ToyBox Research Assistant Graduation and Achievements May 11 & 12, 2026 On May 12, our TOYBOX team visited Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, to present project updates at the 2026 AIM Conference. Dr. Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk opened our presentation by introducing the project and the TOYBOX team members, Taylor and Yeong. Sheri also showcased a recently published children’s picture book, Sharing Circle: A Treasury of Togetherness. Sheri-Lynn (left), Taylor (centre), & Yeon

March 2026 - Ongoing Published May 4, 2026 For the past few months, TOYBOX has been bringing playful everyday learning to families at Frontenac School in the Louis Riel School Division. With a warm welcome from Kyla, TOYBOX was invited to join the “Stay & Play” program in the Family Centre. On March 19, TOYBOX delivered Gardening Activity Booklets for families and friends. Each package included a mini cup, soil, two beans to plant, and a wooden stick to measure growth! Childr

April 30, 2026 On April 30, TOYBOX was invited to run the PD Day at Festival Daycare. About 60 Early Childhood Educators (ECE) and staff attended the event to learn about effective playful learning to implement in classroom settings. We shared our learning resources with everyone—including the Toybox Animal Booklet with animal toy figures, the Toybox Deck of Cards with description cards, and a few Toybox Gardening kits—and discussed how literacy, numeracy, and wellness learni

Le 9 avril, 2026 Lors de cette foire dédiée à la petite enfance, nous avons eu le plaisir de participer à un événement riche en rencontres et en échanges. Invités par la FPFM, nous étions très reconnaissants de pouvoir présenter ToyBox et partager notre mission auprès de la communauté francophone. La Foire de la santé et du bien-être de la petite enfance à La Broquerie. Nous avons eu l’occasion de rencontrer de nombreux parents ainsi que leurs enfants. Ces moments ont été enr

Toybox was honored to present at the 2026 First Nations Early Learning and Child Care (FNELCC) conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in collaboration with students from Education, Developmental Studies, and Psychology.

TOYBOX Team Members Present at The University of Winnipeg's Faculty of Education Annual Conference February 18-20, 2026 Written by Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk Wow, what a week! The WESTCAST student educator national conference was held in Winnipeg from 18-20 February, 2026. TOYBOX was featured in 10 student-led, faculty and community supported peer-reviewed early learning presentations. This time, the audience learned about TOYBOX from the perspective of our students. There was so

On January 30, 2026, TOYBOX had the privilege of attending Dr. Skwarchuk’s presentation on math anxiety at Linden Meadows School. We learned a lot about supporting kids with math anxiety and working on it ourselves! Nume and Tegwen presenting on math anxiety! Here’s a short summary of what was presented! The Count Me In project conducted at Linden Meadows school from 2005-2009 found 3 predictors of math abilities: language, quantitative awareness, and working memory. This wor

TOYBOX at St. George School Numeracy Night!

"Fun with Food" with the UWSA Daycare!

January 13-18, 2026 Six Early Childhood Educators on a Developmental Studies practicum, two TOYBOX members and supervising faculty Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk embarked on a journey north. The goal was to share resources and learn about early childhood and community in the north. We were packed to the brim and we were not really sure what was taking up all the space. But then in Churchill, our fun loving (but fairly large) mascot Nume popped off the VIA train full of energy and surpr

TOYBOX Day at UWSA Daycare!

Réflexion de Daniela Lors de cet événement organisé par la Fédération des parents de la francophonie manitobaine (FPFM), nous avons eu l’opportunité unique de présenter ToyBox en français. Ce fut un moment de grande fierté : pouvoir échanger directement avec des parents, des éducateurs et des éducatrices francophones, partager nos activités ludiques sur les lettres, les chiffres et le bien-être, et d’entendre leurs idées, leurs questions et leurs retours. Pour cette occasio

Recently, the TOYBOX team visited the UWSA Daycare for a TOYBOX Training Day with Early Childhood Educators (ECE)! Here, we introduced the TOYBOX project, discussed child development, and had the opportunity to try out some TOYBOX activities. Collaboration with community members is such an important part of the project, and this was demonstrated during our time at the UWSA Daycare. It was wonderful to be able to listen to and share individual experiences of facilitating learn

On October 15th, TOYBOX took a road trip to Rouseau River Anishinabe First Nation to visit the Head Start Program. We got a chance to talk about the TOYBOX project with the educators and members of the Head Start program. This involved how to bring TOYBOX to life within the program and our previous visits to other Head Start Programs around Manitoba. The discussion started by introducing the importance of play during learning and finding the perfect learning zone between chi

On Wednesday, October 22, the TOYBOX team participated in the 2025 Pine Creek Preschool Fair in Austin, Manitoba! This year, our special friend Nume came along to explore seven exciting learning stations: Vision (seeing), Audiology (hearing), Language (speech), Therapy (OT/PT), Gym Activities, and Literacy & Numeracy. Children received an event passport card to collect stickers from each station. The TOYBOX team hosted the Literacy and Numeracy stations, where families were i

TOYBOX provided free weekday one-hour children’s programming for people staying at the wildfire evacuation sites in Winnipeg, MB.

On September 20, Toybox made a wonderful connection with University of Winnipeg students during Community Building Day! Our table was set...

September 20, 2025 Over the weekend, TOYBOX travelled to Teulon, Manitoba to attend their annual pumpkin festival! We set up a table...

September 3-4, 2025 The TOYBOX team came in ready to roll into the school year by attending the University of Winnipeg Students'...

Written July 17, 2025 Updated August 12, 2025 Starting mid-July, the TOYBOX team has started facilitating children's programming at...