Tinker Crate Subscription Box Review & Coupon – January 2016

Tinker Crate is a subscription for kids ages 9-14 from the makers of Kiwi Crate. Like Kiwi Crate, it comes with everything you need to complete multiple projects based around a central theme. Unlike Kiwi Crate, however, these projects are less craftsy and more based on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning and enrichment.

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

The Subscription Box: Tinker Crate

The Cost: $19.95 per month (free shipping)

COUPON: 50% off your first month with coupon code MSA50

The Products: STEM-based crafts and DIY projects for kids, with supplemental learning kits, booklets, and activities. Projects are designed to enhance children’s critical thinking and problem solving skills through activities that are exciting and fun!

Ships to: Anywhere in the United States, including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and APO addresses

Check out all of our Tinker Crate reviews and the Kids Subscription Box Directory!

Every box comes with a copy of TinkerZine magazine, which includes articles about that month’s theme, as well as smaller projects and experiments. This month’s theme is Gravity Games! What a curious topic! I do this box with my nine-year-old son, and he loves Tinker Crate!

Here’s a peek at the table of contents from this month’s TinkerZine. In addition to the large project that Tinker Crate sends, the magazine has several articles plus smaller projects you and your child can undertake to gain a deeper knowledge of the scientific principles of that month’s topic.

This month’s big project is a gravity game! This picture didn’t really explain much to us about how this was all going to work. BUT, we can always count on Tinker Crate to pick awesome projects, so we dove right in anyway.

These are the instructions for this month’s project. They are pretty detailed, but they are always very clear, complete, and easy-to-follow.

These were the materials Tinker Crate supplied for the project. With Tinker Crate, sometimes you have to supply a few things, but they are always items you have at home, like scissors or water. This month they included everything we needed for the project. I took this picture before we did the project, so I didn’t know it at the time, but the cardboard bird was not part of this project. Sometimes Tinker Crate even includes some supplies for the smaller projects in TinkerZine, and this was one of those items.

This is our completed game! It turns out it’s really kind of challenging! You place the ball on top of the sticks at the narrow end. You have to pull the sticks apart at the other end to get the ball to start rolling. Then *very* quickly, you have to push the sticks together to give the ball something to roll on, and then pull the sticks back apart to make the ball drop into the hole you want. The farther you can make it roll before dropping, the higher your score. We played with this, seriously, for an hour. I finally got 50 points! I am current reigning champion, btw.

Verdict: My son and I love Tinker Crate! He loves the projects, and most of the time my seven-year-old is really interested in the completed projects, too. I love that he’s getting lots of hands-on experience with engineering! In my opinion, this is one of the best ways to spend $20 and an afternoon with your child every month. I also think older children would be able to do this by themselves if they wanted. It’s an incredible value!

What do you think of Tinker Crate?