Wonder Crate is a monthly subscription box that promotes social-emotional learning for kids ages 5-8. Learn to manage emotions, embrace challenges, try new things, think positively, and bounce back from failure. Each month a new topic will be explored with a book for kids, fun activities, tips for parents and an online lesson to help your child discover their inner power. Life skills delivered to your door!
Choose between the $19.95 Sidekick, $34.95 Hero, or $49.95 Superhero options.
This is a review of the Wonder Crate Hero, $34.95 a month, box.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Wonder Crate
The Subscription Box: Wonder Crate
The Cost: $34.95 per month + $7.00 shipping (Less with a prepaid 3 or 6 month subscription)
COUPON: Use code WONDER to get 20% off your first box!
The Products: Your first box will include a superhero cape (you can choose between red or pink when you sign up!) with iron-on patches. Each month you get:
- A book that introduces a new skill
- A coordinating patch to add to your cape
- A guide with activities and resources for parents
- 2-3 activities to practice the new skill (including supplies)
- An online lesson for additional practice
Ships to: US ($7), Canada ($15), Worldwide ($25)
Good to know: You can add a sibling to your subscription for $14.95 and receive a second set of toys and activities! Subscriptions automatically renew, but you can cancel anytime.
Wonder Crate Box February 2018 Review
Superhero Cape - Estimated Value $6.00
Stars and Lightning Bolt Patches - Estimated Value $13 (I was not able to find the exact patches, but there was a 3 pack of stars for $8 and most other single patches cost $5.00).
In your first box, you will receive a cape (choose red or pink at sign up!) and the initial patches- stars and lightning bolt- to put on your cape. The cape was really simple and cute; a velcro snap at the neck that is easy to take on and off and the 100% polyester material is very lightweight - perfect for flying around!
Sneaker Patch - Estimated Value $5.00 (estimated based on the cost of single patches found on the Happy Patches website)
This month's theme is "Empathy." Each month you will be sent a new patch that goes with the theme and this month it was the sneaker to signify showing empathy by standing in someone else’s shoes. The patches iron on easily and quickly and there is plenty of room to add more patches in the future.
Each box includes an informational booklet that contains everything you need to know about your box. The front states the theme and the back gives information on why it is such an important skill to develop. It also includes additional resources and provides information on the collaborators for the box. It is organized in a way that makes everything easy to find and access.
Inside the booklet, there is a letter to parents and a breakdown and description of what’s inside your box. The following pages explain the box activities as well as some extension activities that you can do to practice the newly learned skill in real life situations.
Stand in My Shoes: Kids Learning About Empathy by Bob Sornson- Retail Value $10.95
To get started, each box includes a book to introduce the theme. This book was a great example in empathy and was very detailed in demonstrating how to show it in everyday situations. There is a lot of dialogue between the characters to explain the feelings and actions. I felt like it was a great example of empathy that could be easily understood by a 5-8-year-old and with the way it is written, the conversation could easily segway into how a child can show empathy in their own everyday lives.
Sneaker Key Chain - Estimated Value $2.00 (Buy a pack of 12 for $16.99)
This keychain is a fun and cute reminder to show empathy every day. It could easily be clipped onto a backpack or lunchbox and is something I can see kids getting excited over. I know I had a huge keychain collection as a child!
The first activity in the box are these puzzle cards that can be cut up and used to start a dialogue about empathy and how a child can show it. It helps teach them to think about others’ feelings and respond to them accordingly.
Face Whiteboard - Buy a 4-pack for $28.30
Dry Erase Marker - Buy a 5-pack for $6.98
The second activity in the box was this face shaped whiteboard, marker, and several situation cards. After reading the card, the child can use the marker (ours was dried out, unfortunately, but there was no way for them to know as it was all packaged up!) to draw facial expressions for how that person might be feeling. I think this is such a great activity to really get them in the mindset of thinking about how others feel and can lead to a great conversation about how they can respond to those feelings. This is also meant to serve as a way to learn new emotional vocabulary such as being anxious.
4 Extra Large Safety Pins - Buy 100 pins for $1.85
25 Metallic Star-Shaped Pony Beads - Buy 1000 beads for $9.99
The last activity involved making a pin for yourself and for your friends or family. Each color is meant to represent a different trait (I.e. green-honest, blue- kind) and the child should think about that person and what kind of traits best represent them. Then they can pin them to their shirt or bag to show that they have empathy for others.
5 Describe Cards - Buy 104 cards in a pack for $24.99
2 Insight Game Cards - Buy the complete Insight Game for $24.95
In addition to the 3 activities, they also included these Insight and Describe cards to use as dinner table conversation or after-school activities. They are a quick and easy way to start or continue a discussion and would even serve as a great reminder about empathy at a later date.
There are so many lessons and activities within the box, but there is also an online portion of the lesson that defines empathy in a fun way. It also includes an activity, quiz and an award certificate to download. I love how they even utilize the box as a way to set goals and show how they are practicing their newly learned skill. They really think of all the details and make sure every piece from the box itself to the contents is something that reinforces the concept.
Verdict: This was my first Wonder Crate box and as a former elementary school teacher I can appreciate how thoroughly this box was thought out and organized. The pamphlet outlined everything there was to do and included extension activities and extra resources. I could see this being used easily in a homeschool setting or even modified for the classroom if you purchase extra supplies.
I was able to estimate a total product value of $36.95, including the cape and patches, but not including the activity supplies. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the value until I really broke it down. I had to do a good bit of estimating values and some products are not exactly the same, but as someone who likes to know what she’s paying for I wanted to be able to answer the question: is it worth it to me? I think there is definitely some value in someone doing all of the work for you and putting together such a complete lesson on empathy. That’s not even including the additional resources, online portion, extension activities or the convenience of having it all delivered to your door. Plus, with all of the activities, you could easily use it with more than one child at a time and if you don’t want to stick to their specific suggestions, it’s easy to have some freedom with the materials provided to create your own lesson. Overall, I feel this box is worth it!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will receive the March box. Boxes ship on or before the 15th of each month and orders need to be placed prior to that.
COUPON: Use code WONDER to get 20% off your first box!
Check out our Kids Subscription Box List for more kid’s activity and educational boxes!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of this month’s Wonder Crate box?
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