Amazon has launched a 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.
This subscription looks like any other shipment from Amazon, with no exterior branding on the box or special insert.
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 5 to 7-year-old age range Amazon STEM Club, $19.99/month.
About This Educational Subscription Box for Kids
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)
April's Toy: Educational Insights Geosafari Jr. Talking Microscope
Educational Insights Geosafari Jr. Talking Microscope - Retail Value $44.99 (found here for $28.92)
This toy microscope looks like a kid-friendly vision of a real microscope with its bright orange buttons. It feels very sturdy and well-made like it can handle some wear and tear from eager kiddos.
This toy is made by Educational Insights which makes engaging educational toys for kids. This is intended for ages 4 and up which fits well with the 5-7 targeted age group for this box.
The first page of the instruction booklet provided a picture with a diagram of all the different parts of the microscope that explains what each button does. When you turn it on you get a greeting from Bindi Irwin (Steve Irwin’s daughter) who is a Wildlife Warrior from the Australian Zoo. Having someone with an Australian accent greet us and give us facts makes it a little bit more fun since that’s not an accent we get exposed to often.
The microscope has two modes- fact mode and quiz mode. The little magnifying glass button is the fact button and each slide has 5 different facts that go along with them. There are over 100 facts and questions on these slides.
The microscope has two eyepieces which are meant to make it easier for kids since they don’t have to close one eye. It does take 3 AAA batteries which aren’t included, but luckily I always have a stock of them. One nice feature is that it turns off when it hasn’t been used in awhile to conserve battery life. You hear Bindi’s voice say “Catch you later!” just before it shuts off which my son has now been running around shouting.
There are 20 slides included, each with 3 images on them. They have little notches in the bottom so that they hook right into the stage and stay in place while you are viewing them. It’s a little tricky to get them into the slots, but there isn’t a whole lot of room for error since they only slide in one way. I think this makes it simple for kids to use it once they get the hang of it.
The slides themselves feature different perspectives and parts of animals, plants, objects and household items. From butterflies to snowflakes to human teeth, there is factual information provided about all of these familiar items.
In quiz mode, they ask a variety of questions using true or false or multiple choice questions. They also give directions for when to move the slide over to move on to the next question. The questions are simple enough (I.e. “how long has pepper been used for?”), but they provide interesting facts and information that I think kids will get a kick out of.
The last page of the booklet has a little section that kids can use for any notes that they might want to take.
Verdict: If you read the review last month you know that we received an incredible kit that was full of activities. It was awesome, but this month I was relieved to see something a little less time consuming and a toy that could be played with more independently. I think it’s great that so far we have received such a variety of toys and activities from Amazon’s STEM Toy Club which has all been very engaging. This was another fun, educational toy that will appeal to kids of multiple ages. The toy originally retails for $44.99, but we only paid $19.99 which is a great value! I love that this toy is something we can keep and use multiple times and will hopefully engage my kids for years.
To Wrap Up:
Value Breakdown: The cost of the subscription was $19.99 and we received a toy valued at $44.99. That’s a savings of $25 on this toy!
If you like this box, you might also like: Tinker Crate (ages 9+), Groovy Lab in a Box (ages 8+), Bitsbox (ages 6-12)
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!
What do you think of this month's toy from the Amazon STEM Club Toy subscription box?
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