Kids lose interest when learning serious topics like road safety and quickly forget what they were taught. But they do learn faster, without realizing it, while playing.

Doodle Mats, created by Renault, are the first play rugs for kids that feature real-life streets, buildings and pedestrian crossings from around their homes, mapped from Google Maps and Google Street View. Together with parents, children play and learn traffic safety, on replicas of streets they walk every day.

Each design is a unique combination of illustrations, generated from personalized geolocation data. Buildings, streets, pedestrian crossings, parks and other landmarks are recreated and printed on the carpets. The result is a cute miniature replica of the surroundings of the kids’ homes.

The innovative product leverages mapping technology to create fun & beautifully designed educational tools that keep kids safe in the city.

Parents customize and order their Doodle Mats on a dedicated website. They select their address, choose the style and the area around their home that will be illustrated on the carpet.

We recruited artists to create over 200 individual illustrations, in 3 different styles that parents could choose from. Buildings, streets, parks, landmarks and other urban elements were all designed to be appealing to kids. The modular construction was essential, as it allowed all the pieces to work together, forming the illustrated map that was generated by the algorithm.

The play rug dimensions (1.5 x 1.2 meters) fit perfectly in kids’ rooms. The supplier was specially selected to comply with the highest child-safety standards – both in term of materials and paints used. The carpet is then packaged and delivered.

The result is a beautifully illustrated miniature neighborhood that closely resembles the real thing.

As word spread about the Doodle Mats, parents went to our website and mapped a total of 378 km2 of city area, to apply for their customized play rugs. The orders exceeded expectations for the launch promo by over 300%.

Press and influencers picked up the idea and promoted it on their pages, praising the brand for getting involved in pedestrian safety in a surprising and innovative way.

Thanks to the success of the launch promo, Renault plans to offer Doodle Mats as a permanent product, to support their road safety efforts.

This way, the brand helped in educating kids about traffic safety, so they will become a more responsible generation of pedestrians and drivers.

Romania has the highest rate of pedestrian casualties in the European Union, accounting for a third of the total number of road fatalities in the country. Most of them (69%) take place in urban areas.

For car maker Renault, safety is a top priority – not just for drivers and passengers, but for pedestrians as well. Renault cars regularly score 5 stars in Euro NCAP tests, with 8 models in the current range getting best-in-class ratings. The company decided to help reduce the number of accidents for the most vulnerable category of pedestrians: children.

According to a report from the European Commission’s Department of Mobility and Transport, most accidents involving kids happen around their home. Many children cross the street on unmarked areas, outside pedestrian crossings or signs, putting themselves at great risk. Attempts at road safety education have done little to resolve this issue.