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
This month's box seemed like an easy winner! I knew my daughter would love it and that my boys would be excited to test it out, too!
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, KiwiCo includes 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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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.
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All of our smaller pieces were sorted neatly into little bags that were attached to a labeled sheet. We received brads, adhesive, plastic pegs, rubber bands, and marbles. There were also some plastic pieces and foam pieces to assemble our board with. Lastly, we received some papers for decorating and designing our machine along with a stackable crayon.
Activity 1: Geometric Art
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The first step was to try geometric, pixelated drawings so that she could come up with a design for her machine's backboard. Then She went ahead and drew up her design using the crayons.
Activity 2: Build Your Pinball Machine
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Next, it was time to build the machine. She added the foam to the plastic board making sure to match up all of the holes, then she added the bottom border pieces using brads.
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She continued adding the border pieces by fitting them into place and securing them with brads, then she assembled the launcher piece and added it to the board. Next, she added the foam feet to the top of the board.
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Then it was time to add her backboard using some foam stickers.
Activity 3: Make & Play
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With the board finished, it was time to make the actual course using pegs, plastic spinners, and rubber bands. There were also the little paper markers to put around the pegs to get points for landing the marble in a certain spot.
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To operate it, she added a marble to the center of the launcher and then pulled back on the little plastic bar in the center which was attached to a rubber band. When she released it, the marble shot across the board and hit the rubber bands which made it bounce across to different areas.
Here is a look at her finished board. You can see she removed some rubber bands as she played. We also discovered that her launcher can change directions. There are a ton of extra pegs, rubber bands, and paper tabs so she can change and update her board whenever and however she wants to.
Value - Was This Box Worth It?
The Cost: $19.95
A pinball machine is a fun toy in general, but having the ability to build and modify your own board adds to the excitement! I think this was a great project that my daughter enjoyed!
Key Takeaways
We received another well-organized box that left us with a really fun final product. My daughter also got to practice some geometric drawings and there are even more activities to check out in her booklet. We both thought this was a fun box this month!
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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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