Green Kid Crafts is a kids subscription box company that sends you up to six science and art kits each month for $29.95 (with free U.S. 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!
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.
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 U.S. for free, to Canada and select countries for a flat rate of $6.50/month
Green Kid Crafts "Arctic Science" December 2020 Box Review
When Hank opened up this month's box, he literally squealed for joy. Both of my boys are absolutely obsessed with the Wild Kratt Brothers, and we just watched the Artic episode, so they couldn't wait to dig into these activities. Because this theme is so near and dear to them, we actually turned this weekend into an entire Arctic-themed weekend. We alternated these box activities with free online pintables, worksheets, books, and even a couple of movies to keep the theme rolling! It was busy for sure, but a heck of a lot of fun!
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Each month we receive a beautifully illustrated pamphlet that is jam-packed with information and instructions for all of the included projects. Our theme this month was "Arctic Science" so it specifically included introduction info, 6 activities, a coloring sheet, career info, and an arctic book suggestion. The back of the pamphlet includes their social media hashtags, along with a blurb about Penny Bauder, who is the founder of Green Kid Crafts.
How cute are Hank and Charlie?! Hank was helping Charlie read this month's introduction information and it just made me smile.
Project 1: Northern Lights Postcards
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Post Card Supplies
This month we received all of the necessary supplies to create our northern lights postcards. We received watercolor paper, crayons, paints, and a paintbrush.
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To create our northern lights postcards, we first had to draw out our arctic scene using crayons. Charlie opted for a tree scene, while Hank decided to add a deer, and I went with an igloo. Next, we used our colorful crayons and added the northern lights. (In all honesty, we received a set of crayons in our kit, but wanted different colors, so we used some of our own... besides, they didn't include white, which they suggested using in the directions.) When our crayon creations were complete, we went ahead and used the watercolors to paint our creations with blue, black, and purple to depict the night sky. They suggested turning the card over and adding a message and address on the back to send to a loved one, but I liked these so much I hung them in my kitchen for the time being. Maybe we will make some more to send out!
Project 2: Watercolor Snowflakes
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For our second project, we needed used diffusing paper, watercolors, and a paintbrush.
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I have made quite a few handmade snowflakes in my day, but have not thought of using diffusing paper (or coffee filters) to do so. This was a great trick and made folding the shape a breeze! First, we folded the diffusing paper in half 3 times and used a pencil to draw our pattern. Using scissors (that was not included) we cut out the printed pattern and opened up our snowflake. Once we laid our papers out flat, we used the watercolors to decorate them any way we wanted and let them dry. Now I have some beautifully colored snowflakes hanging on my cupboards! The snowflake on the far left was created by Hank, and he had a blast designing and cutting out his craft. Charlie's snowflake is featured in the middle, and he did it 100% all by himself. He was so proud of how his turned out and has made many mini coffee filter versions since! I cut out the snowflake furthest on the right because they were having so much fun, I just had to join in!
Project 3: Blubber Experiment
Our first (and only) experiment this month used the Vaseline provided and the small baggies. Check out below to see what we discovered!
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Like I said above, my kids love the Wild Kratt brothers, and they recently watched the episode about how a walrus keeps warm. This experiment was a great object lesson, and they got to see first hand just how it works. First, we filled a bowl with ice and water and squeezed the Vaseline into one of the little baggies. Hank went first, and slipped one of his fingers into that baggie while slipping the same finger on his opposite hand into a baggie with no Vaseline. Placing his fingers into the ice water, he kept them in the bowl until they felt too cold to keep in the water. Surprise, surprise, one of his fingers was able to stay in the water longer... can you guess which one? This was a really fun and educational experiment, and one that really helped my boys understand exactly what blubber does and how important it is for marine mammals to survive - a little messy, but fun!
Project #4: Arctic Games
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Our fourth project included the necessary supplies to play a few "Arctic Games." See below how this all panned out!
Now, this was fun!! To play our first game, "Snowblower," we taped 2 cups on the edge of the table, and the kids had to blow cotton balls with a straw into the cups without touching them. We played this game for a good 15 minutes before the kids wanted to move on, which was quite impressive! They also suggested "Blizzard Ball" which used blown-up balloons to see which team could keep the snowball from touching the ground - of course, I didn't get photos of this because I was in the midst of playing!! We also tried out the seal and snowball races, but plan on doing the snowman launch later this week. A fun inclusion for short days and chilly temps!
Project #5: Window Clings
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Project number five included the necessary supplies to make an arctic hare and arctic fox window cling.
So we received this same craft in the April box using different animals for our window clings, and I haven't had the best of luck either time. The last time we didn't use nearly enough glue, and this time, just when I thought we had it figured out, whoops – the lid of the box bumped into our clings while they were drying and smeared them into a colorful, sticky mess. No finished window clings to show here... better luck next time!!
Project #6: Beaded Snowflakes
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Our last project consisted of creating our own beaded snowflakes, and we received pipe cleaners, beads, and recycled paper ribbon to do so.
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We used two different techniques to create our beaded snowflakes. Hank misunderstood the directions and cut 6 separate pieces of pipe cleaner and twisted them together, adding the beads and ribbon. Charlie also didn't follow the directions exactly but came up with something a little different as well, though still functional. Each added beads and the ribbon, and now we have 2 new lovely ornaments that glisten in the lights of our tree!
Other Activities
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Like I said before, we turned our Arctic Science theme into an entire weekend packed with themed activities, and we found some great resources on the Green Kid Crafts blog. Because we didn't have the book they presented in the Book Corner of the pamphlet, we looked it up on YouTube and were able to find a read-aloud version, so we didn't miss out. We also created some popsicle stick ornaments based on the craft shown on the Green Kid Crafts blog, but with the addition of some of my late grandma's buttons for a special touch. Bringing snow in from outside, the boys used the extra popsicle sticks and some of their toy animals to create a bridge from one side of the river to the other! Like I said earlier, it was busy, but a lot of fun!
Verdict: This month's Green Kid Crafts was our favorite to date! The curation of the crafts, mixed with the games and experiment, was extremely thoughtful and a lot of fun, all while being educational. Because this theme was one of my kids' favorite ever, it turned a chilly weekend into endless fun. While I feel some of the materials could have been improved (crayons and watercolors) everything worked as needed and turned out cute with all supplies in one place ready to go at any time. I appreciate the STEAM involvement in each of these boxes and the fact that it makes learning a blast. I can't wait to see what next month's 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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