Matina Educational Sub — Nijal Munankarmi

Matina is a culturally responsive educational subscription box designed to help Newari children learn their native language and indigenous traditions through play. Each box is themed around a Newar festival and includes vocabulary cards, activity books, illustrated guides, toys, and games that bring language, legend, and cultural practice into early childhood learning. The project responds to an urgent reality: as urbanization and migration reduce intergenerational transmission, Newari children growing up away from the Kathmandu Valley are losing access to the cultural knowledge that defines their community. Matina approaches that gap not through documentation or archiving, but through design — creating tactile, joyful, child-centered tools that make the culture something to experience rather than study. Developed in collaboration with Nepali cultural historians, educators, and artists, the project also serves as a model for how design can support endangered language preservation in other indigenous communities around the world.

Cover of the corrugated box

Full box as it is

Die-cut of the full box

Icon set for translation and education

User test by my niece. (She liked it)

↑ Top

Instagram LinkedIn

Contact Me