Tinker Crate is a subscription box for kids and tweens ages 9-14 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.
This review is of KiwiCo's Tinker Crate (for ages 9-14), which costs $19.95 per month.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
First Impressions
My kids always enjoy building things that they can race or play with so I knew this rubberband car would be a fun one for them!
What's Inside This Box
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Our Tinker Zine is full of educational information related to our project. This month there were some extra tips for experimenting with our race car.
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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.
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Our race car pieces were made of sturdy wood and a paper cover, while the assembly pieces were all plastic. There were also some balloons, foam pieces, rubber bands, and checkered washi tape.
Part A: Build the Front Frame
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First, my son began assembling the front frame. He used the bolts and spacers to connect the wooden pieces together and then slid the paper piece over the top of it.
Part B: Build the Back Frame
We followed pretty much the same steps to assemble the back frame.
Part C: Assemble the Frame
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Next, we connected the front frame and the back frame with more plastic screws.
Part D: Add the Wheels
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For the wheels, we cut the tops and bottoms off two balloons and then slipped one around each of the large wheel edges before attaching them to the car.
Part E: Time to Race
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The final step was to add our rubber band and wind up the car.
Here is our finished car. KiwiCo also included some smaller wheels so that we can experiment with different models later on.
Here it is in action. My son wanted to race it against some of the pullback cars we had. He was excited to lay out the racing tape for our finish line!
Sorry for the blurry photo, but you can see the kids got into racing and had some fun with our new car!
Value - Was This Box Worth It?
The Cost: $19.95
This race car was easy to assemble and fun to play with! I loved that they included some tape for us to use and some extra pieces to experiment with, but I do still wish there was just a bit more to this box.
Key Takeaways
This box was well-organized with an easy-to-build race car that my kids have had a lot of fun with! Another great project that got them all engaged and playing!
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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.
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