Your Panda Crate Review
MSA Insiders Share Their Experiences With This Box For Ages 0-24 Months
We're so excited to share this post with you!
For this latest installment of MSA Insider Reviews, we partnered with KiwiCo to send a small group of Insiders a free Panda Crate box in exchange for their feedback and photos.
All of our reviewers had children of different ages under 2 years old, so we're able to show you a nice cross section of the Panda Crate experience. You can see what it's like to subscribe to this box for the long term, and how it changes as a child's interests and developmental milestones change with time!
What Is Panda Crate?
Panda Crate is a subscription box by KiwiCo that is specifically developed for babies and toddlers aged 0-24 months. This box ships every other month, and every delivery is expertly curated with toys and activities targeting developmental milestones for your child's age. They also include information for parents and ideas for games and ways to play with your child, to best engage with their current developmental milestones.
How much does Panda Crate cost?
Panda Crate starts at $39.90 per box (billed as $19.95 per month), with discounts available if you buy prepaid subscriptions.
They have two different billing options:
- Auto-renew subscriptions, which bill you regularly until you cancel
- Termed subscriptions, which are billed once and do not renew
The 3 boxes (6 months) plan is their most popular, which is billed as $110 non-renewable or $111 every 6 months, which makes it about $37 per crate.
Are there any add-ons?
Yes! For an additional $9.95 per crate, you can also choose to receive a hand-picked book to read with your child with each crate.
KiwiCo also has a shop where you can buy some individual crates and other gifts and activities.
Can I give Panda Crate as a gift?
Yes! Select the "is this is gift?" checkbox in checkout after you add your recipient's shipping address. After checking that box, you can optionally choose to ship the first box to yourself (if you'd like to wrap it and give the gift in person).
If you're buying as a gift, you'll need some additional info: the child's name birth month and year, parent's name, and the parent's email address (so they can get access to the online content that comes with every box).
Alternatively, you can buy a digital gift card here and let your gift recipient handle the sign up details.
"Bond With Me" Box
Age: 1 Week
1 of 9
My son is 1 week old. The Panda Crate that I received was carefully curated with age appropriate items that we can use now and in the upcoming months.
The swaddle blanket was perfect and put to use immediately for his nap! Additionally, we will definitely put the tummy time mirror to good use really soon. He's going to love the tummy time mirror and being able to see himself.
Submitted by Leisha D
Age: 2 Months
1 of 6
The items were all super unique, high quality, and tailored specifically to my daughter's age. Every single thing in this crate was useful, and ultimately led to the goal of bonding with my baby! The Milestone Pillow with Milestone Cards was my personal favorite item. Such a cute way to capture monthly memories! I especially love that the back of each card lets you record the current height/weight/milestones/interests of baby- definitely a keepsake we will enjoy looking back on.
It's tough trying to engage and entertain a 2 month old; there isn't much they are able to do at this stage (or so I thought!). The tummy time mirror and black & white cards were perfect stimulation for my baby. She is fascinated by the high contrast images and colors- I love watching her facial expressions as she explores these toys. The "Beyond the Crate Cards" gave me four new activities to help connect and bond with my baby. The Wonder magazine taught me so much about babies and stress and understanding different baby cues. Josie is starting to be more alert these days (not just sleeping and eating anymore!), so I'm thankful that this crate gave me many new ways to engage with her during awake time.
Josie LOVED the black and white cards. She smiles and laughs every time she sees them, and could stare at them all day without getting bored. She also loves the "Tour Guide" activity where we walk around the house together as I point out and name different objects.
I am so impressed with how useful and informative everything in this crate was. Similar items on Amazon cost way more than the price of this Panda Crate, so it is definitely worth the money, too!
Submitted by Courtney W
"Sense With Me" Box
Age: 4 Months
1 of 8
Poppy’s Colorful World Story Book: This was such a great book for this age range. We are really working to read to our baby every day, but it can be hard to find books that really feel like they are for such young babies. I know all reading is good, but this book was extra fun because it was focused on the pictures AND the color change when adding water (and I got to sneak some reading in there too). We played with this using a spray bottle I usually use for watering plants, but it worked perfectly with this and our little one lit up when the colors appeared. Nice and soft as well so worries when the baby wants to grab the pages. Similar items retail for $5.99.
Knot Ball: This was way more high-quality than I was expecting. Super soft and honestly a really elegant looking baby toy if that is possible? Like this would actually look great sitting in a bowl on your coffee table if you want to keep it somewhere handy. Multi-functional baby toys for the win! On top of being super soft I really liked the very muted rattle/jingle coming from inside the ball. It is plenty to stimulate your little one without driving you nuts. It is somewhat large, so our little guy will need more time to grow into fully handling this on his own, but he liked touching it and I know we will be keeping this one around for a while. I can already imagine him chewing on this in a few more months. I’d say this is my favorite item in the box. Similar items retail for $15.98 (and up for larger sizes).
Soft Rattle Blocks: This set of four blocks has two styles of blocks – one pair crinkles and the other pair rattles. I think they are super cute, once again I wouldn’t mind having these out around the house and really engaging. The rattle is nice and soft, the crinkling is a bit louder, but our guy loved these. They were smaller than the know so he had an easier time with them. Super soft and once again safe for chewing or slobbering on. Great set of blocks, we might share two with our neighbor who also has a son around the same age. Similar items retail for $11.99.
Crinkle Toy Tag: This adorable crinkly panda was by far Luca’s favorite from the box. He could easily grab it and liked the large black and white shapes (the panda) as well as the colorful tags. We played with this one the most during the week for sure. The panda crinkles so it was extra stimulating for him to play with. 100% cotton so it should be easy to care for as well. Similar items retail for $9.99.
Teething Ring: This is once again adorable and was highly enjoyed by our guy. The food grade silicone made me feel safe and I even think I can toss it in the dishwasher when I need to so long as I don’t use the heated water and drying. Easy and functional – what’s not to love? I love that is has the different textures between the smooth spheres to the more structural shapes in between. The ring is made out of wood too, so safe for baby all around. I think we will be hanging onto this one for a long time! Similar items retail for $24.99.
Overall Impression: For a value of nearly $70 of super stylish and functional toys that our guy loved I think this is a great value at $39.90. I can 100% say I never had toys prior to this box that I thought, “Hey why not leave that sitting out, it looks great!” I have a few now and more importantly they were well received by Luca. One of my favorite items was the Beyond the Crate cards, full of exercises for us to try at home. This time of growth and development is so important and it can be overwhelming to try to remember to do it all, but these little cards were so great. They took important types of play and discovery and gave easy, real life examples of how to do them at home with things you already have on hand like tea packets or tissue paper. I would definitely purchase this again or gift for a new mom.
Submitted by Jessica-Jean C
Age: 6 Months
1 of 4
The variety of items that touched on several stages of growth my baby is going through.
I loved the variety of toys. My daughter is really into crinkly things so it's nice to have actual, cute toys she can play with instead of an empty wipes wrapper. She absolutely LOVED the crinkle panda. She enjoyed crumpling it to hear the noise and chewing on the taggies. Her second favorite was the teething ball. It was eye catching, easy to grab, and great with teething.
Panda Crate was a fun mix of toys perfectly geared to my baby's age and milestones. It was also so helpful to have the guide book with hints about teething and the little cards to tell you about each product and expand on activities based on the senses.
Submitted by Jessie C
"Explore With Me" Box
Age: 10 Months
1 of 8
He loved the tissue Panda, that’s his favorite, and it keeps him away from his wipes!
Submitted by Berenice O
Age: 11 Months
1 of 5
I was immediately impressed by how all of the materials and items in the box felt high in quality and well designed. Everything was beautifully put together and all of the items felt purposeful and substantial. The toys all had great details, such as the panda tissue box being weighted, and the bead maze having suction feet at the bottom.
The addition of the cards that explain the developmental purpose of each item, as well as different activity ideas, is a thoughtful touch. Some of suggestions for play were not things I would have come up with on my own, and I found myself playing with my daughter in different ways because of them. Based on my experience with this box, it's easy to see how Panda Crate stimulates young children and helps them see the world in new ways.
The biggest hit with my 11 month old was the coin box puzzle, which Panda Crate says helps with practicing problem solving and hand eye coordination. She really enjoyed the feel of the wooden coins and loved putting them in the box through the circular opening and taking them out again. The fact that there's another "level of difficulty" with the addition of the slot opening means this toy will be enjoyed for a while!
Submitted by Casey D
"Count With Me" Box
Age: 13 Months
1 of 7
From Dad: "I most liked the look of curiosity on my child's face while exploring the toys." From Mom: "I most liked the "count with me" cards because of the large print and high contrast on one side with the sensory representation of the number on the other side."
Panda Crate helped entertained my child because these toys were much different than anything we already had here at home so they captured and kept his attention for longer. I've been wanting to get a set of the stacking cups and I love that Panda Crate includes cards explaining the different ways that the stacking cups can be used such as filling them up and pouring the contents out for fine motor skills.
My child's favorite was a tie between the peg board puzzle and the stacking cups. I believe my child most liked the surprise panda (the smallest cup in the set of nesting cups).
Thank you so much to My Subscription Addiction and to KiwiCo. We were very impressed with this box!
Submitted by Shaun F
Age: 18 Months
1 of 7
The quality is amazing and it was great to see him interact and have fun while learning!
Rhett loved looking at the book and pointing to the balloons and calling them balls. He went between looking at it and having his cousin, Josiah, help read along with him. His favorite toy would have to be the stacking cups. They spent a long time stacking them and then Rhett would laugh and knock them over and then try to stack them back in the correct order. They would then flip them over and stack them inside each other. He even used the round shapes from the wood block puzzle and fit those inside the cups as well. He liked the counting cards and how the opposite side had textures to touch! He loved playing with all of the toys and it was fun to help him learn to count and say the numbers as he played. The toys are very nice quality and make learning fun.
His second favorite was the book. It was sweet watching him read it and point to the different animals and shapes and have his cousin help read it to him.
The box was packaged nicely and the toys are great quality and very educational while being fun and age appropriate. Definitely recommend this sub and will be looking into older age group boxes from them as well.
Submitted by Shannon E
"Look With Me" Box
Age: 21 Months
1 of 2
My daughter and I both loved the spin and slide board. She takes it every where with her now, and loves trying to put each of the pieces together!
Submitted by Carrie J
Thank you to MSA Insiders for participating! We loved learning how all of the kids reacted to the different items in Panda Crate!
Learn More
Curious to learn more? You can read all of our Panda Crate Reviews for even more info, and don't forget to check out the latest KiwiCo coupons before you sign up!
And, don't forget to check out KiwiCo's other STEM subscription boxes for older children, too:
- Koala Crate for ages 2-4 to play and learn
- Kiwi Crate offers science and art activities for ages 5-8
- Atlas Crate focuses on geography and culture for ages 6-11
- Doodle Crate is for aspiring artists ages 9 to 16+
- Tinker Crate for engineering-inspired builds for ages 9-16+
- Eureka Crate and Maker Crate for ages 14 to 104
Check out all of our KiwiCo reviews to learn more. All of their boxes ship free to the US!
PS: You can still sign up for MSA Insiders here, and you'll be considered for any future review assignments.
Have you tried Panda Crate? What did you think?
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