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.)
About Kiwi Crate by KiwiCo
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: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95, and worldwide from $4.95-$6.95
KiwiCo Kiwi Crate "Spinning Science" Review February 2021
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Our theme for this month is Spinning Science 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. This month our booklet is divided into various activities. 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 was all about spinning and they provided a recipe for us along with some extra activities.
Activity 1: Stacking Tops
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The first activity was to design our own tops using these wooden circles and plastic stems. They provided some green spacers and black rubber bands to secure them with.
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The kids had fun mixing and matching the pieces with some test spins in between to see what worked. Once they were satisfied they added the rubber bands to hold them together.
Activity 2: Stacking Top Games
Part A: Build a Top Launcher
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Now it was time to get our launcher set up. They provided a cup for our base along with some wooden arms, some felts strips, winder pieces, and a hook.
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My daughter added the hook and winder pieces to the end of one of the felt strips while my son sandwiched the big foam spacer in between the two wooden arms. Then we used the adhesive square to stick the arm to the center of the top of our cup lid. I sent my son to gather a few small objects to add some weight to our cup and then it was ready to go.
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My daughter slid her top into the holes of the arms and through the winder and then gave it a spin to wind up the felt piece. Then she pressed down on the cup and arms and pulled with her other hand to release and launch her top. It was a success!
Part B: Build the Game Frame
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They provided some wooden frame pieces that fit together along with a double side paper game board and some pom poms.
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The frame was easy enough to assemble. The pieces fit together and then the smaller pieces got set over the ends and the clear rubber bands held them in place.
Part C: Play Top Games
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The first game was called "Point Walk" and we just used the launcher to spin our top in the center and then you got points every time it passed over one of the circles. You can also do a two-player version where one player is green and one is orange and you get points each time it passed over your color. Simple, but fun!
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The other game was "Pom-Pom Knockdown" and we stacked the little pom-poms in groups on the reverse side of our board and then launched our top to see if we could knock any out of the ring. We had to really launch it with some force for this game.
Activity 3: Top Experiment
They provided this foam top base for us with plenty of empty spaces to add weights (wooden discs) for our experiment.
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We took turns placing the weights on the base and then testing out the spins. They recommended using a stopwatch, but we just simplified this activity even further and counted. It was such a great way to see exactly what happens as a result of our actions and it was a great starting point for a discussion about balance!
Activity 4: Doodle Top
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While all of the other activities were plenty to keep us entertained, they provided one last really fun and unique activity for us in the form of a doodle top. They provided a set of 3 markers and this plastic top base.
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They also provided several paper circles and some clear spot stickers so that we could stick the paper to our frame.
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Then we added a marker to our top base and started doodling. It took a bit of practice!
We only tried it by hand so our doodles are a bit scattered, but I'm sure our launcher will help us achieve some perfect circles!
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When we had finished all of the activities in our booklet, they just had some free time playing with all of the materials and my daughter was eager to decorate her top using the markers. I love that there was plenty of structure, but that it still allowed for this period of exploration and open-ended play!
When they finally abandoned the activities their little brother was happy to get in on the action!
Verdict: What a fun way to explore spinning science with this month's Kiwi Crate box! I loved that they included so many creative activities for us and that they provided all of those different pieces so that we could experiment and make our own tops. This was a unique way to observe what happens with different sizes and styles and the weight experiment provided a great lesson on balance, too. While it may not have doodled perfectly, the doodle top was also a big hit. I love that we can also just open this box up any time and play with the contents whether it's creating new styles of tops or trying out one of the games with our launcher. It was educational and fun, and perfect for a rainy afternoon!
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.
Check out all of our Kiwi Crate reviews and more boxes for ages 5-8 in the Kids Subscription Box Directory!
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