Koala Crate is the toddler subscription box offering from KiwiCo, designed for hands-on learning and fun every month!
KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups:
- Panda Crate for 0-24-month-olds,
- Koala Crate for 2-4-year-olds,
- Kiwi Crate for 5-8-year-olds,
- Atlas Crate for 6-11-year-olds,
- Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate for 9-16+-year-olds,
- Eureka Crate and Maker Crate for ages 14 and up. There really is something for every age with this company.
This review is of the $19.95 a month Koala Crate, for Pre-K kids ages 2-4.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Koala Crate from KiwiCo
The Subscription Box: KiwiCo Koala Crate
The Cost: $19.95 a month + free shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
The Products: 2-3 fun DIY projects for you to do with your preschooler!
Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95 per month, worldwide from $4.95-$6.95.
KiwiCo Koala Crate "Ice Age" Review
With public places still shut down, we have been keeping busy outside, tying up loose ends in our yard before winter comes. Because it has been raining a lot lately, we have been spending a little too much time inside where my boys have been singing the "I'm bored" blues. Receiving this yellow Koala Crate box was the perfect solution to our bored problems! While the recommended ages for this particular box are 2-4, my 7-year-old and now 5-year-old work adorably well together to read the book and create the projects on their own (sometimes with a wee bit of help). See how this month's theme turned out below.
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This month's theme was "Ice Age" and like last month, we were able to create an entire Ice Age theme day! Hank and Charlie LOVE the Ice Age movies, so to start up our theme we took a trip down memory lane and watched the original "Ice Age" movie with a bowl of popcorn. After tearing into our box, we took a peek at the brightly illustrated instructions, and I gave the kids free reins to start creating. This box was so well-curated, and the quality supplies are always amazing. Hank is able to read the instructions on his own, and they really learn team-building skills as they work on this together.
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Each month the Koala Crate "Imagine!" magazine is included. This booklet contains information about the Ice Age, along with a story, a DIY project, and suggested books to fit into the Ice Age theme. While we didn't have any of the suggested books, they are now on Charlie's birthday list, as they looked very interesting to him!
Hank chose this booklet as his "Stop, Drop, and Read" book of the day, and did a great job reading it to his little brother. Even though this is geared towards younger children, it contained information that was educational and fun, even for a big 7-year-old.
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In the booklet, they also had an "Act it out" section. Here they were given "moves" to make believe you're an Ice-Age animal....I just couldn't resist including these action shots.....I think they had the most fun being the saber-toothed cat!
Woolly Mammoth
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This month we received all of the necessary supplies for a cute woolly mammoth, that Charlie obviously named "Manny." The instructions were easy to follow, and the final product turned out adorable! Look below to see how it went!
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To create the wooly mammoth, the kids started out by filling the mammoth body with fluff. This part I did help with because they were having a hard time getting the fluff in the trunk. I used a pencil to try and stuff the fluff into the trunk, but admittedly had a hard time myself! Once the trunk was stuffed, the kids were able to finish the body and legs with no problem. Hank was able to adhere the Velcro together to close up the mammoth. Hank threaded the extra yarn into the holes to create an extra fuzzy guy. This step was great for his knot tying skills! Once the yarn was added, Charlie stuck the ears, eyes, and eyebrows onto "Manny" followed by the tusks. While we placed a lot of pressure on the stickers, Charlie woke up the next morning with a mammoth ear stuck to his leg after sleeping with his new stuffed friend. Just wanting to give a heads up to parents of younger kids that could accidentally ingest these smaller pieces....Besides losing an ear, this guy turned out amazingly cute, and Charlie loves the new addition to his sleeping quarters!
Fossil Excavation
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Another fun project we received this month was a fossil excavation. We received a flexible ice mold, tweezers, dropper, plant fossils, animal fossils, and a fossil card.
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To create our fossil, we added a bit of water to our flexible ice mold and added a few fossils. We then placed it in the freezer for a couple of hours. When the first layer froze, we added the rest of the fossils and filled it to the top with water, and placed it back in the freezer. When the water was completely frozen, we squeezed it out of the mold and onto a plate. Using warm water, the kids used the dropper and squeezed it onto the ice cube to help it melt. Using the tweezers, they excavated the fossils out of the cube and matched them with the pictures on the included card. The kids really enjoyed this activity, especially because it reminded them about our trip to Montana where we really went fossil hunting and found a real triceratops tooth!
Iceberg Board Game
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We love games, and when we get to help create them, it makes the experience even more fun. This month's ice age game was fun, simple, and was really good for counting skills and strategy!
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To create this game, we received a sheet of stickers that we were able to use to customize our icebergs on the game board. Once we made our iceberg mosaic, we placed the character tokens in the foam holders. Adding the cardboard cutout chips to the included bag we were able to start playing! The object of the game is to get your character from start to finish. You must get the iceberg tokens on the empty spaces before you can jump across, and you can use different strategies to try and become the winner. The kids love that this was a short game and fun, so we were able to play multiple times with multiple winners. And because they made it, it felt extra special!
Verdict: This Koala Crate was really fun! I love using this box as an addition to our themed days, and this Ice Age theme was awesome! Creating these projects and reading through the included material was a great start to our day, and adding a few Ice Age themed worksheets, and topping the day off with the "Ice Age" movie turned our rainy day into "the best day ever!" We can't wait to see what theme we receive next month!
All of the included projects came with high-quality materials, were very well-curated, and were educational as well as fun. My kids learned about the Ice Age, all while having a great time. I feel this is extremely important and worth the $19.95!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? From KiwiCo:
Crates are assigned each month based on availability and your crate history – not all subscribers receive the same theme each month
Check out all of our KiwiCo reviews and the best subscription boxes for toddlers and kids!
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