Atlas Crate is a subscription box for kids from parent company KiwiCo. This box is designed to spark the curiosity and sense of adventure in children ages 6-11 and help them become citizens of the world. Each month Atlas Crate will deliver materials and instructions to provide hands-on experiences to help kids develop their sense of cultural awareness.
KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups:
- Panda Crate for 0-24-month-olds,
- Koala Crate for 2-4-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 and Maker Crate for ages 14 and up.
There really is something for every age with this company!
This review is of the $19.95/month Atlas Crate box, for 6-11-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 Atlas Crate
The Subscription Box: Atlas Crate
The Cost: $19.95 per month + free shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
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 about the world.
Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95 per month, and worldwide from $4.95-$6.95
Atlas Crate January 2020 "Spain" Review
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The country we explored this month was Spain and we received this envelope full of exciting information. I love the greeting in another language and the detail of the string closure on the back; it makes it just a smidge more exciting being able to physically open this! On the bottom of the envelope, there is a list of what is included in our crate and a fun Atlas Quest to complete using our newfound knowledge after exploring this month's country.
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In our first box, which was based on the world, we received an Adventure Book that contained cards for each of the continents and we are able to add to it each month as we receive cards for each of the new countries. They also provide a sticker for us to add to it as well which is a fun way to track our travels! Everything in this box is incredibly organized and nicely packaged making it easy to locate it all.
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The cards for our adventure book are bright, vibrant, and full of tons of information about Spain on either side. I always enjoy the fun facts page and this month. We also learned about Gaudi and some of his works in Barcelona along with some information about Basque Country.
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While most of the pages contain information for us to read, there are always a few "do" pages that provide instructions on activities related to the country. This month they provided a recipe for Patatas Bravas and taught us about Palmas. We had fun trying to clap out the flamenco rhythms!
Activity #1: Spanish Galleon
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Our first activity was to make our own Spanish Galleon.
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Our instruction booklet explained a little bit of the history of Spanish galleons before launching into the directions which were clear, detailed, and broken down into sections to make it easy to follow along with. The back of our booklet even had some more fun facts about galleons!
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First, we added some sticky foam pieces to the legs of our base before sliding them together.
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Then we placed a wooden circle on top to provide a platform for our galleon to rest on.
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Then we added a piece of foam to this smaller piece and stuck it in the center of the large hook type piece.
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Then my son added this piece to the tab at the end of the hook's top and secured it by putting a small clear ring to hold it in place.
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We folded up this paper piece along the creases to form a little tray which sat in between the little crossbars we had created at the bottom of our hook.
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Then, my son placed the little foam stickers on all of the little semicircles for us and we folded all of the small tabs inward
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Then it was just a matter of adding a few more adhesive pieces before folding them in to meet and form the bow of our ship.
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Then we added the floor of our ship making sure to stick it to the little tabs we had prepared previously.
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They provided a pack of three markers and several little fabric pieces for us to decorate as the sails of our ship.
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The kids had some fun decorating these! They included a lot of great design examples in our instruction booklet as well which I thought was helpful!
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Then we used the lollipop sticks and these little foam circles to add them to our ship.
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My daughter added two adhesive strips to the underside of our ship and then we placed it on top of our hook. Then to weigh it down, we added some coins to our little paper tray underneath.
By lightly blowing on our ship, we were able to get it to rock back and forth.
My daughter was pretty excited to try balancing the boat on her finger as they suggested!
Activity #2: Cubist Sculpture
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Our next project was to create a Cubist sculpture after learning about Pablo Picasso and his abstract style of art. Once again, the instructions were very easy to follow and there was a lot of fun information about Picasso.
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The first thing we did was add these sticky foam U's to all of our abstract shapes. I let my son take lead on this project and even though he's three, I thought this was a great activity for him with just a little adult help needed.
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We stuck the two straight pieces together to form our base and then slid the tabs into the slots of our wooden surface. To hold them in place, I added the clear O-rings around them underneath. Then my son added the rest of the pieces in any way that he wanted in order to form his sculpture base.
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Once his base was ready, it was time to cover it and get the sculpture ready for paint. The tricky part was getting this sock over the sculpture, which was definitely something I had to do since it was so wide. Then I used one of the larger rubber bands to hold the ends together once the entire thing was wrinkle-free and stretched over our shape completely.
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My daughter cut the excess off for us and then I tucked the little tail piece up into the hole underneath.
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Here is what his sculpture looked like once it was all covered.
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Now it was time to paint! They included three colors for us, three cups for water, and a little sponge to paint with.
My son enjoyed painting his sculpture and I love how simple they made it. This really was such a fun and unique idea!
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Here is his sculpture all painted.
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The final step was to add some of these great abstract felt stickers to his sculpture which he also enjoyed a lot.
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Here is his completed Cubist sculpture.
He was pretty happy with the end result and it was adorable to hear him talk about his Cubist sculpture.
Verdict: This month's Atlas Crate box had two fun projects for us! The Spanish galleon was pretty cool and the kids really loved the way it operated, but the Cubist sculpture was what really impressed me this month! Not only was it fun to learn about Picasso and Cubism but the fact that we got to create a sculpture that was really pretty simple and mostly mess-free was very cool. As a former art teacher, I can appreciate this idea so much and see it working in a classroom setting with cardboard and old pantyhose! This was a fun box and the amount of educational information along with how well-organized it is makes it a great value to me at $19.95 + free shipping!
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 kids!
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