Superpower Academy is a monthly subscription service for children that encourages learning and helps build social and emotional skills as they complete secret missions to "save the world." Kids will receive hands-on projects and workbooks that involve critical thinking and parents will receive an accompanying guide to help facilitate their learning. They offer subscriptions for two different age groups; ages 5-7 and ages 8-10.
This is a review of the Superpower Academy box for ages 5-7.
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 Superpower Academy
The Subscription Box: Superpower Academy Box
The Cost: $29.95 a month + free shipping (save with longer subscriptions)
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 30% off your first box!
CODE: HELLO30
The Products: Secret missions that involve hands-on projects, workbooks, and other educational materials to help children think critically as well as a guide for parents.
Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $29
Superpower Academy Box March 2020 Review
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When we opened our box we were greeted by a welcome letter along with our Top Secret Flight Missions on the inside of the lid. The coolest part was that we received a recorded Super Secret message that played when we pressed the button.
So official!
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We received this cute Do Not Disturb sign to hang on the door while we are busy saving the world with our missions!
They also included a great sticker that my daughter already has stuck to her bedroom door (oops!).
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Since our mission involves flight, we received this retractable tape measurer to use to measure the distance.
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We also received a Superpower Toolkit with a few items we needed for our missions like these rubber bands and washers.
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We received a roll of blue washi tape with metallic gold Superpower Academy logos all over it.
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There was also a sheet of fun stickers!
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Included for parents was this great little parent guide which talks about growth mindset and failure. I think that a growth mindset and learning from mistakes is such an important skill to teach and learn, especially at my daughter's age (she's 5 1/2). They highlighted a few key tips for parents that helped me know how to guide her through the activities.
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Inside our box was a comic book entitled The Adventures of Freddie Try Again. This was a great story to teach about a growth mindset and how failure and mistakes are not necessarily bad. They successfully showed how perseverance and a willingness to try again can help you achieve your goals at a level that was appropriate for kids.
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The comic made this a fun and silly way to approach the subject and engage my daughter! She seemed to enjoy the part where Freddie used his Mind-o-Scope to calm himself down when he was frustrated. (In case you're wondering, she decided to be a unicorn superhero while we completed this box).
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After reading about Freddie, we were then able to move on to our super fun activity book which included colorful illustrations to guide us through the various activities. There was a page for flight notes, and a section to record our measurements and make observations, too.
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They included three wooden glider bases along with several sheets of colorful cardstock that featured various parts to cut out.
There was even a set of blank wings for her to create something on her own!
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First up, we had to make Freddie's glider by following the instructions. She cut out the wing pieces first. I had shown her that we had a similar tool for calming down like Freddie's Mind-o-scope, so the second picture was when she claimed she needed a break from cutting (and an excuse to use the calm down tool!).
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She folded the edges back along the dotted lines and then taped the two wings together using the roll of washi tape that they had included in her toolkit.
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She threaded the rubber band through the wooden piece as they showed us in the instructions. Then she taped one of the washers to the nose of the glider to give it some weight.
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Then she slipped the glider body onto the wooden piece and added the tail and it was ready to test out.
We tested it out a few times indoors and had some fun with that!
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Since Freddie's glider was a success, now it was time for her to design her own. She sketched out an idea in her flight notes section. They included some helpful tips at the bottom about the idea of lift, thrust, and drag in easy to understand terms.
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With her plan sketched out, she got to work cutting and taping the pieces together.
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She added some decorations to her glider, including some of her superpower stickers. Then she attached it to the wooden base.
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Next, she added the wing at the back and her glider was ready to test out!
It was pretty hard to get a shot of her in motion, but I think you can tell she gave this one her all!
When her glider hit the floor, I was SO surprised when she immediately grabbed it and started talking about what changes needed to be made. She even declared "it's too light" at one point and so we changed the shape of the wings and added some weight to the nose. It was amazing to see her confidently trying to problem-solve instead of getting upset about the fact that it hadn't worked right away. Instead of disappointment, she was eager to keep trying and figure out how she could correct the issue.
Once she made the changes and her glider was flying easily, we threw hers and also Freddie's and then used our observation chart to record their distance along with a few other factors.
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They even had one more style of glider for us to test out: a cyclone fuse! This one was fun and we got to compare it to our other two gliders and record its stats as well!
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With our Super Fun Activity mission complete, it was now time for the Super Fun Stuff section of our booklet. They asked some good critical thinking questions like designing a way to fly to a friend's house and inventing her own machine. They also asked her to draw a mistake and change it into something else which was a great way to reiterate the concepts she had learned.
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She had a lot of fun completing this section and discussing her drawings was a great way to finish out the activity portion of our box!
We saved this Daily Flight newsletter for last and it was a great way to further reinforce the ideas that we had learned through some organic discussion.
Lastly, she recited the Superpower Code from the inside bottom of our box and I told her that her missions were complete!
Verdict: I was really impressed with the way this Superpower Academy box managed to teach about failure in such a meaningful and engaging way! I could see how my daughter responded (and has responded since then) to the challenges with a sense of confidence and purpose instead of just retreating and giving up, which is definitely a powerful trait to have. I thought the materials and presentation were great, especially that recorded message (so cool!) and the fact that they offered some creativity and freedom within the projects made it an even more meaningful experience. I'm totally on board with this box and can't wait to see what else they have in store for my daughter!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Possibly! From Superpower Academy:
Your first box ships within 2-mail days!
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 30% off your first box!
CODE: HELLO30
Check out the best kid subscription boxes for other activity and educational boxes to try!
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