There are so many really cool things to do with a projector! Who says a Home Theater is all high tech? Here are some creative ways of using retro technology in your Home Theater. If you’re looking for some fun things to do as a family, it’s time to think beyond movies or TV shows. Sure, that’s fun, but where is the imagination? If instead, you turn to the projector, you now open up a world of opportunities.
Perhaps you’ve just purchased a projector, or have had a projector at home for a while. Sure, it’s perfect to show off those school or business projects in a way that will capture everyone’s attention. But the home projector has so many more fun and imaginative uses you may have never considered. Here are just five creative things to do with your home projector.
Study Groups
Many students and the parents of students can testify that cramming for tests is often an inefficient process. Your study group may not always be looking at the same practice problems or important passages from textbooks, and it’s a scramble to keep them on the same page. With the home projector, however, everyone can be working off the same page. By making transparencies of the key issues to study, you can get the vital test information up on the wall, or a big screen, and grab everyone’s attention. This way everyone is learning without having to confer over what they are seeing.
Movie Nights
People are always shopping for bigger and better screens to watch their high definition shows and movies, but the real brilliance is in the homeowner who clears a space on the wall or gets a big, but affordable, screen to watch a favorite DVD. Why waste money at the theater, or positioning the chairs around the television, when the movie you want can be sprawled across the wall for the whole family to enjoy?
Story Time
Reading to kids can be a joy to parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, but what about taking the picture book to a different level? Kids love a common activity taken to another level. So putting your storybook up on the screen. You can have pictures on the screen as you read the action to them. This will be one reading experience they will never forget.
Quiz Time
Test the knowledge of your friends and family. Try a powerpoint jeopardy game. Since you can hook up most projectors to your computer, you can spend countless hours quizzing each other on all the best of history, sports, and pop culture questions. Have a tournament and put up a prize at the end of the quiz just to spice things up. It could be a great way to spend a Saturday night.
Puppet Shows
This is as fun as a home projector gets and you can turn it into a craft activity that comes to life! Help the little ones make some puppets, but the fun isn’t over when the puppets are done. You can then perform a show for the kids.
These are great ideas for making the most of your home projector. They can be used to educate, entertain, and enjoy. If you have a home project, start thinking of ways you can make the most of this wonderful invention.
Evening pool party
Pool party is just great the way it is, so I am not going to tell you how to organize that. Instead, let’s talk about how you can turn a regular pool chilling into something more special. Here is an idea. But please bear in mind, this variant will work best in summer, or if you happened to be in a hot country because you will need it to be still warm outside when the sun goes down. Wait till it gets a bit dark, take your projector so you get a chance to transform your swimming pool into the real ocean by showing images of tropical fish, whales, cute Nemo fish( you can even just put the whole cartoon on)coral reefs, and perhaps a dolphin or two. On top of that add a relaxing marine soundtrack from a portable speaker and it’s a great way to have a fantastic evening event near the pool. It is a great variant to entertain your kids at night as well.
A Musical Light Show
I have organized this thing with my kid, and it went just fantastic. Using a piece of technology called MusicBeam on top of your projectors allows you to throw a fantastic laser party or just a fun evening event of any kind. As this system is triggered by music, you are in full control of what speed and directions your laser light are going to move. On top of all of the advantages, MusicBeam is also very easy to set up, the only 2 things you will need is your projector and your laptop.
Chalk Art Project
Kids just love doing anything creative. So here is another cool use of your home projector. Kids can have fun drawing murals on any surface that the chalk can be removed from, for example, a sidewall of the garage or a utility room. Drawing is fun, but following the lines to create a huge image is even better. Simply project a black and white image on a removable surface of your choice. Trace over the lines of the picture using the chalk to create an impressive masterpiece that you and your children will be proud of. By the way, this variant works great for not only kids but teenagers and even adults. With kids you can color some of their favorite cartoon characters, teens will be happy painting some kind of cool graffiti or some funny phrase that they can, later on, take a selfie with. With adults, you can project a massive glass of wine and paint it, that will be so much fun.
Picnic Movie Night
Who said you can only use your projector inside or outside the house to have fun? I suggest you organize a picnic with your family, friends, or all of them together. Bring some sandwiches, snacks, drinks as well as something for dessert, for example, cupcakes because they are easy to eat and move around with. As for the entertainment, you won’t have to come up with multiple game scenarios, since all you will need id to bring a white sheet and your projector, and watch your favorite movie together.
Home Planetarium
This variant will be great for those who already love astrology, or want to get their kids to start loving and understanding it. Using your home projector you can easily project a real image of the sky using apps like Celestia or Stellarium. Celestia is a program that will make you feel like you are flying through the galaxy. It will give you a chance to explore the stars and planets in three dimensions. When you project it on your screen, you could have the real feel of traveling to space. Stellarium is an app that’s used in planetariums themselves around the world. It’s like looking through the telescope right from your bedroom. You can zoom in on stars and planets, and map out the constellations on your screen if you loved something specific.
Q&A
What Can a projector be used for?
A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types of projectors can project the image directly, by using lasers.
Can you watch TV from a projector?
You can connect the projector directly to the TV by using an HDMI cable. A few models of TVs, especially when it comes to the older ones, come with VGA or RCA ports instead of HDMI ports found in the more modern projectors.
Do you need a dark room for a projector?
The answer is yes, or at least the room should be slightly dark. Basements tend to be really popular for projectors because they tend to be dark by nature, but you can put a projector in a room with windows as long as you can block out the light, usually with curtains or something similar, for example, a piece of dark material. If you can’t find anywhere dark in the house, simply wait for the evening to come.
Are projectors better for your eyes?
The answer is yes, projector screens actually are better for your eyes than TV. Projectors are able to produce much larger images in comparison, which put less strain on your eyes while watching it. In addition to this, projectors only reflect light while TVs emit it.
Can you use a projector on a wall?
The simple answer is definitely yes, you can. But bear in mind, using a projector without a screen might significantly decrease the quality of the viewable image. A plain white wall will for sure provide a good surface for an image to be projected, but there are definitely some drawbacks to it. A wall does not reflect light as well as a projector screen.
How far do you put a projector from the screen?
It depends. If your screen is 87” wide and the throw distance of your projector is 1.3, the projector should be 113” (87×1.3=113”) from the screen. Remember to always measure from the center of the projector’s lens straight to the screen.
Summary
It is well known that projectors are fantastic for providing great fun on a much bigger screen than TV. Literally everybody has a TV in the house nowadays, but can you say the same about the projector? Probably not. Today we have talked about 10 cool activities you can organize using your projector, hope some of them will hit the spot for you.
Annie is the stay-at-home mom who loves technology blogging on various psychology topics. She is also in love with her daughter, husband, and a cat.
Hi there, technology lovers! My name is James, I am an admin and a frequent writer for this blog. I am a techno-geek, so this blog is the place where I want to share all my knowledge with you to make your life a little bit easier in terms of dealing with technology.
