Some of our favourite moments at Free Play for Kids come when our Welcome to Play program helps newcomers adapt to life in Canada through play. Last Tuesday, these kiddos got to see and play hockey for the very first time!

In quick succession, the intro to hockey went from confusion and fear into ear-to-ear smiles on all their faces. Even with the wrong-handed stick or without skates, these kiddos are instantly having fun and learning about Canadian culture at the deepest of levels — play.

A big thank you to the Government of Alberta for their support in making experiences like this possible!

What a season for the Wolves! Our U13 Boys brought home Silver, and our U15 and U17 teams fought hard to finish in the top tiers. The dedication from our players and coaches was incredible, and we couldn’t have done it without the amazing support from our parents. It’s been a season full of growth and pride for the whole club!

We’re excited to highlight 5 of our coaches who are participating in the Trucking HR Grant program! Thanks to this grant, their salaries are subsidized up to 70% from January through April, helping support their important work with our kiddos!

We love when the community comes together to support Edmonton, but we are overwhelmed with the initiative here from the Gamblin family.

Tyler Gamblin and his family, friends, and neighbours have built a Rainbow Ice House for a fundraiser! Some stats:
🧊 664 blocks
💦 Approx 1975 litres of water
⏰ 50+ hrs work

As a result, they raised $6,000 for Free Play, we cannot thank Tyler Gamblin and the family enough for their support this January with their incredible Ice Cabin!

Our Welcome to Play team hosted a Community Connect event to welcome newcomers to Canada through sport and culture. The kiddos had a blast playing ball hockey and soccer, learned about eye health and annual eye exams (Sponsored by the Alberta Association of Optometrists), enjoyed some snacks, and finished the evening watching the Oilers play!

It was a fun, active event of learning, sport, and community connection! A big thank-you to the Alberta Association of Optometrists for their support!

On January 15th, Kiddos' from Ermineskin school joined us at the first super tournament of season 2! Ermineskin School is located in Maskwacis, Alberta, and they’ll be joining our Super Tournaments once a month going forward. 

The kids there love playing sports and have really enjoyed learning about SEL (Social Emotional Learning). The SEL topic for that week was Trying New Things which fit the day perfectly. They took a one-hour bus ride to Edmonton, met 20 other schools, made new friends, and played in a totally new environment! That’s Trying New Things in action 👏

This week, through our Sport to Life lesson, we learned the importance of trying new things.

It's important that Kids learn to take risks because it develops resilience, enhances creativity, builds confidence, and fosters adaptability.