Kiwi Crate (from parent company KiwiCo) is a subscription box for children ages 5-8. It arrives every month with all the materials and instructions needed to complete 2-3 crafts centered around a theme, plus additional materials to help educate young learners!
KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups: Cricket Crate is for 24-36-month-olds, Koala Crate is for 3-4-year-olds, Kiwi Crate is for 5-8-year-olds, and Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate are for 9-16+-year-olds. There really is something for every age with this company.
This review is of the $19.95 a month Kiwi Crate box, for 5-8-year-olds.
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 Kiwi Crate
The Subscription Box: Kiwi Crate
The Cost: $19.95 per month + free shipping
The Products: Crafts and DIY projects for kids, with supplemental learning kits, booklets, and activities. Crates are filled with materials and inspiration to encourage creativity and curiosity. Projects cover a number of developmental areas through art, science, and imaginative play.
Ships to: U.S. for free, Canada for $6.95 per month
Kiwi Crate July 2018 Review
The theme for this month was Kaleidoscope Puzzles. This was the included booklet that showed us the various activities in our crate and provided instructions. The pictures are very clear- detailed and in color- and I like that they always provide a materials list for everything that should be in your crate.
On the back of the booklet was our sticker for this month’s project and their social media links.
This is the little sticker chart that we received in our first Kiwi Crate along with our welcome note. This time we got to add our Kaleidoscope sticker after we completed our projects.
Each month you get a Kiwi Explore! magazine that goes along with your crate’s theme. There is a letter from Steve the Kiwi and a little story to go along with the theme starring some cute characters. The rest of the magazine is filled with additional activities and information related to symmetry.
The focus of the activities this month was symmetry and included information about symmetry in nature, as well as a symmetrical sock activity and this cool starburst activity that involves using a coffee filter. Easy activities that we can do at home any time!
They also included this recipe for a proportional pie, which is a great way to show how symmetry can be explored in a different way. It is a fun (and yummy) way to make a real-life connection to the topic.
The first activity in our box was to make a spinning kaleidoscope. It's always so easy to set up these activities because they include colored pictures and detailed instructions.
The first step was to fold up the silver kaleidoscope tube and use the clear stickers to tape it up.
Next, we used the semi-transparent stickers and added them to one of the clear wheels.
There were enough materials to make two separate wheels and even extra stickers to use for decorating our kaleidoscope. My 3-year-old could easily complete this on her own.
I used the little foam bumper and brad to attach the wheel to the end of our kaleidoscope and we were done! The best part is, we can easily remove it to test out our second wheel of colors, so it's really like two kaleidoscopes in one.
The kaleidoscope actually worked much better than I expected. Such basic materials, but a great final product!
The next activity was to make a standing kaleidoscope. I love that they explored more than one type of kaleidoscope! it really feels like a much more thorough exploration of the topic!
First, we tucked our mirrors into the blue pockets and used some included foam stickers to tape the ends down.
Next, we stood it up and tucked the little tabs into the slot for a 45-degree angle.
They included two different colored sheets, one was a rectangle and the other was a circle, each with lots of colors and patterns that we could explore by simply sliding them underneath of our mirror. So cool!
We could also get different shapes and patterns just by changing the degree of our angle.
I love that they always take it a step further and include some hints about what else you can do and also some blank sheets as well as black and white patterns on the other side so that kids can get creative and really personalize it.
Of course, they even included markers so that we didn't need any extra materials from home!
In addition to the papers included, they also sent some foam shapes so that we could explore more patterns.
To create more of a challenge, they included six puzzle cards at varying levels of difficulty so that we could play around and try to recreate them.
The back of the card had the solution on it, which is great if you get stuck!
They always think of everything with this box, and they included this little travel pouch so that we could pack up our standing kaleidoscope materials and take them with us. Everything fit inside perfectly and I think it will make a fun car activity the next time we take a trip!
Verdict: This was a really cool Kiwi Crate to receive! The spinning kaleidoscope allowed us to create our own beautiful artwork that we can look at any time we want, while the standing kaleidoscope is almost like a toy with all of the various extra materials they included. I love that we can reuse these all again and again, but that we had fun setting them all up, too! This was a great introduction to symmetry and a really fun way to explore the concept. I liked the extension activities they included as well. We always look forward to receiving this box each month and at $19.95 plus free shipping, I always find it to be a great value!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? It is possible you might get this crate, but it is not a guarantee. From KiwiCo:
Crates are assigned each month based on availability and your crate history - not all subscribers receive the same theme each month.
Coupon – Save 40% off your first month! No coupon required, just use this link!
Check out all of our Kiwi Crate reviews and more boxes for ages 5-8 in the Kids Subscription Box Directory!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of Kiwi Crate?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.