Green Kid Crafts is a subscription box for children ages 2 to 10+ that delivers kits that include materials and instructions to complete six or more STEAM based projects each month for $19.95 (plus $4.95 shipping). You can choose between the Junior Discovery Box (ages 2-4) or the Discovery Box (ages 5-10+). They also offer two deluxe options for $29.95 (plus shipping): the Literary Discovery Box (ages 2-10+) which includes a book related to the theme or the Sibling Discovery Box (ages 2-10+) which provides two sets of each project.
This is a review of the $24.90 ($19.95 + $4.95 shipping)/month Discovery Box for ages 5-10+.
Not only does Green Kid Crafts focus on STEAM learning, but they also strive to encourage the growth of the "whole child" which includes fostering a sense of care for our environment:
We think a green company is one that not only strives for sustainability but takes a step beyond to try and create positive change. As a company founded by an environmental scientist, it makes sense that Green Kid Crafts is committed to ensuring that all of our activities, from process to product, have as little an impact on the environment as possible. Further, we view our work as a way to foster the next generation of environmental stewards by engaging kids with nature in positive, creative ways.
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 Green Kid Crafts
The Subscription Box: Green Kid Crafts
The Cost: $19.95 per month + shipping (save with longer subscriptions)
The Products: materials and instructions to complete 6 or more STEAM projects
Ships to: the U.S. for $4.95/month ($7.95 for deluxe subscriptions), Canada for an additional $15.00/month
Green Kid Crafts Volcanoes, Crystals, and Gems Review
This is the included booklet that we received which tells us our theme, Volcanoes, Crystals, and Gems. The first page included a table of contents as well as an introduction to the topic and a description of what volcanoes, crystals, and gems are.
Inside the booklet were several experiments, one of which included a neat way to repurpose your box and even a recipe for volcano brownies. It's always nice to have a few ideas on hand for rainy day activities!
It also included a maze and a hidden pictures activity. The back provided their social media information.
The next item is a chart for us to collect our Green Kid Crafts badges. This month we received the Volcanoes Expert badge. We can also color in our chart to personalize it and continue to add badges to it.
Kit 1: Plate Tectonics
Project 1: Erupting Volcano
Model Magic 1 oz Pack in White - Buy a 2 lb bucket for $15.00
Our first project in this kit was to make our very own volcano. The provided a cup, baking soda, a food dye table, Model Magic, and even some lava rocks.
We needed to have vinegar on hand, a dish to place our volcano in, a funnel (which we didn't end up needing) and dish soap (optional for extra bubbles!).
Our first step was to take the plastic cup that they gave us and form a volcano around it using the Model Magic. I really liked that they included information on three different types of volcanoes in the instructions and we had to choose which kind we were making. We chose the cinder cone shape.
I loved that they included these lava rocks for us to add to our volcano. Since we had a wide opening it was easy to add the baking soda to our cup in the center.
Next, we dissolved our dye in our cup of vinegar by stirring and I added a few squirts of dish soap too.
We poured a little vinegar at a time to cause an eruption. I definitely think the dish soap helped create more bubbles! We had a nice foamy pool of lava in our dish when we were done and we didn't even use all of our baking soda. They also recommend letting your volcano dry out so you can use it again, which is awesome!
Project 2: Globe Orange
Project 3: Oreo Tectonics
They included some information on plate tectonics and two mini-experiments on the back. While I didn't have an orange on hand, I did have some Oreos (don't judge! haha) so we were able to try the second one to create three different types of boundaries and then enjoy a nice snack after our quick lesson.
Kit 2: Crystals and Gems
Project 1: Crystal Growing Kit
The first project was to grow our own crystals. We had to find a jar to grow them in which was the most challenging part since I only had an incredibly large jar or a very small one.
First, we made our pipe cleaner into whatever shape we wanted. We chose a simple spiral/coil. Then we used the piece of yarn and tied one end of it to our pipe cleaner and the other end to the included stick.
This way it could be suspended in our solution and not touching the sides of our jar.
We (I) boiled some water and mixed it up with the borax they gave us and then poured it into the jar. As you can see, my jar was much too big, so I ended up moving it to a smaller jar after a bit.
The coolest part was that crystals started growing by early evening. and they seemed to keep going in the next few days. My daughter thought it was so cool and started picking off "jewels" to give to everyone in our extended family. The multi-faceted edges really did mimic sparkling gems and I love that they related this to the way hot magma cools to tie it into our volcano experiment.
Project 2: Geode Kit
We received two geodes and this experiment was very simple once we found an old sock! I put a geode inside and then took it outside and gave it a good few whacks with the hammer.
I might have whacked it a bit too hard since we had so many particles once I emptied our sock, but the kids enjoyed examining the pieces and looking for crystals!
Bonus Activity: Rock, Mineral & Gem Excavation Kit
Rock, Mineral, & Gem Excavation Kit - Retail Value $2.99 (The version I linked to does not include the magnifying glass FYI!)
I think this goes right along with our Geode Kit, but it wasn't actually listed anywhere in our booklet, so I feel like this is just a nice little bonus activity!
My daughter used the chisel to dig out and excavate her rocks from the plaster block. It was a bit messy and only slightly time-consuming since the plaster fell apart easily and the stones were not hidden too far down, which I thought was great since it is an activity for kids!
She brushed them off and we wiped them clean and used our magnifying glass to try and identify which ones we received from the book. I expected one of them to be a boring basic rock, but they were both pretty cool! The emerald was very smooth and shiny while our jagged piece of serpentine jade was interesting and very pretty when the light hit it just right!
Kit 3: Eruption Abstract Art
For this activity, we needed our empty box, paint, a marble, black paper, and a paintbrush, all of which they provided us with. We were creating abstract artwork to demonstrate the explosive power of volcanic eruptions. What a fun way to tie it all together!
They gave us two pieces of black paper which were already cut to size so that we could fit them into the bottom of our box (although I did have to trim it just a bit to get it to sit flat).
Then we dripped a few different colors of paint inside the box and set our marble down on the paper.
The fun part was getting the marble to move and roll around inside of our box and all through the paint to create our abstract artwork. This was such a great idea and a really fun way to reuse our box.
Here is what our finished artwork looked like!
They included this great little spotlight on Jackson Pollock and encouraged us to test out a different method of painting to mimic his style.
We used our paintbrush to flick and splatter some more paint and examined the difference between our two painting techniques.
Here is our completely finished artwork! I was impressed with how nicely the paint showed up on our black paper and it looks incredibly messy, but the box really helped to contain the mess, so it was even better than I anticipated. I think I may have found a new use for all of these subscription boxes I receive!
Verdict: I love the way that our Green Kid Crafts box helped us to explore volcanoes, gems, and crystals! The activities were all incredibly fun and pretty exciting to my kids. This box was really well organized and would definitely appeal to kids with the activities that they chose to include. I liked that they tied in a little bit of art into this science-based box and how they often used simple materials to help explain what was happening. These would all be so easy to either expand on or just to use as reinforcement in supporting a homeschool curriculum. I also appreciate their mission of bringing STEAM projects to children with a goal towards sustainability through the materials and packaging that they use. I think that given all of the supplies we received and the various activities, it was definitely worth the $24.90 ($19.95 + $4.95 shipping) cost of the box!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, it is possible that you will receive this box at some point in your subscription. They also offer it as a one time box.
Coupon - Use code SUBADDICT50 to save 50% off your first box!
Check out all of our Green Kid Crafts reviews and more kids activity boxes in the Kids Subscription Box List!
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