Amazon has launched a new STEM Club Toy subscription box! This monthly subscription delivers "handpicked, high-quality Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math toys" to your door for $19.99/month.
We signed up for Amazon's STEM Toy Club subscription as soon as it launched, and this is our third delivery, which arrived in early April. Unlike the Amazon Prime Surprise Sweets box, this is packaged very simply - it looks like any other shipment from Amazon.
There are 3 age range options:
- 3-4-year-olds (counting, building, and cause and effect)
- 5-7 year-olds (hands-on experiments and explorations of electricity, earth science, and simple math)
- 8-13-year-olds (more complex projects and experiments based on principals of physics, chemistry, and engineering)
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This is a review of the 3-4-year-old age range Amazon STEM Club, $19.99/month.
The Subscription Box: Amazon STEM Toy Club
The Cost: $19.99 per month
The Products: Each month you will receive a different, age-appropriate STEM toy.
Ships to: U.S. (free shipping)
Check out all of our Amazon STEM Toy Club reviews, more educational and STEM subscriptions for kids, and all Amazon subscription boxes in our subscription box directory!
Keep track of your subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wish list!
Design & Drill Activity Center - Value $35.60 on Amazon (retail price $40)
As soon as I saw this, I knew it was going to be a big hit with my two-year-old! Not only does he love construction equipment, but we're constantly doing projects around the house, and he loves Bob the Builder.
Let's get the "parent stuff" out of the way now: this does require 3 AA batteries which are not included, and it's full of small pieces (125 of them, to be exact).
These instructions struck me as a little unique because they actually give you tips on how to play with your child and how to introduce them to the different concepts at play here. I know that might seem obvious to some people, but I thought it was kind of a nice touch.
The general idea behind this toy is that you can use the different colored bolts and the plastic 'pegboard' to make different images or patterns. The toy comes with a set of templates like shown above, which reminded me a bit of Lite-Brite!
There are also blank templates, perfect for creative kids who want to design their own.
The templates are similar in size to the actual activity board, so they should be easy for kids to read and work from. This is a solid piece of plastic and seems sturdy as long as you're not jumping on it (a risk with my kid, for sure!).
The multicolored bolts come in a big bag. I used the bag and original box for storage, too.
One thing I immediately thought was cool about this toy is that it comes with a bunch of different tips modeled after real tools: there's a Phillips head, flat head, and socket driver, which can all fit into either a manual screwdriver or a battery operated drill. There's even a socket wrench!
All of the tips fit into any the colored pieces, so you don't need to color match or anything in order to play. When I first opened this, I thought you had to use the flat head with the yellow pieces, the Phillips with the blue, etc, but I am so happy that is not the case - my kid would have been really, really frustrated.
So, how'd he like it?
My son is 2 and this toy is for 3+, so I took out just 10 bolt pieces to start with, two of each color. He immediately knew what to do and started popping them into the activity board.
He knew the word for drill, and I showed him how to use it, but his hands are just a little too small to be able to pull the trigger. He still had fun playing with it and pretending, but it was easier to just use his hands to screw in the bolts.
He needed my help to unscrew them, but this is giving us a good opportunity to start learning right and left!
We also enjoyed matching the colors up, counting the bolts, and generally just playing by putting them into holes and moving them around. He played with this with some help for a good half hour before we had to take a break for breakfast.
Verdict: I'm happy with this month's toy selection again! Like last month, there are so many different ways to play with this toy, so I feel like it will get a lot of use in the next few years. The STEM concepts at this age are pretty general, but this one has a lot of opportunity to explore basic math (like counting the spaces to make various designs) and engineering (learning about different tools and how they work). This month was a good value too, with the price of the toy at least $15 over the price of the box.
What do you think of the third month of the Amazon STEM Club Toy subscription box?
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