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.
FYI, COVID-19 Update: From Green Kid Crafts:
Thanks to our customer and community support, we have grown! We are excited to have recently shipped out our 1.5 millionth box!
While our production is on track, we are still experiencing some shipping delays as carriers face strain and high volumes due to COVID.
Green Kid Crafts is a small mom-owned, parent-run business committed to providing a high level of service.
Thank you for supporting our small business and our mission to empower the next generation of environmental leaders!
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 "Botany Lab" July 2020 Box Review
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Each month we receive a beautifully illustrated pamphlet that is jam-packed with information and instructions for all of the month's projects. Our theme this month was "Botany Lab," so it specifically included introduction info, 7 experiments, a hidden picture, and bonus materials. We learned about jobs a botanist may have, and which flowers are edible! The back of the pamphlet includes social media links where you can submit pictures of your projects with the chance of being featured in the pamphlet itself!
This month we received a "Botany Expert" badge to attach to our badge chart. I really like the realistic dandelion illustration on this sticker!
Project 1: Plant Food Experiment
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Our first experiment this month was all about plant food. Just like people, plants need nutrients to grow. In this experiment, we learned which type of fertilizer works best for enabling growth in plants. We received 4 cups, bean seeds, soil pellets, and organic fertilizer sticks.
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To start this project, we submerged our soil pellets into water until they fully expanded. While we were waiting for the pellets to expand, we labeled our containers as follows: control, liquid, solid, and powdered. Dividing the soil into the cups, we gently poked 2 bean seeds into each cup. Using a face mask, rag, old pot, and hammer, we then pounded one of the fertilizer sticks to create powder. I have to say this did not work well. It didn't pound into powder as we would have liked, but we made it work anyway. The next stick was also pounded into powder and added to water, and the last stick we kept as a solid. We added each type of fertilizer into the properly labeled cup and set in a sunny spot to grow.
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Which fertilizer was most helpful, you ask? I'd like to know as well...sadly after 2 days a severe pop-up thunderstorm hit our area and blew the beans and dirt right out of their containers! Next time, we will be sure to set our delicate experiments inside for safekeeping!
Project 2: Leaning to the Light Experiment
This experiment uses the bean seedlings you grew in experiment #1. To complete this experiment, you were to choose two of your seedlings and place one next to a sunny window, and place the other in a dark cupboard or closet to observe what happens over time. Because mother nature had other plans for our seedlings, we weren't able to perform this experiment, although we will have to try this in the future!
Project 3: Botanist Kit
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Our third project included a magnifying glass, specimen envelopes, a specimen box, and a field notebook. Our kit contained everything young botanists need to study, collect, and preserve the local flora.
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Using our botanist kit, we went around our yard and collected all sorts of specimens. The pamphlet suggested collecting leaves, petals, seeds, cones, roots, and stems. Each of us had a specimen envelope to place them in, and a specimen box for our small special ones. Once we did our collecting, we regrouped and went through the diagrams on the first page of our pamphlet. We circled which plant part and flower parts we saw. Hank also decided to record the same diagram into his field notebook, along with the names of items we collected.
Project 4: Plant Press
For this project, we received recycled cardboard, paper, rubber bands, crayons, and paint to create our very own plant press! My grandma used to press flowers and leaves in her set of encyclopedias but always struggled to remember which pages her petals were in, so this will help keep all of our plants in one easy to find location!
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To complete this project we used some of our specimens we collected as stamps with our new paint sets. This was a fun (but messy) project! The kids loved seeing what kind of prints all of our specimens created! Some worked well (large leaves) while some performed poorly...(pine cone!) They were able to decorate it however they wanted and really customize it to their choosing!
Project 5: Herbarium
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Using our plant press, we went through our specimens and pressed our special items. The herbarium project used the plant press, but you also needed quite a few supplies from home. These included: dried plants, cookie sheet, glue, gallon zipper bags, contact paper (or Mod Podge), and a binder. Because pressing plants takes some time and we didn't have all of the necessary supplies, we weren't able mount our plants onto paper quite yet. We do have these plants in our press (I opened it to take these pictures after 2 days, but they still weren't dry yet) so we will finish this project at a later time.
Project 6: Plant Printmaking
For project #6, we received a plastic leaf print. Using paper and crayons, we were able to try our hand at printmaking by rubbing our crayon with paper over our print. After using our plate, we tried it on some of our collected specimens as well!
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Obviously the included rubbing plate worked the best, but our basswood leaf worked pretty well too! It was fun to give all of our specimens a try, and have them all labeled on one piece of paper!
Project 7: Reuse Your Box: Flower Dissection
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The last project included is one that reuses our box. The first page of the pamphlet includes a diagram of a flower that is complete with labels of specific parts. To complete this project you cut the lid off your box and pin the dissected flowers onto your box and label them. Because our flower was so tiny, we didn't cut our box apart to pin them on, but we did lay it out on the table and talk about the specific parts and functions.
Extras: Exciting Online Backyard STEAM Camp
This month as a subscriber, I received an email from Green Kid Crafts that had bonus material for online camp! A lot of these activities only require a few supplies, and the possibilities are endless, so I wanted to share a few of our favorites that we have done this week:
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Using a pizza box and a few other supplies, we created our very own solar oven to make s'mores! This project was really fun, and created some deliciously ooey and gooey treats! Check out how well the marshmallow melted! Yum!
It has been consistently over 85 here lately, so we decided to give the sidewalk egg experiment a shot. To do this, we cracked 2 eggs in one of the kids' play pans, covered it with aluminum foil, and then placed it on the sidewalk. Halfway through, we decided our patio umbrella stand seemed to get hotter, so we moved it there to see if it would cook. While it did get hot, the egg never turned white, but it was fun to give it a shot!
Another fun activity we found on the Green Kid Crafts website was this fizzy sidewalk chalk. Using cornstarch and baking soda mixed with food coloring, you create paint that fizzes when sprayed with vinegar. We made some firework art which was suggested, but we also wrote our names, practiced color mixing, and just had a good time!
Verdict: This was our third month of Green Kid Crafts and I have to admit this month's box was a bit lackluster compared to last month's "Volcanoes, Crystals, and Gems" box. I felt the activities were really well thought out, and the experiments were fun, but I felt this month we needed a lot more at home than previous months. I also felt the amount of physical items really needed to be amped up to come close to the $29.95 (plus free shipping) price point. That being said, the curation paired with the educational aspect is really impressive - I love their website and the additional resources they have, I just would like to see the value go up a bit. I'm hoping next month's kit will wow us like the June box did! 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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