The Preschool Box is a monthly subscription that sends preschool activities to encourage learning, reading, and creativity in children aged 3-6. Every box contains specific learning objectives that focus on phonics, reading skills, and basic math concepts with activities, crafts, and a book.
A portion of all proceeds for this subscription supports an orphanage for at-risk children in Uganda through Rafiki Africa Ministries.
For more ways to keep your kiddos educationally engaged during these times, check out our Returning to Learning back-to-school guide to see how subscriptions can help make your life easier as you navigate this unique school year.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About The Preschool Box
The Subscription Box: The Preschool Box
The Cost: $32.95 + $5.95 US shipping
The Products: Every box contains specific learning objectives that focus on phonics, reading skills, and basic math concepts and includes 16+ hands-on preschool activities, ready-to-go craft materials, and a book.
Ships to: The US for $5.95 and worldwide at varying rates
The Preschool Box September 2020 Review
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The centerpiece of the box is this parent guide and activity workbook. It has a welcome letter on the inside as well as the curriculum plan for this month. Each Preschool Box has 4 weeks planned out for your child to do, so by the time you finish everything, your next box should be on its way to you.
The first 6 months of this subscription teach your child the letters of the alphabet (letter recognition, sounds, and writing) and numbers; the second 6 months focus on sounding out and reading words. At the end of the subscription, you receive a fun graduation box! This is box #7 for us, so it's the beginning of the last 6 months of the subscription and we're starting letter blending!
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Here's a look inside at the parent guide and workbook pages. Week 1's plan covers the letter sound SH and comparing quantities (greater than/less than). Week 2 covers the sound CH and identifying the first letters of words by sound. Week 3 covers the sound OW and ordinal numbering (first, second, third). Week 4 covers the OU and more practicing of identifying beginning letter sounds. At the end of the booklet is a reading log to track what books you and your child read each day.
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Every box keeps the paper materials for activities and crafts in a tabbed folder
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Here's a closer look at the worksheets. Kids all learn differently, but my son enjoys working through preschool workbooks so he likes completing these pages. I would say that I have seen the difficulty of the pages "level up" as we've continued this subscription, and I think the tasks they give are helpful. I appreciate that there is variety between worksheet pages so it doesn't feel like you're just repeating the same tasks over and over with each letter or sound.
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Here's a look at the crafts this month. They were making a Chick and thinking up and writing down "Ch" words, making a Sheep you can flip open and come up with and write down "sh" words, coloring, and decorating "OW" clowns, and coloring and decorating "OU" with bandaids.
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These are the activities in this September box. Activities in this box included making a "greater than/less than" alligator with a googly eye and big popsicles, comparing quantities of animals, cards with missing first letters and little plastic letters to practice swapping beginning sounds, and pictures of words for him to identify the beginning sound. I think Gideon had the most fun with the allligator greater than/less than symbol activity! Once you made it, he was to roll two dice and then determine which die showed the largest number and place it on the correct side of the "alligator" symbol. He loved this so much that ever since he's drawn his less than & greater than symbols with teeth!
Also included in every box is a set of flashcards. Because we've moved onto letter blending, the flashcards we got this month had words and pictures that incorporated the sounds he's learning this month which are "Sh," "Ch," "Ow," and "Ou."
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The Bear Who Would Not Share by Oakley Graham and Lizzie Walkley - Retail value $9.99
Every box includes a book to read together! We've enjoyed the books that we have been sent in the last boxes, but this one wasn't my favorite. The story is supposed to be about sharing and starts with a bear that makes cupcakes and then refuses to share when everyone asks. Later, all the animals who were turned away have eaten them, and it turns out the bear's son gave them away without asking, which he just can't be mad at. Seems like not quite the right message - I don't want my kids feeling entitled to things other people have if they don't want to share, and I don't want them thinking it's okay to take things without permission even if it's to give to friends. The book is mostly a nice extra inclusion each month for me and I find the most value from the rest of the box like the curriculum and prepped crafts, so I'm not too bothered by the fact that we'll probably donate this book this time.
GoGo Squeez Happy Tummiez Organic Fruit & Veggies on the Go Pouch, 3.2 oz - Estimated value $1 (Buy a 24 pack for $24.54)
This month they included a GoGo Squeez pouch! My kids love pouch snacks so this was a nice inclusion for us.
Verdict: We have really enjoyed our subscription to The Preschool Box! I have found it so helpful, having school-at-home work for my almost-5-year-old simplified and prepped for me. Since getting this box, my 5-year-old and I have been doing things from it together and it's been really fun seeing him work, learn, and play. My son has been excited to do the activities and crafts and I love that some activities are repeatable so we can build up a sort of library of educational games and activities to reach for later. With so many families planning to home school or virtually school this year, I can see a subscription like this being very helpful for a lot of parents going through this pivot.
It's hard to put a concrete value assessment on this box because of its nature. I can say that it has totally been worth the cost for my family, though. I know I could probably find resources for similar crafts or projects online myself, but I also have a 3-year-old and an 11-month-old, and I just do not have the time or bandwidth to be able to sit, research, plan, and prepare educational activities or crafts at the moment. Having everything in this box ready to grab and do together (or even to set him up with something to do on his own while I do something else!) with no effort, decision making, or internet hunting on my part has made a huge difference for us. Additionally, I am really happy with how the subscription has increased in skill difficulty in a way that's been right along with my son's skills improving.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, your subscription will start with the first Preschool Box to teach your child from the beginning of The Preschool Box's curriculum.
Check out all of our Preschool Box reviews and the best kids subscription boxes for 2020, recommended by MSA readers like you!
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