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Ivy Kids Subscription Box Review – September 2014

Haley Faye
ByHaley FayeSep 24, 2014 | 17 comments

Ivy Kids Subscription Box Review - September

Ivy Kids is a monthly educational subscription box for children ages 3-8. Each month, you will receive a kit containing a book and materials for activities based upon the story. Activities included in the kit have been specifically crafted to encourage curiosity, problem solving, reading comprehension, literacy skills, and creativity in young children.

Ivy Kids sent us this box for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Ivy Kids

The Cost: $38.95/month, $36.95/month with 3 month subscription, $34.95/month with 6 month susbcription

The Products: receive a kit containing a book and ten or more activities based upon the story

Ships to: US

Ivy Kids Subscription Box Review - September 2014 Info

Every Ivy Kids box has a summary of the materials and the activities in the lid of the box. It also tells you that the guide included in the kit helps you modify each game based on the age and development for your child!

Ivy Kids Subscription Box Review - September 2014 Color Zoo

The book this month is called Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert, and the bookmark (on the right) lists questions to help encourage reading comprehension as you guide your child through the story.

Ivy Kids Subscription Box Review - September 2014 Materials

Materials and activities come sorted and separated. I like this because it’s convenient, obviously, but also because it means you can split up the activities and do them throughout the month instead of all at once.

 Ivy Kids Subscription Box Review - September 2014 Colors

(More materials!)

Verdict: Education and parent-guided educational activities are things that I think are so incredibly important. I don’t have kids myself yet, but when I do I know I’ll love educational boxes like Ivy Kids. I like that there are so many activities per box, and probably my favorite thing about this subscription is that it centralizes on reading, as well as helping to build literacy- and math-skills.

What do you think of Ivy Kids? Have you tried an educational subscription box for your children?

Haley Faye
Haley Faye
Haley Faye first discovered the wonderful world of subscription boxes in 2012 and began writing for MSA in 2014. Over the years, she has found many subscriptions to love. Now a mom of three, her favorite boxes are ones that dress her kids, help her get organized, feed her family, send her snacks, and offer educational fun for her children.

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17 comments

Holly

Will msa review this box again? I am getting it for my 3 almost 4 year old and my 7 and 8 year old kids love it too. Definitely worth the price and I am a very frugal lady.

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Jennifer

I’m highly considering getting this starting next year when my oldest daughter turns 3. It looks like a great way to have fun doing learning activities with my kids. This is the sort of thing I would want to put together if I had time too, lol – so it’s perfect that everything is already planned out and sorted. My toddler loves, loves books (this morning alone she’s had me read the ABCs of biology, Rocket Science for Babies, Around Town, Share with Me, and At Work to her lol – and she frequently ‘sneaks’ books into bed with her) so it’s great the activities each center around a monthly book.

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PA Anna

I’ve been reading about this sub for a few months on different mommy blogs. The first two were sent out to a lot of reviewers and looked like tons of fun with enough activities for a whole month. Google Jump Frog Jump and Mouse Paint to see the reviews. The October theme is centered around the book Caps for Sale which is a book my son loves. You can check out what is in October’s box on their website. My son’s Oct box arrives tomorrow. In other words, this subscription is more than color, shapes, and blocks. September is about that because of the book Color Zoo.

I ordered this subscription with a 20% off code for the first month and purchased a 3 month subscription with some of his birthday money. My son turned 6 earlier this month.

The first thing my son saw was a placemat that has his name on him which excited him because the spelling of his name is unusual. I think that the personalization is the welcome gift for being a new subscriber. She also include scissors as a gift. Everything is packaged separately which is helpful in not losing pieces etc. Incredibly useful if you have little ones around because you can take one activity out of the box knowing everything is there. Invaluable in my opinion when dealing with younger children.

Here are a few examples of the activities included. There are more activities than this listed. Also there are more tips than I listed which I paraphrased. Each activity comes with a sheet that has the name of the activity, materials provided, how to play, Little Ivy Tip, Junior Ivy Tip, Questions to scaffold learning, and learning goals and developing skills.

1. Letter Zoo – Each letter board has an animal that starts with that letter along with the letter. Blocks are used to create letters and animals. Little Ivy Tip – Select a card, match the pattern blocks. The parent is encouraged to help identify the letter and animal. Junior Ivy Tip- Challenge them to create the letter his or his own way and create a different animal/object using the blocks. My 6 year old LOVES this. He has quite an imagination and this was one of his favorite activities.

2. Another activity is making foam animal puppets on a stick. Glue is included 🙂 Little Ivy tip – Help identify shapes while making puppets. Junior Ivy tip – Create animal puppets and write/act out a story. This came with questions which I asked my 6 year old and wrote down his answers. Remember he just turned 6! He acted out the story. Another hit!

3. I’ll write about one more activity. I can write about more activities if there is interest. This activity is a game called Race Home which involves a spinner and game board. You spin and move to the correct shape and can also finish sooner by sliding up an arrow. Little Tip: Help him identify the shapes. Junior Ivy Tip – challenge by identify the direction when moving left, right, up, and down. Now that might not sound like much, but have you ever been with someone who tells you to turn right and then says I mean my other right? It made him think because the directions he heads in the game do change.

The questions on the bookmark I did not take to mean that all children could answer them regardless of age. My son would had found it fun at 3 to find all the circles. At 6 he found it more fun to count how many circles.

The name doesn’t bother me. I thought it might be related to the quality of books selected. Also you can add on additional materials for a sibling for $5.00 which I thought was a great price. I’ll post in a few days what is in the October box so those interested can get a feel.

Also I have received or am receiving Kiwi Crate, KidStir, Green Kid Crafts, and Kelly Kits if anyone has questions about them. I do think that a picture of the sheet along with an activity completed or laid out will be helpful in assisting people in their thought process on this box.

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Jennifer

More information would be great! Maybe you could send in a sample review to MSA and see if they would be interested in posting your review?

I know descriptions of the actual activities would be very helpful in deciding whether to pick up the box or not!

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PA Anna

I receive this sub. I think there may be some misconceptions that I hope I can clear up. Right now I can’t pull my box out etc., but can provide more detail later tonight.

So ask away and I will answer if I can later this evening.

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PA Anna

I should add that my younger son turned 6 early September. I also have a teenage son. The other 2 month themes were Jump Frog Jump and Mouse Paint. We will be receiving our October box tomorrow.

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kc

Im a parent of a 5 and 7 y.o. I see alot of boxes that are marketed to age ranges 3-8 and I have begun to question how much my 7 y.o. will get out of a box that could also work for a 3 y.o.

I have tried out a few childrens boxes and have noticed that even the 2 year age span between my kid makes a difference in their response to the activities.

I understand that some 3 y.o. are advanced and some 7 y.o. may be not as advanced, making it difficult to market otherwise. Perhaps there needs to be more thought by the boxes and reviewers in figuring out how to guide parents to boxes that are appropriate. Such as “for kids who are reading” “for kids who are sounding out letters” “for kids who are familiar with concepts such as hot, cold”

I applaud Kiwi Box which has just announced boxes that are for varying age groups.

I would like to see boxes reviewed with this in mind.

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Jennifer

The Kiwi boxes aren’t always an exact match despite that they do try. My first Cricket Crate was perfect for my just-turned-two year old but the second was far beyond her skill set (one of the reasons I cancelled.) She could do it now that she is nearing three, but I’m saving the box for her third birthday as I think she will be a bit more excited about it then.

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Brooke

Hmmm. I think this box is not good for 3-4 year olds. I am a pediatric therapist and we see waaaayyy too many parents focusing on “teaching” (in the wildly mistaken opinion that this will help them later in school) with not nearly as much focus on playing and using imagination and reading (play WILL help your child later in school) and talking.

This is a disturbing trend in the past 10 or so years and I hate to see a box (put out by NON-professionals) enable these trends.

Just the name of this sub gives me the heebie jeebies and I know when I tell the story of it’s existence in my staff meeting, everyone there will bang their foreheads on the table….

Of course I haven’t seen the box and it might not be as bad as I fear (based on the name and these pictures)– maybe it will have age-appropriate activities, though 3-8 is a pretty huge spectrum to cover. 8 year olds should be reading. 3 year olds should maybe juuuust be learning about A for apple, B for bear, etc.

I wish there was such a thing as a team of professional therapists/teachers putting these boxes out or at least reviewing them…

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Jennifer

Learning and Imagination are not mutually exclusive, lol. My two year old loves playing with shapes, colors, and even word-flashcards she found in the library I was saving for later. She doesn’t think of it as ‘ug, I’m being forced to learn’ but as part of her natural daily exploration and finding things out about the world she lives in. (And the time she geeked out that the Sun was a star was so cute!!!)

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Taseea Cruz

I am the owner and developer of Ivy Kids kits. I have 2 children of my own. I had been an early childhood teacher for 8 years and I have a Masters in Early Childhood education. I started creating these kits to use with my own children. I planned activities that would promote critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving. My kids had so much fun playing activities based upon a beloved story and characters. I started sharing these kits with friends and families. They were a huge success. These kits are not meant for parents to “teach” their children. But instead for parents to spend meaningful quality time with their children. As children play, they are also learning important foundational skills.
All the activities in the kit have been “tested” by children and evaluated by other early childhood teachers and parents.
We have had wonderful reviews by many parents and educators, as well as, therapists.

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Jennifer

I think the activities look great! My daughter is only two but she is highly interested in drawing, shapes, letters, animals, and colors so I think she would have a fun time with activities like these.

Brooke

Perhaps I spoke too soon… without having seen a full review of exactly what activities are recommended. I judged on the name, the reading comprehension bookmark, and what appeared to be a strong focus on shapes and letters.

Do you have a link of some sort of full unboxing review/explanation of the activities? I am more than happy to delete my comment if I have misjudged your product.

kiwimango

Thank you for this! I am not a professional but just a mom of a one year old and I immediately thought while reading this post, “Why would I sub to this when I can take my kid to all the nearby library programs for free?” I am big on education but I also think letting her have fun with other kids is important.

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Amber

I am a mother of a three year old. Wouldn’t it be better if a mom (or teacher–also me) review these products? I would love to do that. We do Kiwi Crate and have for over a year and it is great, but I love the idea of the activities being focused on a book.

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kiwimango

Honestly, not a knock against anyone on this site, but I’ve learned to just look at these types of reviews objectively since you know that non-parents can have vastly different ideas than parents. 🙂

As someone else posted, it would have been nice to see a review of the activities in action rather than just pictures of the baggies they came in. That would have swayed me more, but instead I just instantly dismissed it because I have other enrichment options available.

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Audrey

Wow i love this box. This would be a great box for a teacher, not just a parent. Teachers will use these in the classroom. I will have to start this.

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