Atlas Crate is the newest subscription box from parent company KiwiCo. This box is designed to spark the curiosity and sense of adventure in children ages 6-11 and help them become citizens of the world. Each month they will deliver materials and instructions to provide hands-on experiences to help them develop their sense of cultural awareness.
KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups: Cricket Crate is for 24-36-month-olds, Koala Crate is for 3-4-year-olds, Kiwi Crate is for 5-8-year-olds, and Doodle Crate, Tinker Crate for 9-16+-year-olds, and Atlas Crate for 6-11-year-olds. There really is something for every age with this company.
This review is of the $19.95 a month Atlas Crate box, for 6-11-year-olds.
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).
About Atlas Crate
The Subscription Box: Atlas Crate
The Cost: $19.95 per month + free shipping
The Products: Crafts and DIY projects for kids, with supplemental learning kits, booklets, and activities. Crates are filled with materials and inspiration to encourage creativity and curiosity about the world.
Ships to: U.S. for free, Canada for $6.95 per month
Atlas Crate August 2018 Review
The theme for this month was Japan and we received this envelope full of information. I love the detail of the string closure on the back, it makes it just a smidge more exciting being able to physically open this!
This envelope unfolded to show us a contents list and several pages to add to our Adventure Book. Everything in this box is incredibly organized and nicely packaged making it easy to locate it all!
We received this Adventure Book in our first box and this month they gave us this Japan sticker to add to the front of it. The rings of the book open up so that we can add more pages as we receive them.
Our first box was based on the World and contained cards for each of the continents. This time we were able to locate the continent in our book and add our pages behind it. I didn't even realize this until now, but the edges of the pages are lined in red as is our Asia continent page, making it easy for a child to locate where Japan belongs in our book. Such great thinking on their part!
The pages we received for Japan were filled with fun facts (Did you know they have Octopus ice cream? My kids loved that!) and several instructions for various activities. My daughter, who is almost 4, loved the Draw Kawaii page and practiced all morning and we all practiced our Karate moves for some extra fun.
We received this Daruma Otoshi game, which I think was such a great way to immerse children in Japanese culture!
We received the stickers (plenty of them!) to add a face to our "head" block and then the point is to stack them up and you knock out the bottom block with the little hammer without toppling the rest. I tried several times and only managed to knock the bottom block out cleanly one time. It was so challenging, but in a fun way that makes you want to try it over and over again. We had so much fun playing with this and watching it topple, but my kiddos are much younger. I think that the targeted ages of 6-11 would really appreciate this game as well, since it takes a lot of persistence, but is so satisfying when you get it!
The main activity in this box was making our own Koinobori which is a Japanese wwindsock I was so impressed with the quality of all of the pieces that they sent.
The instructions were clear and easy to follow, complete with colored pictures for reference.
Our first step was to use the felt pieces to add a mouth and eyes to each side. All we had to do was peel the backing and stick them on.
Next, we used these double-sided sticky strips and placed them on the fabric at even intervals and added our scales in whatever pattern we chose. The pieces were made of material similar to the fabric used to cover bulletin boards. They were so easy to work with and move around and very forgiving if you made a mistake in your design, but once we were done, they still stuck well.
They included enough pieces that we were able to complete both sides of our fish with pieces to spare. I love that Kiwi Co. always manages to make projects that are always incredibly well put together and they take out the mundane or tedious tasks which allows you to fully focus on the creative aspect. Not having to cut out all of these pieces myself, was definitely appreciated!
They also included this little plastic strip that we inserted into holes along the mouth so that it would stay open.
We added this wooden stick with the included elastic and our windsock was ready to go. It looks great when it gets a little wind in it! And now we have a great souvenir from our travels to Japan!
Verdict: This is the first Atlas Crate we received based on an individual country and I was so impressed with how much of the culture they were able to capture in this box. There were so many great facts and a lot of activities that will really appeal to kids ages 6-11. There were some things they can try on their own and some things that they might be able to do with an adult. I really appreciated that they didn't use Origami as their art activity because I am awful at it and instead introduced us to Kawaii which I have never really explored before. The step-by-step guides were perfect for showcasing all of the great cultural activities. This box costs $19.95 plus free shipping and I think that is a great price for getting to experience just a bit of Japanese culture in such a fun way!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, it is likely since this is a fairly new subscription, but keep this in mind- from Kiwi Co:
"Crates are assigned each month based on availability and your crate history - not all subscribers receive the same theme each month."
Check out all of our KiwiCo reviews and more boxes for ages 5-8 and ages 9-12 in the Kids Subscription Box List!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of Atlas Crate?
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