Building Joy Through Play: 2025 Adaptive Toy Build Days

This November, Penfield Children’s Center and Marquette University’s Opus College of Engineering once again teamed up to bring play within reach for every child. Over two weekends, students, volunteers and community partners gathered for the fourth annual Adaptive Toy Build Days — a hands-on event dedicated to transforming traditional toys into adaptive ones that children of all abilities can enjoy.

Hosted at Marquette’s Alumni Memorial Union, the build days united Marquette engineering and occupational therapy students, local high school students, and Penfield volunteers. Together, participants modified several types of toys—installing adaptive switches and controls to make them accessible for children who face physical or developmental challenges.

During this year’s two‑weekend event, a team of over 50 volunteers came together and adapted 240 toys — 120 toys in the first weekend and another 120 in the second. With this year’s build, we now have surpassed 900 adapted toys over the past four years.

In the four years of the program, 33 unique toy types have been adapted — and each year we introduce new styles to ensure children have a broad selection of play options. By varying the kinds of toys we adapt, we keep children engaged, encourage exploration, and provide choices tailored to different abilities and play styles.

The program, “Inclusive Play: Toys for All,” began as a collaboration between Penfield and Marquette’s Opus College of Engineering. It was born from a simple but powerful idea: every child deserves the chance to play. What started as a small project to create adaptive toys for Penfield Children’s Center has grown into a thriving annual initiative that continues to expand its impact.

“It is amazing to see how much we have accomplished in a short period of time,” said Vladimir Bjelic, Speech Language Pathologist at Penfield.

“None of this would be possible without the continued dedication from Penfield Children’s Center, OREC College of Engineering at Marquette University, and all of the volunteers over the years. This project has been a great indication of what can be done for the greater good when we work together as a community.”

Vladimir and Molly Erickson, Research Engineer from Marquette’s Opus College of Engineering, have led the charge to make these builds both educational and meaningful. The event brings together local high school students and university students, giving them hands-on experience with engineering, problemsolving, and service — while helping them understand how technology and compassion intersect to make a difference in real lives.

“When I first came up with the idea, I was hopeful that we could build enough toys for the clinic at Penfield Children’s Center,” Vladimir continued.

“As we held annual build days, I realized there is a huge need for adaptive toys, and no matter how many we adapt, we could always adapt more. My mission and passion with the project is to continue adapting toys and giving them for free to children, families, and clinics that need them. Every child deserves the right to play and have access to appropriate toys. My job is to make sure that every child has this opportunity!”

As the program continues to grow, the message remains clear: when our community comes together, amazing things happen.