Tinker Crate is a subscription box for kids and tweens ages 9-16+ created by kids subscription box company KiwiCo. Each monthly Tinker Crate contains all the materials and instructions needed to create innovative, hands-on STEM projects, as well as a "Tinker Zine" full of educational information and additional activities.
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 KiwiCo's Tinker Crate (for ages 9-16+), which costs $19.95 per month.
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 Tinker Crate
The Subscription Box: Tinker Crate
The Cost: $19.95 per month + free shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 50% off your 1st month! No coupon needed - just use this link.
The Products: Innovative hands-on STEM projects for kids, plus the materials and detailed instructions your child needs to complete them. You'll also get a "Tinker Zine" full of educational information and additional activities.
Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95 per month, worldwide from $4.95-$6.95
KiwiCo Tinker Crate "3D Viewer" Review
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The theme of this month's Tinker Zine is "Design in 3D" which makes perfect sense with our 3D viewer project. This zine is full of educational information about perspective, art, and viewing things in 3D. They also have a section with suggested reading materials for further engagement!
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Our project instructions come on a separate sheet and they include detailed directions along with colorful illustrations for each step.
Part A: Build the Body
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The first step was to peel off the backing from the square mirrors and stick them onto the marked spots on the wooden pieces.
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Then my daughter added the foam Y piece to the center of the wooden base.
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She slid the two mirrored pieces onto the base along with the eyepiece mount and topped it with the lid.
Part B: Build the Frames
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Next, she began to assemble the frames by adding some foam pieces to the marked spots and then sticking the two sides together.
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Then she slid these onto either arm of the base and added a half-moon foam piece to the ends to keep it from slipping off.
Part C: Put It All Together
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Now it was time to assemble the eyepiece. First, we added the small black foam adhesive circles and placed the lenses on top of those with the curve facing down. To hold them in place, she added the larger gray foam circles over top of those.
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Then it was just a matter of sliding that piece into our base.
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Here is what our viewer looked like.
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They provided several images for us to use for our viewer. Each was labeled left or right so that we could place them correctly.
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My daughter selected an image and slid the cards into the holders on either side of the viewer before having a look.
It was near impossible to get a good image of this for you, but at least you get the idea! The images were really cool and my kids were so impressed with how realistic the photos became!
3D Mirror Viewer
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They also provided some materials for us to make a 3D mirror viewer. This was simply adding a mirrored sticker to the side of one of the cardboard half circles and then placing it on the spot on the cards they provided.
They provided three different cards for us to use to test them out.
We simply set our mirror on the circle and the images seemed to jump from the page! If we wanted an even more extreme effect, we can cut out the images, too!
Anamorphic Drawings
They also provided these pages for us to create anamorphic drawings. Two of them were images that we could just complete by connecting the numbered dots, but one allowed us to create our own image.
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I decided to keep it simple and made a T for Tinker and it worked! Very cool! I'm sure an older kid would enjoy the challenge of these drawings!
Verdict: We had a lot of fun with our 3D viewer from Tinker Crate this month! I thought they included a decent number of 3D images for us and my daughter was inspired to draw her own, although I'm not sure how those will turn out, but I love her enthusiasm! I also loved that they included the 3D mirror viewer and the anamorphic drawings for some continued 3D fun. Considering how well organized this box was and how thorough the instructions and educational lessons were, I'd say this was a great box!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? It is possible you might get this crate, but it is not a guarantee. From KiwiCo:
Crates are assigned each month based on availability and your crate history - not all subscribers receive the same theme each month.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 50% off your 1st month! No coupon needed - just use this link.
Check out all of our Tinker Crate reviews and the best subscription boxes for kids!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of this month's Tinker Crate?
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