KiwiCo Kiwi Crate Review + Coupon – Puppet Engineering

Kiwi Crate is a subscription box for kids ages 5-8 from parent company KiwiCo. It arrives every month with all the materials and instructions needed to complete 2-3 crafts centered on a theme, plus additional materials to help educate young learners!

KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups: 

• Panda Crate for 0-24-month-olds, 
• Koala Crate for 2-4-year-olds, 
• Kiwi Crate for 5-8-year-olds, 
• Atlas Crate for 6-11-year-olds, 
• Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate for 9-16+-year-olds, 
• Eureka Crate and Maker Crate for ages 14 and up.

There really is something for every age with this company!

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.)

The Subscription Box: Kiwi Crate

The Cost: $19.95 per month + free shipping

COUPON: Limited Time Only! Use code MSA50 to save 50% off your first box!

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: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95, and worldwide from $4.95-$6.95

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Our theme for this month is Puppet Engineering and we received this booklet which contains the directions for our activities. This includes detailed, colored illustrations and clear instructions that are easy to follow. They broke down our project into various sections that simplified the process for us. On the back of the booklet, they include their social media links and a sticker for this month’s project. 

This is the little sticker chart we received in our first Kiwi Crate along with our welcome note that we can add our sticker to!

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Each month you also get a Kiwi Explore! magazine with a letter from Steve the Kiwi and a little comic to go along with the theme starring some cute characters. This month we learned about marionettes and the science and engineering behind puppets. We also received a fun maze activity, directions for how to turn our box into a puppet theatre, and a recipe to make our own bread roll puppets.

Part A: Make a Marionette

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We got to make two different types of puppets with this box. The first was a marionette and they provided a piece of fabric with a few holes already marked on it, some pipe cleaners, and a few wooden beads to make it with.

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They also provided some sticks for the control bar, some rubber bands, and a few other pieces for assembly.

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7 of 7 | We repeated this step for all four holes, although for the top two holes we left the pipe cleaners in.

1 of 7 | The first step was to slide the one control bar piece into the other.

2 of 7 | Then we added some rubber bands to secure it in place.

3 of 7 | Next, we threaded a pipe cleaner through one of the corner holes of the fabric.

4 of 7 | Then my son threaded one of the wooden beads through the pipe cleaner onto the fabric.

5 of 7 | We made sure to pull a bit of the fabric through the hole in the bead.

6 of 7 | Then my son removed the pipe cleaner leaving the bead on the fabric.

7 of 7 | We repeated this step for all four holes, although for the top two holes we left the pipe cleaners in.

1 of 7 | The first step was to slide the one control bar piece into the other.

2 of 7 | Then we added some rubber bands to secure it in place.

3 of 7 | Next, we threaded a pipe cleaner through one of the corner holes of the fabric.

4 of 7 | Then my son threaded one of the wooden beads through the pipe cleaner onto the fabric.

5 of 7 | We made sure to pull a bit of the fabric through the hole in the bead.

6 of 7 | Then my son removed the pipe cleaner leaving the bead on the fabric.

7 of 7 | We repeated this step for all four holes, although for the top two holes we left the pipe cleaners in.

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They also provided a large foam ball for the puppet’s head and some foam pieces and stickers so that we could make a lion, bunny, or bear. My son chose to make the lion, although it seems like it will be easy enough to swap out for another animal if he changes his mind.

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5 of 5 | Then we took the pipe cleaners at the top and slid them through the holes in the control bar wrapping the ends around to keep it secure.

1 of 5 | We added the foam head the same way we added the beads, leaving the pipe cleaner in.

2 of 5 | Then my son added the mane by slipping it around the head.

3 of 5 | Then he added some eyes.

4 of 5 | He finished up the face with the nose pieces.

5 of 5 | Then we took the pipe cleaners at the top and slid them through the holes in the control bar wrapping the ends around to keep it secure.

1 of 5 | We added the foam head the same way we added the beads, leaving the pipe cleaner in.

2 of 5 | Then my son added the mane by slipping it around the head.

3 of 5 | Then he added some eyes.

4 of 5 | He finished up the face with the nose pieces.

5 of 5 | Then we took the pipe cleaners at the top and slid them through the holes in the control bar wrapping the ends around to keep it secure.

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Now he was ready to go!

He looks pretty cute and he is easy to move. Just lowering and raising the control bar changes his position.

Part B: Talking Puppets

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Now it was time to make some talking puppets. They provided a paper crocodile and bird, some stickers to decorate them with, and some velcro stickers to build with.

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3 of 3 | We repeated this step for the crocodile.

1 of 3 | First we figured out which velcro pieces were the soft ones.

2 of 3 | Then we added the velcro to the rectangles marked on the back side of the bird.

3 of 3 | We repeated this step for the crocodile.

1 of 3 | First we figured out which velcro pieces were the soft ones.

2 of 3 | Then we added the velcro to the rectangles marked on the back side of the bird.

3 of 3 | We repeated this step for the crocodile.

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Then came the fun part of decorating each with the stickers. I ended up peeling the backing off to make it easier for him to get the stickers off.

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When the stickers were placed, we then peeled the backing off and folded up their eyes.

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They provided some interesting looking wooden pieces for us for the talking part. We were able to tell which was which thanks to the rectangle markings on them. They also provided these little papers with holes in them.

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9 of 9 | Then we matched up the velcro pieces and closed our animals around the wooden pieces.

1 of 9 | First we grabbed the wooden piece with two rectangles and put one of the little plastic pieces through the hole.

2 of 9 | The paper sat on that and then we placed one of the smaller wooden pieces on that one.

3 of 9 | Then we placed the last wooden piece on top of that.

4 of 9 | We folded the papers over so the other holes were on the plastic hole, too.

5 of 9 | Then we stuck a band from underneath and opened the ends to hold it in place.

6 of 9 | Then we added two rubberbands at the top.

7 of 9 | The last step was to place our scratchy velcro pieces on either side of our wooden contraption.

8 of 9 | We creased our animals by folding on the gray lines,

9 of 9 | Then we matched up the velcro pieces and closed our animals around the wooden pieces.

1 of 9 | First we grabbed the wooden piece with two rectangles and put one of the little plastic pieces through the hole.

2 of 9 | The paper sat on that and then we placed one of the smaller wooden pieces on that one.

3 of 9 | Then we placed the last wooden piece on top of that.

4 of 9 | We folded the papers over so the other holes were on the plastic hole, too.

5 of 9 | Then we stuck a band from underneath and opened the ends to hold it in place.

6 of 9 | Then we added two rubberbands at the top.

7 of 9 | The last step was to place our scratchy velcro pieces on either side of our wooden contraption.

8 of 9 | We creased our animals by folding on the gray lines,

9 of 9 | Then we matched up the velcro pieces and closed our animals around the wooden pieces.

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Here is our talking crocodile and talking bird.

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Making them talk is simple, we just pull down on the center bar. So fun!

Verdict: Normally I do the Kiwi Crate boxes with my daughter because she is in the right age group, but this month both of us knew that her brother would really appreciate it since it involved animals. Even though he is only 4, this was a fun box for him to do and with some help from me, it was fairly simple. For older children, you could definitely get more into the challenging aspect of discussing the engineering more in-depth and having them do some of the activities like creating their own puppet theatre from their box to get a more well-rounded experience, but for my son, this was just right! He loves the puppets he made and I thought it was so cool how we got to explore two different types! This box was another winner!

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: Limited Time Only! Use code MSA50 to save 50% off your first box!

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!

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