October 6, 2026 On October 6, 2026, TOYBOX visited Frontenac School to join the monthly family program again after a long summer break. We met children of various ages (from babies to preschoolers) to make stress balls with balloons and sand! TOYBOX activity cards were given to parents to encourage them to try letter, number, and wellness play at home every day. TOYBOX at Frontenac School! Letters in my stress balls! Many interesting interactions took place throughout the act

September 27, 2026 Le français suit On Sunday, September 27, TOYBOX Manitoba, along with UWSA Daycare, UW Numeracy Development & Learning Lab (NDL), and UW Let’s Talk Science, gathered in Tent 14 at the Teddy Bear Picnic! Children and their parents/caregivers lined up to see what interesting things were waiting for them inside the tent. TOYBOX greeted children and families with free bubbles and invited them to make their own special stress balls using their favourite balloon

September 26, 2026 TOYBOX friends were excited to meet UW students on Saturday morning, September 26! About 100 students from different faculties were invited, including Education, Psychology, Developmental Studies, and more. Each student received an “event passport” to note what they learned throughout the day, plus a free T-shirt for the group photo! Lots of interesting and meaningful sessions filled the day, starting with opening remarks from Dr. Dunnington, who shared a m

The Winnipeg Foundation’s Summer Internship Program gave TOYBOX the opportunity to connect with other non-profit organizations across the city, and one of those was the Dalnavert Museum! Hephzibah, with TOYBOX was able to connect with her fellow intern at the Dalnavert Museum and TOYBOX got to attend the museum’s “Second Saturday” event on September 12th. While visitors enjoyed free admission to the museum and historic house, TOYBOX welcomed them afterwards to some fun and le

At the end of August, Camryn and James were supported by Hephzibah in presenting TOYBOX’s most recent research at The University of Winnipeg’s Inquiry and Impact: 2026 Student Research Recognition Event! Dr. Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk (left), Camryn Kowalchuk, James Lesyk and Hephzibah Onafowora. Over the past year, our team has been hard at work collecting observation notes about children’s engagement with the TOYBOX intervention. At the Inquiry and Impact research event, we share

August 11-13, 2026 From August 11th to 13th, the TOYBOX team visited various locations across Manitoba to film new activity videos and reels! These videos will support parents and educators by presenting TOYBOX activities in a more lively and engaging format. Litty and Nume, our beloved mascots, were thrilled to step into their roles as actors and show how early literacy and numeracy learning can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime! Litty & Nume Mascots on the Filming Day! The first

In late June/early July, the TOYBOX team travelled to two conferences in Europe where researchers Sheri Skwarchuk and Paulette Trémorin, along with students Madison Young and Tegwen Bryan, presented the project’s latest research. The team attended the Mathematics and Learning Society (MCLS) conference in Padua Italy, and then the EDULearn conference in Palma, Spain. Both conferences focused on different topics, so there were a lot of new things to learn! The first conferenc

Welcome to Hephzibah, working with the Summer Internship Program through the Winnipeg Foundation! As part of this collaboration, TOYBOX hosted a site visit for all the other participating organizations and summer interns We welcomed them into our new community room, and Hephzibah shared a presentation about the project from a fresh new voice! Participants tried a TOYBOX example gardening activity, to show how the project works. We then split up into two groups: the inte

Hello everyone! My name is Hephzibah Onafowora, and I’m excited to be joining the TOYBOX team this summer as a Project Development Officer / Safety Analyst! SIP interns (Hephzibah front, right) I’m a first-year student in the Faculty of Science at the University of Manitoba, where I’m exploring my interests in science, community engagement, and creating meaningful learning experiences. I love opportunities that allow me to make a positive impact while learning new skills,

The Canadian Society for the Study of Education’s conference was brought to the University of Winnipeg this year! It was amazing to see guests from all over the world welcomed to our university, and TOYBOX had a few presentations to showcase: Litty and Nume welcome visitors to the University of Winnipeg! First, our graphic design and illustration team lead facilitators, Herlinda Dalayoan and Brian Guevarra, showcased a presentation that revolved around the ways that TOYBOX na

May 26, 2026 On May 26, TOYBOX made another meaningful visit to Frontenac School to share joy with families and children. This month, we delivered our TOYBOX Animal Activity Kit. The kit included toy figures of Manitoba animals, along with a description of playful learning activities for families to try together. TOYBOX Animal Activities Children chose their favourite colours of clay to stamp the toy animals’ feet into. They had so much fun recognizing and naming each animal,

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!