Kiwi Crate (Ages 5-8)
Is This The Right KiwiCo Box For My Family?
We have been receiving Kiwi Crate for a few years now and throughout that time my daughter has learned a lot and had so much fun creating with this subscription!
Since KiwiCo has so many different lines to choose from, I figured I would share our experience so you can decide if this is the right crate for your child!
About Kiwi Crate
The Subscription Box: Kiwi Crate
The Cost: $19.95 per month + free shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
The Products: Crafts and DIY projects for kids, with supplemental learning kits, booklets, and activities. Crates are filled with materials and inspiration to encourage creativity and curiosity. Projects cover a number of developmental areas through art, science, and imaginative play.
Ships to: The U.S. for free, Canada for $3.95 per month, and worldwide from $4.95-$6.95.
Interested in the monthly box? Check out our past reviews here.
Pros & Cons
The Pros
- There is a great range of engaging projects with many different styles of crafts and art projects.
- The concepts explored also range and explore various STEAM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Art/Math) concepts and problem-solving.
- There are a lot of great extras in the Kiwi Explore! magazine to take advantage of.
- This box would be great as part of a homeschool curriculum as each box feels like a complete lesson.
- The boxes are well-organized, the materials are high-quality, and the instructions are clear and easy to follow.
- They provide all of the materials for you, it's rare to need anything from home for these.
- Some projects can be easily adapted for younger children with some assistance from the adult, but older kids should have no problem completing these mostly independently.
The Cons
- These boxes are pretty jam-packed and some can take quite a bit of time.
- Adult assistance might be necessary to help facilitate the learning for the younger end of this age range.
Is It Worth It?
- Yes, this box is so well-rounded with a great mix of educational and fun activities that my daughter has enjoyed!
I'd Recommend This If
- You have a child in this age range that enjoys working with their hands to create and craft.
- You are looking to engage your child with educational materials.
- You want to engage your child without doing a ton of planning.
How Does it Work?
Each month you'll receive a box delivered to your door containing all of the high-quality materials you'll need for that month's crafts inside (with the exception of water or other household items). Crates are assigned based on your history so that you never receive the same crate twice.
What's in Each Box?
The materials you will receive each month will depend on the project you receive, but each box will include an instruction booklet with a sticker on the back and a Kiwi Explore! magazine full of educational information. In your first crate, you will receive a map that you can add your sticker to. Each box also has a page that you can access through your account, which includes some fun extras related to your projects.
1 of 8
How Will I Know What To Do?
They include an entire booklet dedicated to the instructions for this project. There is a materials checklist at the front, and if there is more than one component, they break it down into sections which makes these really easy to follow. The directions include illustrations and little boxes throughout that explain the science or engineering concepts explore and even some questions that get kids thinking about the task at hand.
1 of 9
What Makes It Educational And Engaging?
While the projects themselves are a lot of fun, this Kiwi Explore! magazine is what really gets kids engaged from the start with a letter from Steve the Kiwi, and a cute comic story that relates to the month's project. There are also pages of educational information that help children explore the concepts further and often see real-life applications of them. The best part of these is that there are also some pen to paper activities that can further engage your child!
1 of 6
Do I Need Anything From Home?
No! They really do provide everything for you, and it is so neatly organized making it easy to find the pieces you need. Everything fits together easily; often times there will be spots marked where you need to place adhesive pieces, and other helpful details to ensure a successful build. They even include batteries if your project requires them, which is very convenient!
1 of 5
What Types Of Concepts Will do We Explore?
We have done such a great range of projects with this box. We have explored coral reefs, ponds, puppet engineering, tension, air, space, and even physics! You never know what you'll learn next with this box which is what makes it feel like such a well-rounded experience - there's a little bit of everything!
1 of 3
Engaging Education
Let's check out some of these engaging educational projects that we've explored! With our Exploring Stars box, we made our own constellation lantern and a solar spinner to go along with it which was such a fun visual for how Earth revolves around the sun. My daughter thought it was so cool when we created our own tabletop Air Hockey game by just using balloons, but one of the projects she was most inspired by was the Push and Pull Toys project where we explored the concept of tension. We made push puppets and then we raced turtles that we made by exploring the effects of pulling. It was a great way to learn and play all at once!
1 of 3
Jam-Packed Boxes
I mentioned that some of these boxes have been pretty packed full of activities. There are a few examples that stand out that provided a ton of fun for us! One of our favorite projects was the Treasure Hunt crate which allowed us to take part in every aspect of the treasure hunt from building the treasure chest, embossing our own coins, and even drawing a treasure map. My kids actually still use this treasure chest all the time! Another box where the fun just kept going was the Surface Tension box. This was a box where there was so much to do that all of my kids got to join in and take part. My daughter also had a lot of fun with the Physics Carnival. She made her own stamps and stamped a carnival scene, made a balancing acrobat, a dancing tumbler, and even constructed a catapult. All activities that she could use for another physics carnival any time!
Questions You May Have
Can I use this with multiple children?
- Since there are at least two projects in this box, you could definitely use it with two children, if they don't mind sharing and working together! Some boxes are more suited to sharing than others though, so this may not be the case every month. You can always preview your box by going under your account and checking your subscriptions!
Are the projects engaging even though they are educational?
- Yes! This box is one of the better boxes as far as that goes because every project is based on an educational concept, and they explore it in different ways making it appropriate for any type of learner. There is also the magazine that helps to reinforce the concepts through real-life applications.
How hands-on are these projects?
- Some projects require a bit of assembly before they are ready to use and play with, while some projects you are learning as you create and craft. Your child will be actively learning and working with their hands throughout most of the box, so it's great for kids who bore easily!
Will this work if my child is younger than the intended age?
- Some projects are simple enough for younger children to participate in, while others would require some adult assistance in order for them to complete them. This just depends on your comfort level and how willing to get involved you are! I did use this with my daughter when she was a preschooler and now that she can read on her own, I do find that she is much more engaged and it feels so age-appropriate for her now that she is 6-years-old!
How much work is in it for me?
- There is no planning necessary on your part, but some supervision and occasional assistance may be needed. If your child is not yet reading, they may need additional help since there is a lot of material to read through. Otherwise, the box is pretty open and go!
How long does each box take?
- The amount of time it takes per box really differs, but typically the activity requires about 45 minutes. Then children can spend longer tinkering with their project and operating it after they are finished, so this time could extend for longer depending on their interest and creativity!
Is everything I need in the box?
- Yes, everything you need (with the exception of a few things from home, like water or scissors) is included in the box.
The Verdict
I have done a lot of KiwiCo reviews over the years, and Kiwi Crate always feels like such a well-rounded and complete educational experience. Not only are the projects fun and educational, but they include the Kiwi Explore! magazine which gives us interesting real-life applications of the concepts and it also provides some pen to paper activities and other fun extras to go along with the project. There really is so much to do, which is what makes this box a little bit time-consuming, but I consider that a good thing since your child will be actively engaged and learning the entire time! Kiwi Crate boxes are well organized, the instructions are clear easy to follow, the materials are high-quality, and the range of concepts and types of projects is broad. This is one of those boxes where I have to think, what more could I want from this box? I do highly recommend looking into a Kiwi Crate subscription if any of this appeals to you!
If this isn't the monthly subscription box for you, check out some of the other KiwiCo boxes for different age groups:
- Panda Crate for 0-24-month-olds,
- Koala Crate for 2-4-year-olds,
- Atlas Crate for 6-11-year-olds,
- Tinker Crate and Doodle Crate for 9-16+-year-olds,
- Eureka Crate and Maker Crate for ages 14 and up.
What do you think of Kiwi 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.