Growing Up at Roylco

Roylco Waterloo, ON Building

When we first started out, way back in the sixties, we made just a few things, like chalkboard erasers and gummed stickers in the shape of stars, circles and squares.

As we grew a little older we experimented with all kinds of things, from flannelboards to easels. It was a challenging time—getting a new business off the ground, but it was a lot of fun!

We searched and searched and with some help from our customers we began to really focus on art materials for younger children. We printed paper in fun designs like animal skins and we cut out sponges for dip and print painting. We were on a roll! One innovative product led to more new ideas and possibilities. As we began to grow, so did our manufacturing capabilities—new machines, better production methods, good, old-fashion North American quality!

By the eighties we really started to get in touch with kids and what they like to do. We also started talking to teachers about their classrooms, curricula and backgrounds. We learned that teachers are expected to teach more students with less preparation time and with a lower budget for classroom supplies. We learned that teachers really struggled with art education. A lot of teaching professionals didn’t really have experience with art and did not consider themselves to be “crafty.” In response, we started writing idea guides to help teachers implement classroom arts programs with creative, fun, interesting and inexpensive projects.

In the nineties we were still hard at work developing and making fun art materials and tools. As we’ve grown we have been able to develop new manufacturing techniques to produce new products. Our artists began to work with new media and our writers started thinking of creative ways to express ideas.

In the new millennium we’ll keep looking for new challenges. Now we want to develop science products that are fun and interesting for young children and provide teachers with valuable ideas and resources. We want to add art techniques to building projects and find even better ways to help teachers.

There’s no better business in the world than manufacturing school supplies and in-home art kits for ages 5 to 105! We figure that we can do our part to promote education and make learning a positive experience for young children. Being a parent is the most important job in the world. Being a teacher comes in a close second. We hope you enjoy your job as much as we enjoy ours!

Feature Items

Fortune Cookie as featured in the Cookie Magazine, Editors' Picks in the December 2007/January 2008 issue.

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