Koala Crate Subscription Box Review + Coupon – Storytime

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
• 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 at no cost for review. (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. Save with longer subscriptions.

The Products: 2-3 fun DIY projects for you to do with your preschooler!

Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $5.95 per month, worldwide from $6.95-$7.95.

Koala Crate "Storytime" 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 pre-school and goes to a school that is focused on hands-on and project-based learning. My 3rd-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 “Storytime” where children get the opportunity to build a puppet theater, make dress-up puppets, and play fun ABC card games. My son loves to pretend play so I think this will be a fun box for him.

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 everything needed for three fun and engaging projects: puppet theater, dress-up puppets, and alphabet card games.

Here are the materials for the puppet theater project. It includes all the materials needed to make a theater for our puppet shows.

Here are the materials for the dress-up puppets project. It includes all the materials need to get our puppets ready to put on a show.

Here are the materials for the alphabet card games. It includes the materials to practice drawing letters and a deck of colorful alphabet cards.

Let’s get started with the puppet theater project!

The first step in constructing the puppet theatre was to slide the whiteboard into the back of the box. This very simple step was frustrating. The box kept coming apart so, we found some clear tape to reinforce the box. The next step was to choose a ‘scene’ from the four available backdrops. We choose the city scene and later the snow mountain scene.

The next step was to fit the theater curtain rod in the slots on the side of the box. Large foam buttons secure the curtain which allowed us to easily twist the ends of the rod making the curtain go up and down.

And finally, the puppet theater is ready!

Let’s get started on the second project – dress-up puppets!

The first step in this project is to punch out the magnets from the magnet sheet. There are boy and girl characters, clothing items and accessories, animals, and other objects. There's a lot of pieces!

Next, we put the puppets on the magnetic puppet stand. It’s was now time to dress up the puppets. Both of my kids had a lot of fun with this step! They can choose from endless options, mixing and matching clothes, and adding accessories. My son got a little frustrated trying to figure out how to keep the clothes on the puppets, but he soon got the hang of it.

Next, we added the craft sticks and foam buttons to the magnetic puppet stands and put the puppets in the theatre. It was time for the show!

Here’s one of the puppets shows the kids put on. This was really fun for the kids and us as parents. I loved hearing the kinds of stories they came up with.

Let’s complete the final project – alphabet card games!

No assembly is required to play alphabet games. There's a bunch of ways to play. You can pick a letter card and have your child practice writing the letter on the whiteboard. There are pictures on the back of the cards. You can pick a picture card and ask your child to tell you the letter the object starts with (like ‘R' for Robot). Another option is to pick a letter card and ask your child to draw a picture that starts with that letter.

My son can recognize most letters and write a few with assistance. The other games were a little more challenging for him. I love this! This is a skill we can continue to work on.

Koala Crate also sends a mini-magazine every month that goes along with the theme of the box.

Verdict: This Koala Crate by KiwiCo was a lot of fun for the kids and entertaining for us as parents to see their creativity come out. My kids loved dressing up the puppets. They spent the most time on the second project dressing the puppets and putting on the puppet shows. It was very amusing!

There were a few hiccups with this crate. The box kept coming apart which was irritating. Also, our deck of cards came with 2 letter ‘G’s and no letter ‘C’. That was odd. I did love the quality of the materials and that many of them were reusable (like the whiteboard, alphabet cards, and magnets). There were so many magnets to choose from and I love that the characters were diverse!

All the projects were fun, and the project instructions were clear and easy to follow. Considering the great quality materials, educational content and well thought out 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!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

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