Amazon STEM Toy Club Review, Ages 3 to 4 – August 2017

Amazon has launched a STEM Club Toy subscription box! This monthly subscription delivers “handpicked, high-quality Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math toys” to your door for $19.99/month.

We signed up for Amazon’s STEM Toy Club subscription as soon as it launched, and this is our seventh delivery. This subscription looks like any other shipment from Amazon, with no exterior branding on the box.

There are 3 age range options:

• 3-4-year-olds (counting, building, and cause and effect)
• 5-7 year-olds (hands-on experiments and explorations of electricity, earth science, and simple math)
• 8-13-year-olds (more complex projects and experiments based on principals of physics, chemistry, and engineering)

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

This is a review of the 3-4-year-old age range Amazon STEM Club, $19.99/month.

The Subscription Box: Amazon STEM Toy Club

The Cost: $19.99 per month

The Products: Each month you will receive a different, age-appropriate STEM toy.

Ships to: U.S. (free shipping)

Check out all of our Amazon STEM Toy Club reviews, more educational and STEM subscriptions for kids, and all Amazon subscription boxes in our subscription box directory!

Keep track of your subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wish list!

Brio Builder Construction Set – Value $45.98

This month’s toy is a pretty advanced looking building set for ages 3+.

This kit has 135 pieces, including tools, connectors, wheels, and all sorts of interesting doodads and bits.

The cardboard box is sturdy enough to use for storage and has a convenient handle, although it’s not as nice as the plastic case we got last month.

There aren’t really instructions since the toy is designed for free-form building and play, but there’s a little pamphlet with some inspiration and ideas to get you started!

These examples are really helpful because they give you an idea of what parts work together in these kits. The connectors are actually pretty complex and varied for a preschool age toy: There are bolts with nuts that you can use for things like wheels, or blue “nails” that you can use to simply pin two pieces together. There are even spacer sleeves that you can put over the bolts if you want to add some space between the pieces (like the car at the bottom of the above photo).

It took me way too long to realize that this last one is a rocket ship. Ha!

Brio is known for their trains; at least, that’s what I knew of this brand before receiving this toy. There’s also an included pamphlet showing off the other toys they offer.

Ready to see all of those 135 pieces?

I think this set is super cool. I love the modern design and the use of both wood and plastic components, and I love that it will teach kids about different ways to build things rather than just sticking things together like LEGO.

But, with an almost 2.5-year-old who already has a myriad of plastic screws distributed throughout the house, I made the executive parental decision to reserve this particular kit for when he’s a bit older. This subscription is for kids ages 3-4 and this toy is rated for 3+, but it’s just a bit too advanced for my son’s attention span at the moment.

I was able to put together one of the sample models from the pamphlet in just a few minutes. I feel like even 3-year-olds would need some adult assistance with the fine motor skills on some types of assembly, like tightening the bolts and nuts so that they actually hold wheels into position. But you can make a lot of really cool things with this kit and I’m excited to play together with this in a few months!

Verdict: Definitely another win for Amazon’s STEM Toy Club this month. I love the various materials and how advanced some of the concepts are, so I’m really looking forward to breaking this out when my toddler has a longer attention span for building. I don’t go to toy stores or browse the toy aisle when shopping at Target very often, but Brio isn’t a brand I’ve seen outside of specialty stores… it feels pretty unique and a little more sophisticated, and the retail price reflects that, too. Value wise, I think this is the best month we’ve had, paying just $19.99 for a toy that is currently $45.98 on Amazon!

What do you think of this month’s toy from the Amazon STEM Club Toy subscription box?