Panda Crate is a bi-monthly subscription from KiwiCo for ages 0-36 months. They are curated based on the science of early development and are made practical, helpful, and convenient for parents. In fact, they actually consulted researchers at Seattle Children's hospital to make sure everything is well suited for each stage of your child's brain development.
In addition to this newborn subscription, KiwiCo offers other boxes for different age groups:
- Panda Crate for 0-36-month-olds,
- Koala Crate for 3-4-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, and
- Eureka Crate and Maker Crate for ages 14 and up.
This is a review of Panda Crate's "Discover With Me" for ages 13-18 months which costs $39.90 + free shipping.
About Panda Crate
The Subscription: Panda Crate by KiwiCo
The Cost: 1 crate every 2 months costs $19.95/month (with free shipping) which adds up to $39.90/crate. Save with longer subscriptions.
The Products: Up to six learning toys and books, specifically designed for your child’s age and stage. The line is split into five separate age bands: Birth-2 months, 3-6 months, 7-12 months, 13-18 months, 19-24 months, 25-30 months, and 31-36 months.
Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95, worldwide from $4.95-$6.95.
Good to Know: You can switch to any of KiwiCo's other subscriptions at any time to suit your child's age and developmental interests.
Panda Crate "Discover With Me" (13-18 months) Review
1 of 7
Each box comes with a Wonder by Panda Crate magazine, with information about the stage of development your baby is in and lots of tips and FAQs for parents. This Panda Crate, for ages 13-18 months, is titled "Discover With Me." This crate explores fine motor skills, cause & effect. and repetitive play.
1 of 2
Panda Crate sends informative cards with details about each product and ideas for how to use them to promote your baby's development.
1 of 2
Every crate will also include "beyond the crate" activity cards with details of your baby's brain development, activities you can do with them to promote growth, and the science behind them.
1 of 4
Where's Poppy? Book
Poppy the Panda shows up all over the design aesthetic for Panda Crate! Every month has a Poppy Panda book. This one is about Poppy's Hippo friend, Hugo, teaching her how to play hide-and-seek. I love the art! It's so cute.
1 of 3
Pop-Up Roller
This little doo-dad helps teach cause-and-effect. As your child pushes in one tab, the opposing side pushes out. The card for this toy says to roll it and listen to the clack-y noise and watching the tabs move, but it doesn't actually roll well. This isn't the most exciting toy we've received from Panda Crate, but my 18 month old was interested for a little bit and thought it was fun to shake it, too.
1 of 2
Animal Match-Up
These cards show adult animals and matching baby animals. They promote sorting, identifying, and categorizing as foundational skills. My 18-month old enjoyed hearing me talk about and explain the baby animals and grown up animals, but she's not to the point where she'd be able to flip them over and play like a proper matching game.
1 of 3
Animal Puzzles
These four wooden pieces have numbers on one side and parts of a picture of outdoors on the back. They're made to have your child use their memory to place the pieces where they need to go. My daughter actually really like these and she stacks them and hands them to me and her brothers. I thought she'd be really bored with them but she seems to like them. They're meant to go with the next toy, though...
1 of 3
Peek-A-Boo Base
This thing is cool! It's a little base that has four slots for the above animal puzzle pieces to drop into. When you push down on one of the pieces, the piece next to it pops up. If you push it forcefully, you can get the other one to pop out. This has been the winning toy in this crate. All my kids (ages 5, 3, and 1) think it's funny. I also really like that they included a drawstring bag, and the feet of the base are connected with elastic so you can fold them down to store.
1 of 4
Hide-and-Seek Mat
This mat opens up to an outdoor scene with three different flaps, under which playground equipment and little characters can be found. It came with three flat, wooden animals to use with it: tuck the animals under the flaps and your little one can peek under and find out which animals are hiding where. I think it's really cute! My daughter had to be shown/taught how to play with it at first, but that's very normal for toys in general for young children. It's how they learn! It also folds up to carry easily with a handle and a dog face on the front, and so far I've tossed the little wooden animals into the house to secure them while stored.
Verdict: Panda Crate is one of our favorite subscriptions! The goal of the box is to deliver scientifically-backed products to help promote my baby's development, of which I'm obviously a big fan. We get lots of play out of the toys in each Panda Crate box. This month had some items that felt a little underwhelming to me, but my daughter has still enjoyed looking at and figuring them out. We've subscribed for over a year now, and toys from our Panda Crate subscription have been ones we keep consistently around even when we rotate toys because they are played with often. Also, I am crazy about the design aesthetic! The branding is so cute with Poppy, the little panda bear, on everything. I like that the colors are modern and stylish. Overall, considering the practicality, the information cards and magazine, the science-backed curation, the quality, and the great design of the items, I'm happy with everything you get for the $39.90 per crate cost.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, this is one of the boxes they send during the 13-18 month age window. Panda Crate is more of a "line" of boxes from KiwiCo than a typical subscription model with different themes each month. When you sign up, you input your baby's age or your due date and they'll send you the appropriate box for your child's age and development at the right time. (Good to know: you can pick what month you want your first box to arrive. By default, it will arrive the month of your due date.)
Check out other Panda Crate reviews, more KiwiCo reviews, and the best baby subscription boxes!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What do you think of Panda Crate?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.