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! The thoughtful approach makes this box one of our favorite kids' art subscriptions.
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 "Volcanoes, Crystals & Gems" June 2020 Box Review
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Every month we receive a colorful pamphlet filled with information and instructions for all of the crafts. Our theme this month was "Volcanoes, Crystals & Gems," so it specifically included introduction info, 4 sets of instructions, a maze, a hidden picture, and bonus DIY projects. We also learned about being a Volcanologist, and were given book suggestions to read based on our experiments. This handy booklet also includes their social media info on the back where you can submit pictures of your projects with a chance of being featured in the pamphlet itself!
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This is our second box, and with the first we did not receive the badge chart. We reached out to customer service about it, and they happily sent us the chart with this shipment. Hank put the last sticker on his shirt, so we no longer have the "Bird Expert" badge, but we were able to put our "Volcano Expert" on and hang the chart up in his room!
Project 1: Geode
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I love how easy these activities are to do and just how plain fun they are! This sub uses reusable and recyclable bags that are labeled for simplicity. This month we received our geodes in a bag with other project materials for less waste, which I can definitely appreciate!
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For our first project, we received 2 geodes that we got to crack open! Honestly, this is a project I myself have always wanted to do, so we were fired up about it! The instructions suggest putting the geode in a sock to help prevent rock fragments from flying around, so we went through our "lost and found" bin and grabbed a sock that no longer has a mate. Placing the sock on a hard concrete surface, we hit the geode-filled sock with a hammer until it split open. The kids were absolutely ecstatic to do this activity, and were so happy we could do it outside in the beautiful weather! While photos can't do our geodes justice, they were both different and had some beautifully amazing crystals inside - making their way into our "special rock" dish in our living room! I do want to note that you should not expect the sock to be in one piece after this activity- our sock didn't have a match so it was useless anyways, but it did get holey very quickly from the rock fragments!
Project 2: Crystal Growing Kit
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Our second project included all of the necessary items needed to grow our very own crystal! For this project we needed the pipe cleaner, yarn, borax powder, and round stick that were included in the first item bag. Hank and Charlie were inspired by the instructions, so we went ahead and shaped our pipe cleaner into a star. Because it didn't quite fit in our jar without touching the sides, we trimmed it up a bit and then tied the yarn to the shape with the other end onto the stick. To create our crystal-making liquid, we boiled one cup of water and added our borax powder, stirring until dissolved. While it was optional, we added blue food coloring to try and re-create the blue Lego crystals my kids are obsessed with! Once the coloring was mixed, we added the entire mixture into our jar. We then slowly placed our star shape into the liquid and let it rest on the stick. Within 2 hours we had some crystal growth, but by the next day we had a monster crystal! I have to say this was a super cool project, and although our crystal isn't quite as perfect as the one in the directions, we really enjoyed creating this - and I have to say it looks just like one of those Lego gems! Yay!
Project 3: Erupting Volcano
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For our volcano project, we received a separate reusable & recyclable bag with Model Magic clay, baking soda, lava rocks, a container, and food coloring.
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Ah, the magic of a volcano experiment! Hank and Charlie BEG to make a volcano at least every month, so this project was very well received, and even offered us more information than we previously had! To create our volcano we had to decide what type of volcano we were going to create. The kids decided that a composite one suited their needs the best, so they went ahead and used the clay to mold it around the bottle. I liked the fact that they even included lava rocks to decorate our masterpiece! Once it was created, we put it in a baking dish to contain the eruption. The next step was to pour in the baking soda in the bottle. Once it was ready, we mixed one cup of vinegar with the food coloring tablet, and a little bit of dish soap to add a bubbly effect. Then came the fun part: eruption time!! Slowly pouring the mixture into the volcano we were able to watch it bubble and ooze! A sight that one can never get sick of watching!
Project 4: Volcanic Eruption Art
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For this project, we received 2 pieces of black paper, paint, a paintbrush, and a marble.
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To create our volcanic eruption art, we placed a piece of black paper inside of the shipping box and dripped paint onto it. Using the marble, Hank and Charlie rolled it through the paint creating a splattering effect! We loved the super bright colors and how easy and fun this project was, without being messy! Win!
Project 5: Gemstone Excavation
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While this project wasn't in the pamphlet, we also received a "Gemstone Excavation" kit! This kit included an earthen block, digging tool, and a brush.
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Can this box get any better? Seriously! My kids went nuts after they saw this kit...they were literally squealing!! Because I have done these plaster type excavation kits in the past, I knew to bring it straight outside because it gets MESSY! Using the digging tool, the boys slowly chipped away the plaster to reveal 6 beautiful gemstones! (Okay, so maybe not so slowly as we had the hammer close by from the geode project.) While we think we have a rose quartz and yellow jade, we aren't 100% sure on the other 4...as they look slightly like the included picture diagram but I'm not convinced. Anyways, it was a great project and gave us some really pretty gemstones for our collection!
Bonus DIY Project
Because during the volcano experiment we received a little bonus information on plate tectonics, we were also given a couple of DIY projects to try. We just happened to have a little orange laying around, so we decided to peel back the skin and secure it with toothpicks to show how the Earth's plates rest on the Earth. To extend this project you could cover it with a layer of play dough to represent the layers of soil and water coloring the Earth's plates, but the kids wanted a snack, so we skipped that part!
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Like last month, we had a great time doing the maze and the hidden picture once our projects were complete!
Verdict: This was our second month of Green Kid Crafts and our favorite one so far! Last month we received the "Bird Box" and if you were curious if we had a tenant in our homemade box birdhouse, I can sadly tell you no birds saw it fit to reside in. Anyways, this month was a hit! My kids are obsessed with volcanoes, crystals, and gems, so getting this box was a huge deal to them! Every project was really fun, easy, and educational. I found this month to have included a lot more information which was helpful, and we loved the fact that most of the activities could be done outside. While it is hard to put a monetary value on the items in this box, I feel they really stepped up their game from last month, and at $29.95 (plus free shipping) I thought this was definitely fair. I'm hoping they can wow us next month like they did this time! What do you think the theme might be?
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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