Koala Crate is the toddler subscription box offering from KiwiCo, designed for hands-on learning and fun every month!
KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups: Tadpole Crate for 0-36-month-olds, Koala Crate for 3-4-year-olds, Kiwi Crate for 5-8-year-olds, Atlas Crate for 6-11-year-olds, Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate for 9-16+-year-olds, and Eureka Crate for ages 14 and up. There really is something for every age with this company.
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.)
Koala Crate
The Subscription Box: Koala Crate
The Cost: $19.95 a month + free shipping.
The Products: 2-3 fun DIY projects for you to do with your preschooler!
Ships to: US
Koala Crate “Dinosaurs” April 2019 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 “Dinosaurs”. While completing the 3 fun projects, we learned all about dinosaurs, their various shapes, and sizes, feet, teeth, and fossils. These projects allow for my son to be active and have fun while learning and actively developing new skills.
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: dinosaur dress-up, clay fossils, and dino match game. The crate includes everything needed for all 3 projects.
Project #1: Dinosaur Dress-Up
Here are the materials for the dinosaur dress-up project. It includes all the materials needed to make our own dinosaur costume for stomping around the house.
Let’s get started with the dinosaur dress-up project!
The first step of this project was to construct the dino visor. The instructions were easy to follow and preschool friendly. There are two sets of teeth – sharp teeth for carnivorous dinosaurs and round teeth for the herbivores. My son decided that our dinosaur would be both!
After constructing the dino visor, it was time to construct the dino feet. My son was much more interested in decorating the dinosaur feet than wearing them. Can you guess which one was designed by him and which was decorated by my daughter?
And finally, the dinosaur costume is complete. Now it’s time to dress up and pretend to be a dinosaur! My son didn’t want anything to do with the dinosaur feet – he wouldn’t even try them on. He liked playing with the visor though. As a good sport, my daughter modeled the dino costume.+
Project #2: Clay Fossils
Here are the materials for the clay fossils project. It includes all the materials need to put together skeleton stickers and create clay fossils.
The first step in this project was to create fossil cards by matching and placing the fossil stickers on the cards. My daughter took the lead on this activity. My son would have stuck the bones all over the card!
Next, we kneaded the clay until it was soft and split the clay in half to make two fossils. We created the clay fossils by pressing the clay ball on the fossil card, flattening the clay over the card and then gently removing the clay. This part was super fun! My son loved rolling and “beating” the clay flat.
It wasn't too difficult to remove the clay from the fossils. It came out much easier than I thought it would. The instructions say to let the fossils dry overnight but my kids preferred to continue playing with the clay and making their own dinosaur figures.
Project #3: Dino Match Game
Here are the materials for the dino match game. It includes the materials to challenge our family to a fun footprint matching game.
To set up the game, we punched out the tokens and choose a game board. We love the games included in the Koala Crate boxes!
To play, you take turns spinning the spinner to land on a dinosaur, find the matching token for that dinosaur and place the token on the game board next to the dinosaur. We found that is was difficult to spin the spinner without spinning the entire board.
You win when you find a match for each of the dinosaurs! Mommy won! My son wasn't too excited to play the game as designed but instead decided to find and place all the dinosaur tokens in their intended spot on the game boards. This was fun too!
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 not only my son but for the whole family. We enjoyed playing the games the most. My son has solidly mastered matching and color recognition! Making the dinosaur costume was fun, my son loved the visor on the dinosaur but didn't like wearing the dinosaur feet. The clay project was fun but I wonder if there are any children disciplined enough to actually let the clay dry!
As usual, all the projects were fun and the project instructions were clear and easy to follow. Considering the great quality materials, educational content and super fun projects, the cost of this box, $19.95, is an awesome value.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? From KiwiCo:
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 the best subscription boxes for toddlers!
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