Koala Crate is the preschool subscription box offering from KiwiCo, designed for hands-on learning and fun every month!
KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups: Tadpole Crate is for 0-36 months, Koala Crate for ages 3-4, Kiwi Crate for ages 5-8, Atlas Crate for ages 6-11, and Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate are for ages 9-16 and up.
This review is of the $19.95 a month Koala Crate, for Pre-K kids ages 3-4.
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Koala Crate
The Subscription Box: Koala Crate
The Cost: $19.95 a month + free shipping.
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Save 60% off your first month! No coupon required, just use this link
The Products: 2-3 fun DIY projects for you to do with your preschooler!
Ships to: US
Koala Crate Pirate November 2018 Review
My family was excited to review this month's Koala Crate! KiwiCo's teaching methodology perfectly aligns with how my kids learn today. My son is in early pre-school and goes to a school that is focused on hands-on and project-based learning. My 2nd-grade daughter attends a school with a STEAM curriculum and was happy to assist her little brother with some of the more challenging tasks in the projects.
This month’s theme is “Pirate”. While completing the 3 fun projects, we learned all about pirates, their ships and navigation skills, what pirates wore and even how to talk like a pirate!
Koala Crate includes a parent’s guide with step by step instructions on how to complete each project. I recommend looking at the instructions and gathering all the materials for the project before engaging the kids. My preschooler lacks any amount of patience, so I wanted to be prepared to get the project started right away!
The crate includes three fun and engaging projects: Pirate Dress-Up, Parrot Puppet, and Pirate Ship. The crate includes everything needed for all 3 projects.
Here are the materials for the Pirate Dress-Up project. It includes all the materials to make a pirate hat and eye-patch.
Here are the materials for the Parrot Puppet project. It includes all the materials need to make a parrot arm puppet.
Here are the materials for the Pirate Ship project. It includes the materials to make pirate ships with multiple color sails to choose from.
Let’s get started with the pirate hat and patch!
The first step of this project was to construct the hat. I had my daughter and her friend attempt to follow the instructions without adult assistance and they did great.
After constructing the hat, it was time to decorate the hat using the markers and stencils provided. My son wasn’t interested in decorating the hat but loved drawing with the markers.
The next step was constructing the eye patch which was pretty easy to do.
And finally, the pirate hat and eye patch are complete! I could not convince my son to try on the costume! He definitely did not like the eye patch and wouldn’t keep the hat on long enough to grab a good picture. I think it was the elastic he didn’t like although he did well with last month’s Birds projects which also had a mask.
Let’s get started on the second project – Parrot Puppet!
The first step in this project was to color the parrot. We found that the markers were not as bright and vibrant as the illustrations but we still had fun coloring the parrot and even created a pattern on our bird. We placed the feathers on the wings.
The next step was to construct the pirate stand which was easy enough. Then, we slid the parrot on the stand.
The parrot puppet is now complete! I tied the elastic around the kid’s wrist. The positioning was a little awkward but my daughter had fun with it. My son preferred to play with the parrot off his wrist and as a puppet.
Let’s complete the final project – Pirate Ship!
The first step in this project was to decorate the sails of the ships. My daughter chose the purple sail and my son picked the blue sail.
Once decorated, we constructed the ship and added the sail.
At this point, I was pretty skeptical that the ships would actually sail but the kids were excited to try them out.
Too eager to wait for bath time, we filled the bathroom sink with water and sailed the ships. My son had the most fun with this part of the project. He joyfully splashed and played with the ships in the water.
Koala Crate also sends a mini-magazine every month that goes along with the theme of the box.
It includes a story, additional fun activities and even a DIY project using items that are not included in the crate.
Verdict: This Koala Crate by KiwiCo. was a lot of fun for my daughter and her friend but my son only really enjoyed one of the three activities. For some reason, he wasn’t at all interested in wearing the pirate hat and eye patch or the parrot. But, he loved the ships! I’m so glad the pirate ship project came with multiple sails. We can construct new boats and continue the fun! As usual, the materials in the crate were high quality and sturdy. The project instructions were clear and easy to follow. Best of all, my kids loved completing the projects, especially the pirate ships! Considering the great quality materials, educational content and well thought-out projects, the cost of this box ($19.95) seems like a small price to pay!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, sign up now for the December box.
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Save 60% off your first month! No coupon required, just use this link
Check out all of our Koala Crate reviews and the Kids Subscription Box Directory!
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