Kiwi Crate (from parent company KiwiCo) is a subscription box for children ages 5-8. It arrives every month with all the materials and instructions needed to complete 2-3 crafts centered around a theme, plus additional materials to help educate young learners!
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 and Tinker Crate are for 9-16+-year-olds. There really is something for every age with this company.
This review is of the $19.95 a month Kiwi Crate box, for 5-8-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 Kiwi Crate
The Subscription Box: Kiwi 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. Projects cover a number of developmental areas through art, science, and imaginative play.
Ships to: U.S. for free, Canada for $6.95 per month
Kiwi Crate October 2018 "Ultraviolet Light" Review
The theme for this month was Ultraviolet Light. This was the included booklet that showed us the various activities in our crate and provided instructions. The pictures are very clear- detailed and in color- and I like that they always provide a materials list for everything that should be in your crate.
On the back of the booklet was our sticker for this month’s project and their social media links.
This is the little sticker chart that we received in our first Kiwi Crate along with our welcome note. This time we got to add our Ultraviolet Light sticker after we completed our projects.
Each month you get a Kiwi Explore! magazine that goes along with your crate’s theme. There is a letter from Steve the Kiwi and a little story to go along with the theme starring some cute characters. This month the gang is going camping armed with plenty of flashlights.
The rest of the magazine is filled with additional activities and information about ultraviolet light in everyday life.
They also included some fun ideas for making art and for making glowing Jell-O jigglers.
Before we got to our main activity, we decided to check out the enclosed packet. Inside was a bracelet and a set of white/clear UV beads. We took our beads and observed what happened when we applied different types of light to them.
First, we observed with sunlight and a flashlight and my daughter recorded the results on the sheet. The beads changed color each time they were exposed to UV light. We colored the picture of the beads if they changed color and marked yes or no to tell whether the light source had UV rays or not.
Then we used the new UV light we received and finally, a lightbulb, to see what would happen. I think having us record our results made it feel more educational to me and it was a great way for my daughter and me to discuss and evaluate what was happening.
The next part was to separate out three beads to become our "control" group. Then we added the rest of our beads to the green bracelet they provided and tested out what happened when we put them underneath of various objects out in sunlight. Here we are testing them out after being underneath of a white t-shirt. Other objects included sunglasses and jeans. This was a great way to show how strong the sun's rays really are!
The main activity in our box this month was to create a glow viewer. The first step was to color in the three pieces of paper they gave us using the included highlighters.
Look how well they glow when we used our UV light on them!
Now that our papers were colored, we needed to use them to form a reel for our viewer.
We simply rolled our paper into a circle so that our marked holes lined up and then inserted the provided brads into them to hold them together. Then we used a clear sticker to secure the center.
Next, we had to mark our axel so we knew how to line up our reel. All we had to do was place it on the axel guide and just complete the gap in the line with our highlighter. I love how they think ahead and do things like this that make the process so incredibly easy by taking out any guesswork!
Then we lined up the side tabs and loaded the reel onto the axel.
Now, onto the final step to complete our viewer!
We simply lined up our paper cover by matching the colors to the colors on the foam base and then slid our wooden panels into place. There really is no room for error with these crates, which always amazes me!
We slid our reel into the hole and then added our gears using the rubber rings and larger brad we were given.
Then we folded the end of our paper cover over the top and secured it by lining up the holes with the bumps on the tops of the wooden panels.
The last part was to slide our UV light into the foam rectangle and then peel off the backing from it and adhere it right onto our viewer. The best part is that when you slide the UV light into the hole it turns on and when you remove it, it slides the switch to the off position. Clever! And look how nicely our artwork glows!
They even included directions for how to change out our reels. We simply removed one of our wooden panels slid the reel off and then replaced it. Very easy! I loved the way our scorpions glowed under the UV light.
Verdict: This was a very educational Kiwi Crate this month! We had actually done a small lesson on UV light somewhat recently, so this was such a fun refresher and a way to dive even further into the world of Ultraviolet light! It's always fun to make such a simple machine like this and I love that they also included the beads as a separate experiment. It really allowed us to make a real-life connection to what we were doing. As usual, everything was well organized and planned out to the point that you really don't need to do any prep or planning, but instead, you just follow the clear directions and have fun exploring the topic. As I said before, there really is no room for error, which makes for a pretty frustration-free activity for kids to complete somewhat independently. I think this month's activities were a great value for $19.95 plus free shipping!
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.
Coupon – Save 40% off your first month! No coupon required, just use this link!
Check out all of our Kiwi Crate reviews and more boxes for ages 5-8 in the Kids Subscription Box Directory!
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