Koala Crate is the toddler subscription box offering from KiwiCo, featuring 2-3 fun DIY projects designed for hands-on learning and fun every month! KiwiCo offers boxes for different age groups and this is a review of the $19.95 a month Koala Crate, for Pre-K kids ages 2-4.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Opening The Box
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Koala Crate's yellow box arrived containing the usual: an instruction booklet for 3 projects with all the needed supplies included, and an Imagine! magazine. My four-and-a-half-year-old daughter is really interested in space right now. I think it began with how visible the moon can be from her bedroom window. Our family talks about the moon and space quite a bit as a result. So we were thrilled for some space-theme crafts here—the perfect convergence of two interests!
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Here's What's Inside
Instruction Booklet
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In every Koala Crate box is a tri-fold pamphlet that gives instructions for the three activities. They provide both images and text so that the child can follow along with their adult helper. They also give some bonus project ideas on the back, which you can do with your own supplies at home.
Activity Booklet
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Koala Crate also includes a booklet that starts with a short story about three familiar animal characters—including a koala, of course. The booklet gives additional age-appropriate craft ideas, has some games to play (like mazes and matching games), and offers some on-theme book suggestions to look for at the library.
Glowing Moon
The first project was ranked high on the "messy scale," but the messy projects in Koala Crate tend to be the most engaging for my kiddo. She has a keen sense of focus on things that interest her, so we dove right in to making a glowing moon model.
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The project requires using air-dry clay that you mold around a plastic ornament, stamp craters into, and then sponge-paint with glow paint. All the steps of this project (short of tying the string in a knot) were completely manageable for my daughter to do herself. Once the glow paint dried, we "charged it" against a light bulb, then turned the lights off to see it glow. I would call the glow mild at best—you couldn't see it glowing from across the room. But it did still excite my daughter, who has never seen that technology before.
Meteor Toss
It's not uncommon for Koala Crate to include a project that's lower-effort and turns into a game. That's the case here.
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For this one, we simply wrapped pieces of organza around small balls, then used tiny rubber bands to hold them on. Voila—we created "meteors," and with them, we played a few versions of a tossing game, aiming toward space-themed targets.
Galaxy Bottle
Finally, we created a glitter and pompon filled bottle with small confetti space objects with which we would later play an I Spy game.
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I can see this project getting messy with a younger or distracted child, but my daughter had no problem adding the pompons, glitter, and confetti to the bottle without spills. I only say this to point out that it isn't necessarily a very messy project. She next added a tube of glycerin in, and filled the tube up with warm water. The final step was to glue the screw cap on, then shake to combine the water and glycerin. I'm not sure if this is the intended end result, but our water became quite cloudy. It is less beautiful visually but it didn't hinder the game—which involves using the spinner to take turns finding each gold confetti shape—whatsoever.
Verdict
This Starry Night themed Koala Crate box came with perfect timing for my child's "space moment." She had fun crafting three projects with a celestial theme. Our favorite project was the moon model, and while the end product wasn't as glowy as we were expecting, it's still a cool-looking decoration for my daughter's room.
Value - Was This Box Worth It?
The Cost: $19.95 a month + free US shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
Value Breakdown: Koala Crate costs $19.95 per month, meaning each of the three projects and activities breaks down to $6.65. As always, this feels so worth it to me.
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Other Things You Should Know
Can I still get this box if I sign up today? From KiwiCo:
Crates are assigned each month based on availability and your crate history – not all subscribers receive the same theme each month
What do you think of this month's Koala Crate?
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