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 "Hydraulic Walker" Review
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Our Tinker Zine is full of information about all different types of hydraulics. I love the way they make sure to include real-life applications of the concepts we are exploring! They also include some great further reading suggestions for us.
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The directions for our project come on a separate sheet with illustrated steps broken into different sections. They always include helpful troubleshooting information as well.
They also included this page of helpful tips for us.
Part A: Prepare the Parts
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The first step was to prepare the parts. We received several wooden pieces, some foam adhesive, different-sized syringes, some springs, plastic nuts and bolts, and some rubber tubing.
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My daughter added the foam pieces to the wooden body pieces while I added the springs to our small syringes.
Part B: Build the Body
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Next, she connected a medium syringe between the front and back body pieces using the wooden guide rectangles and plastic nuts and bolts.
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Then it was time to get our rubber tubing and syringes filled with water. We had to be careful to get all of the air bubbles out. After we got our tube filled with water we connected it to the syringe on our body.
Part C: Construct the Head
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Now it was time to work on our head. They provided pieces to make a triceratops, ankylosaurus, or to create our own creature. I opted for the ankylosaurus!
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Attaching the head was a matter of adding a medium syringe to our body with lots of guides in place and several nuts and bolts to hold it all together.
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Then we connected our tubing and it allowed our head to push out from the body when we pushed the water in.
Part D: Add the Belly and Part E: Add the Finishing Touches
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Next, we added the rest of the body pieces using the sticky foam. We had feet, a body, and a tail using the guides and more nuts and bolts to hold them into place. We also connected our other tube and syringe in the same way we did for the head. This time our syringe moved the body up and down instead of forward.
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Here is our finished walker with two syringes to control him with. One moves him forward and one moves him up and down. He is very slow-moving and it was a little tricky to get him going (there's a learning curve as to which one to push in first and how long to hold it), but he did indeed walk for us!
Here you can see him in action! We can also get him to move backward if we reverse the order we push the syringes in.
Verdict: This was a fun Tinker Crate experiment this month! My kids loved that we made an ankylosaurus and while he was a little complicated to put together (lots of parts and steps and it took a little work to make sure we got rid of all the air bubbles), in the end, he turned out to be pretty simple with just two syringes to operate him with. He moves really slow, but he does move and it was a fun way to explore the idea of hydraulics! The project was well organized, the directions were clear and detailed, and most importantly we learned a little something while having fun! This box was another winner!
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!
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