You probably know by now that KiwiCo has a subscription line for just about every age, but did you know they also offer fun one-time boxes in their shop? They have interactive toys, educational kits that are similar to their monthly boxes, and even some fun holiday-themed boxes. As a mom, I am always intrigued by these boxes, but before I buy, I like to know exactly what I'm getting. This series will provide you with a review of some of these unique one-time boxes and hopefully help you make an informed decision about your own purchases. If there's a box you'd like to see reviewed from their shop, drop a line in the comments and we'll see what we can do!
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This is a review of KiwiCo's Crawling Robot Kit (recommended for ages 9+) for $34.95.
First Impressions
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This box was actually sent to us as part of our Kiwi Crate subscription which is for ages 5-8, so I was a bit apprehensive about how this box would work for my 6-year-old since it's recommended for ages 9+. Even so, I knew he would love the idea of building his own robot!
What's Inside the Crawling Robot Kit?
There were lots of pieces inside of this kit! Fortunately, everything was organized very well so it was easy to find the pieces that we needed.
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The guide that came with our kit included thorough instructions for how to build our robot along with some educational information pertaining to the project. There was also a helpful section on troubleshooting, which I was hoping we wouldn't need!
Materials
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There was a mix of wooden parts, paper pieces, and cardboard pieces as well as some foam stickers for assembly.
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There were also various plastic pieces, metal clips, googly eyes, a motor, a battery pack, and the cutest little screwdriver you've ever seen. We had everything we needed to assemble our robot!
Part A: Build the Body
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The first step was to build the body. We really just needed to add the battery pack and motor to the marked spots on the robot body and then hook up the wires, which my son was very eager to do. The battery pack already had batteries installed so we just had to pull out the little tab to activate them.
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Then we attached some of the plastic pieces to the body and secured them with the little metal clips.
Part B: Link up the Legs
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Assembling the legs was a little tricky because there were lots of parts and we had to pay close attention to which wooden pieces we needed, the direction they would face, and then which holes we would connect. Luckily, the pieces to connect them were easy to put in place and soon we had 2 right legs and 2 left legs assembled and ready to attach!
Part C: Attach the Legs
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Attaching the legs wasn't too difficult; we placed two on either side on the front of the body and two on the back of the body.
Part D: Add the Decorations
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My son was most excited about adding the decorations. They included some googly eyes, 2 robot arms, and 2 crab arms so that we could mix and match.
This is his first finished design. Now it was time to test it out!
Crawlin' Time
My son was very excited to test out his crab! It moved pretty well and was easy to turn on with a flip of the switch on the battery pack that we accessed from the front.
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My son was thrilled that there were a ton of extra pieces so that he could create his own designs, too. He got to work immediately on making a shark!
Here is his shark in action! So much fun!
Value - Was This Box Worth It?
The Cost: $34.95 + free shipping
This is kind of a pricey box if you get it from the KiwiCo store, but my son did get his own robot out of it, so for us, I think it was worth it, but even more so because we got it as part of our Kiwi Crate subscription which is actually quite a bit cheaper than this! I'd say it was a great surprise and a definite steal for the $19.95 cost of our monthly Kiwi Crate subscription.
Key Takeaways
I was a little worried about how this box would work for my son since it is meant for ages 9+ and my son is a bit younger, but the subject matter was totally interesting to him and he had a lot of fun building his robot. He did need a bit of assistance and guidance from me, but that didn't deter him at all and he was very confident and excited about his finished project!
To Wrap Up:
Is this box still available? Yes, as of now the Crawling Robot Kit is still available! This was actually sent to me as part of our Kiwi Crate subscription, so it may be part of yours as well!
Have you tried any of the boxes from the KiwiCo shop? Let us know in the comments below!
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