Target has an Art & Craft Kit Subscription for Kids, bringing a different creative activity to your doorstep each month for $14.99.
You'll notice this is packaged very simply. It looks like any other online order from Target.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About the Target Arts & Crafts Kit Subscription for Kids
The Subscription Box: Target Art & Craft Kit Subscription for Kids
The Cost: $14.99
Good to know: You do save 5% by subscribing, making the true cost $14.25. Make sure to select the subscribe option when you sign up. You can also save an extra 5% if you use your Target RedCard.
The Products: A different crafting activity each month. Ranging from coloring kits to DIY accessories, the variety will spark kids' imagination and keep them excited to see what they will create next! Instructions are provided when necessary. For ages 6-10.
August 2018 Target Arts & Crafts Box: Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio
Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio - Retail Value $20.99
Crayola seems to be a favorite choice for this box and I was both surprised and a little intimidated to see this animation set in our box this month. This was another product I had never heard of and it looked really cool. Especially with the little model that was included. You do need access to a smartphone or tablet so that you can download the app that goes along with it in order to create your animations.
Everything came packaged very neatly and was easy to locate. All of the instructions were inside of the booklet. I opted to test this one out after the kids had gone to bed since they are a little young for this, so I apologize for the poor lighting in the pictures!
The pages of the booklet featured several different characters we could color to animate and a few background options.
The little mannequin we received is really cool and even came with his own little stand. His body parts bend into many different positions which are perfect for animating!
This is the little stand to hold your phone or tablet while you use your mannequin for animations.
So first I attempted to use the mannequin to do some animation. I opened up the app and it immediately began with a tutorial. After following the tutorial, I attempted to create a new scene.
The tutorial itself was helpful and informative, showing you exactly what to do.
I followed the instructions, but when it came time for my camera to find the mannequin, I got this screen and it basically froze on me. I tried several more times but never got past this screen and sometimes it just exited out of the app completely on its own. I even checked my camera to make sure I had allowed it access to it, and I had, so I'm not quite sure where the problem lies.
Once I gave up on that idea, I decided to try the other option for this app, which is to animate a character that you color.
One thing I did like was that I could select to print a character and had access to all of these pages to print if I wanted to.
I chose to color in the fairy from my book- both front and back- using the included colored pencils. I love this twist- up design since it eliminates the need for a sharpener! Although, they do break somewhat easily.
After coloring in my fairy, I went into the app and I selected Scan Character and was taken to this page. Once again, it never changed from this screen. It just seems like the app has no connection to my camera for some reason. After restarting the app several times, I even tried deleting the app and downloading it again, but finally, I had to just give up.
The Verdict: This month's Target Art & Craft Kit was pretty disappointing. It could have been really cool if the app had worked. The colored pencils are nice to have, the model will be fun for the kids to play with, and the book will be used as coloring pages, but these all don't add up to a very exciting kit. I also think it's sort of unfair to send a project that is so reliant on technology that not everyone might have access to. I'm sure almost everyone has a phone they can use, but I'm not sure how many parents want to let their kids borrow theirs for long periods of time to create an animation, or in our case, to attempt one. The retail value of this is $20.99, which is not bad for a $14.99 box, but since the poor app renders it pretty much useless, the colored pencils, book, and model aren't quite worth the cost to me.
To Wrap Up:
If I subscribe today, can I still get this box? Previous comments have shown that not all subscribers receive the same items every month, so if you subscribe now, you may receive a different product.
Value Breakdown: For the $14.99 price of the box this month, we received the Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio with a retail value of $20.99.
Check out all of our Target Arts & Craft Kit reviews and more educational and STEM subscriptions for kids! You can also find a list of all Target subscription boxes in our subscription box directory!
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Do you subscribe to Target's Art & Craft Kit Subscription for Kids? If you received this kit, what did you think about it?
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