Green Kid Crafts is a kids subscription box company that sends you up to six science and art kits each month for $29.95 (plus free US shipping).
Green Kid Crafts strives to encourage the growth of the "whole child," which includes fostering a sense of care for our environment. Their process and products seek to have a minimal environmental impact, and the activities in each box aim to help kids engage with nature in creative ways. It's not surprising that Green Kid Crafts was actually founded by an environmental scientist!
Choose between the Junior Discovery Box (ages 2-4) or the Discovery Box (ages 5-10+), both of which are $29.95/month. Green Kid Crafts also offers a Sibling Discovery Box (ages 2-10+) for $49.95/month, which sends two of each project. All subscriptions include free shipping.
This is a review of the Discovery Box for ages 5-10+, which costs $29.95/month + free shipping.
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 Green Kid Crafts Discovery Box
The Subscription Box: Green Kid Crafts Discovery Box
The Cost: $29.95 per month + free shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
The Products: Materials and instructions for up to 6 science and art projects aimed at helping children ages 5-10+ get creative and engage with nature.
Ships to: The US for free, to Canada and select countries for a flat rate of $6.50/month
Green Kid Crafts "Our Solar System" November 2019 Box Review
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Our theme this month is Our Solar System and a few of the activities are actually repeats for us from the Outer Space box we reviewed when subscribed to the Junior subscription (for younger kids). I was excited to see how the subscriptions differ for the two age groups and my kids remembered the repeat projects and were eager to do them again! I think this box was a great "grown-up" version of our Junior box. Our booklet included the instructions for four different activities, a recipe for a moon snack, and a page where we could cut out and assemble our own solar system.
Each box includes a new sticker for us to add to our Green Kid Crafts badge chart. This month we received the Solar System Expert badge.
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We also received a few extras this month like this great constellation bookmark which features Perseus and the 11 stars that make up this constellation. So cute!
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They also included this chart for us to track the phases of the moon and create our own moon calendar. This will be such a fun activity when my kids are a bit older and able to stay up later to actually observe the moon each night!
Project 1: Space Sand Experiments
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Our first activity was one of our repeat experiments, but a fun one involving two different colors of space sand, which is some really cool stuff! Our booklet had a great observation chart for us to record what we saw after trying a few different things with our sand.
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First, we filled one of the little cups with water and added some space sand and stirred it around with the stick they provided.
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We then pushed the sand through the water and saw how it would stick together at the bottom.
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Next, we drained the water from our cup and felt our sand - it was dry to the touch! This stuff really is the craziest!
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We even tried freezing some in plain water and it was cool to see how the sand simply stayed at the top and never really froze!
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Next, we added two colors of sand at once to some water and stirred them to see if they would mix.
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Then we added oil and dish soap to different cups of sand to explore their effects. The oil was the coolest (but my picture didn't turn out - sorry!) since it caused all of the sand to cling together and drop down to the bottom of the water in a big blob. They related this to how space sand is used to clean up oil spills, which was pretty cool to learn!
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After our experiments were over, my son had some fun playing with his little alien guy that they sent us. We actually still have the first alien from the Junior box we received and it's still a favorite toy of his so he is now thrilled to have two!
Project 2: Planetarium
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This planetarium project was our other repeat, but it is such a cool one that we were happy to do it again! They provided this great combination pen/flashlight for us to use for this one.
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First, we stuck our four circle constellation stickers in the center of our four squares of paper. I went ahead and wrote the name of each constellation at the bottom of each paper for us.
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Then we wrapped one of our constellation papers around the cardboard tube and secured it with the rubber band.
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The last step was to use the thumbtack they provided to poke holes in all of the stars (dots) in our constellations.
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We dimmed the lights and shone our flashlight pen into the tube to see the constellation reflected on the wall. This is such a simple and fun way to create your very own constellation that you can explore before bed at night! I love that we have four different constellations to try out, too!
Project 3: Constellation Geoboard
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To continue our exploration of constellations, our next project involved making a constellation geoboard. They provided a corkboard, constellation sheet, tiny pins and rubberbands for us.
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The first step was to cut out our constellation circle.
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Then we simply placed it over the corkboard circle and began to push pins into the stars on our constellation sheet.
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We finished the constellations off by wrapping the rubber bands around the stars to form their shapes. I believe the rubber bands are supposed to glow in the dark, but ours must need a bit more time in the light because we didn't see anything when we tested them out in the dark!
Project 4: Sundial
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Our last project was unique and cool; we got to make our own sundial!
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First, we inserted the straw into the center of our sun using the foam circle to help keep it in place. Then my daughter got to work adding the orange triangle stickers around the edges to form the rays of the sun.
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Then she placed our numbers around the outside at the appropriate spots so that we could use it to tell time using the sun. We were supposed to take it outside to calibrate it at noon and then observe the shadows to determine the time throughout the day. It was a bit chilly here today, so we haven't taken it outside yet, but I love the concept of this! I'm eager to see if it works!
Verdict: We really enjoyed exploring our solar system with the projects from Green Kid Crafts this month! My kids love talking about constellations so the planetarium and corkboard activities were both fun and exciting to them. The space sand is such a cool, unique substance to play with and the sundial was pretty cool, too. I love all the extras we received, too, like the alien, the moon calendar, and the bookmark. They tied in with our theme so well. For the $29.95 per month (with free shipping) cost of this box, I feel like we received a great set of age-appropriate activities that approached learning in a fun and engaging way!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Here's what Green Kid Crafts says:
The first box of all subscription orders will ship immediately, through the 25th of the month. After the 25th, the initial box will ship with the following month’s mid-month shipment. After the first month, subsequent boxes will ship around the middle of the month.
Check out all of our Green Kid Crafts reviews and the best kid subscription boxes for more kids' activities!
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