogy: learning through experimentation, creative exploration and combining disciplines. His original tools - MuBaBaO Creative Thinking Blocks or sensory Fairy-Tale-Creatures - teach us how to think without borders. Michał Malinowski is not only an educator - he is a pioneer who shapes the future of pedagogy.
Malinowski is a storyteller, writer, folklorist, museologist, computer graphic artist, inventor of pedagogical tools and actions. As the director of the Storyteller Museum, he has revolutionized the way storytelling is used in education and cultural preservation. Graduating in computer graphics from ECAL - Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, Malinowski began his career in Tokyo’s CG animation labs. His journey into storytelling was inspired by his encounter with traditional storytellers in Papua New Guinea. This experience led him to spend a year at the Folklore and Mythology Department at Harvard University. Upon returning to Poland, he founded the Storyteller Museum, a pioneering institution that blends narrative hands-on experiences with interactive technology to showcase oral traditions and intangible heritage from around the world. Malinowski has been deeply involved in documenting indigenous folklore in Poland. He has been a driving force in reviving the Polish storytelling movement, performing live on stage, in libraries, schools, and on the radio. He has also been a featured speaker at storytelling festivals and events across Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia. In 2006, Malinowski was honored with a special prize by the Polish Minister of Culture for his contributions to cultural preservation and development. He co-authored “Polish Folktales and Folklore” with Anne Pellowski, a book that received the AESOP Accolade from the American Folklore Association. In 2007, he received a UNESCO grant to organize an exhibition on the Heritage of Amadou Hampate Ba and West African Oral Tradition. His storytelling festival “TĘŻNIA MARZEŃ” (“Graduation Tower of Dreams”), was awarded the Best Cultural Event of the Year in Mazovia Province in 2009. Malinowski has served as a consultant on art education for the National Teacher Training Centre and has been a member of the Intangible Heritage Board in the Ministry of Culture since 2013. His vision for global understanding is rooted in sharing and learning from the wisdom of diverse cultures. As an inventor, Malinowski has created five types of educational blocks, including Sensory Cushion Blocks, Creative Thinking Blocks, and Creative Robotics Blocks, aimed at fostering creativity, critical thinking, and sensory development. He has also participated as a speaker at prestigious conferences such as the WISE Summit for Education in Qatar, the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, and the General Conference of ICOM - International Council of Museums.
