Kiwi Crate is a subscription box for kids ages 5-8 from the 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!
This review is of KiwiCo's Kiwi Crate (for ages 5-8), which costs $19.95 per month.
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.)
First Impressions
I knew that robots would be a fun topic for my daughter and we actually have a coding game that she enjoys playing, so I was certain this would be a fun subject for her!
What's Inside This Box
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This booklet highlights our theme for the month and it includes colorful, detailed illustrations to go along with our easy-to-follow instructions. On the back of the booklet, they include their social media links and a sticker for this month’s project. This month it looks like our project is divided into a few different activities.
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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Our Kiwi Explore! magazine is always a nice bonus complete with a comic and some extra activities that really enhance our lessons each month! It's educational and full of fun and useful activities for us to try.
Activity 1: Robot Buddy
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The first activity was to make a robot buddy using some wooden blocks, pipe cleaners, and stickers.
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This was a pretty simple build. It was just a matter of connecting all of the wooden pieces using the pipe cleaners and then adding some stickers for some details.
Here is her cute little robot buddy!
Activity 2: Wind-Up Robot
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Next, we made a robot track using a game board, styrofoam stickers, tiles, and some assembly jigs. There were also the pieces for our wind-up robot which included a wind-up motor and some brad fasteners.
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The assembly jigs made it so easy to make her tiles for the track! She placed the frame around the jig and then inserted a sticker with the adhesive facing up before placing a tile face down on top of it. Then when she lifted the tile the sticker was perfectly placed so that each tile sticker was lined up correctly.
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Then she placed her tiles on the board to create a track before assembling her bunny robot. The bunny was super easy to make as well; the robot base wrapped around the motor and then a pom pom went on the back for its tail and the face adhered to the front.
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She wound up her Rabbot and placed it on the track. She loved seeing it follow the track and it actually worked really well!
Activity 3: Rabbot's Rules
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Lastly, it was time to work on some coding. They provided some little flags to go in the notches around our board to create a starting and an endpoint along with some puzzle cards. Each card had a different scenario and the goal was to create a track to solve the problem. On the back, they included the solution, although each had more than one.
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She tried out a few of the puzzle cards, but mostly she was super excited about creating her own tracks for the rabbit to follow.
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They also provided some arrow cards and a program board in case we wanted to work on some advanced programming skills. You can see that the back of the puzzle cards shows how to use the little arrows.
Value - Was This Box Worth It?
The Cost: $19.95
This was such a cute box and a great introduction to coding! They made it simple and fun, and the added bonus of making two different robots made it even more engaging for my daughter. I think this box was a great value for what my daughter learned through the process!
Key Takeaways
KiwiCo makes the most engaging projects and they know how to inspire meaningful learning. The boxes are well-organized, the activities are age-appropriate and it is always just the right mix of fun and learning!
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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.
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