Koala Crate Review & Coupons – Storytelling Box

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Koala Crate November 2015 box

Koala Crate is a monthly subscription box from KiwiCo for preschoolers ages 3 to 4.  Koala Crate was created to encourage hands-on learning and fun.  The activities are designed to be developmentally appropriate and enriching while also engaging, fun, and universally appealing.

Koala Crate November 2015 review

This month’s Koala Crate theme was storytime!  Like every Koala Crate, this box comes with a variety of supplies to create a project, perform activities, and fun games, all geared for preschool.  Because the box is targeted to a younger audience than the other boxes in the Kiwi family, parts are usually self-adhesive and pre-cut or scored.

Koala Crate November 2015 books
There are two books that will come in your Koala Crate.  Imagine! magazine is “a play and learn magazine” made for you and your preschooler to explore together. My son loves it!  I like that the instruction booklet is separate from imagine!, so you can preview the activity while your child works on the activities in the booklet.

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There’s a fun story to help introduce your child to the theme of the box.  The same group of friendly characters is featured each month, and the familiar faces encourage engagement.  We get the box for our four year old, but our six year old usually helps him read through the story, so it’s fun for everyone! The number of activities has been pared down bit.  The level seems appropriate for the target audience of 3 to 4 year olds.  Some help is needed with reading the story and the instructions for each activity, but our four year old can complete the activities unassisted.

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The activities are geared to preschool kids. There is the comic, followed by a coloring page – new this month. We’ve been encouraging our child to color more, as it assists in pre-writing skills.

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 Our four year old loved doing the puzzles, and he would always complete Imagine! cover-to-cover.   The new format, however, has replaced the games and puzzles (tracing, matching, picture finds, and word recognition) with storytelling and play-acting activities.  

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The substitute activities may be a product of the theme for the month — hopefully the traditional activities find their way back into future editions, as my son loves those.  The booklet ends, as the Kiwi Crate’s magazine usually does, with a a do-it-yourself craft (this month was bookmarks).


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The second booklet is the instructions & inspiration book. This gives an overview of all the items in the crate, the 3 primary activities, and the messiness level and required grownup assistance needed. Every activity tells you the required materials, engagement questions to ask your child, step by step instructions, and play ideas.  Even though most crafts are self-explanatory, they have helpful illustrations and clear instructions, so it’s hard to go wrong.

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puppet theater. Here are all the pieces for the mini-theater.  There were actually multiple scenes included with the set (the desert island was one of four). Koala Crate November 2015 IMG_4284

The scenes attach to the dry-erase backstop with a magnet, allowing for quick scene changes.  The curtain can even be raised and lowered, locking into either position.

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dress-up puppets. The Crate included two sheets of magnets, as well as sticks to mount them on.

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The stickers had several characters, lots of clothes, and some additional scenery and props.

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abc card games. There was also a versatile alphabet recognition game that used the dry-erase board from the stage.  The deck of cards has the letters of the alphabet on one side, and words beginning the letter on the other.  Kids are challenged to write the upper and lower case forms of the letter.  Modifications of the game were provided adjust it to the appropriate level for your child — from simple letter recognition and practice, to spelling and phonetics exercises in which your child has to come up with words beginning with the chosen letter.

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Practicing our letter K and drawing a beautiful kite.Koala Crate November 2015 storytelling

The dry-erase board made the entire backdrop magnet-friendly, allowing us to decorate the scene with additional characters and props.  The stick contraption was great for allowing movement of characters without having to stick your hand into the scene.  This craft is a great rainy-day activity — after the kids put it together, they can write scripts, act out plays, and even film some skits! Any chance to get their hands on an iPhone, they take!

Koala Crate is the member of  the KiwiCo family geared toward the youngest audience.  It is great for preschoolers, as it relies heavily on shape, color, and pattern recognition and other pre-reading skills.  The kids can enjoy a craft element, a game, and several fun activities in the Imagine! booklet.  Although my son is almost 5 this is the member of the KiwiCo family he feels most comfortable with.

Visit Koala Crate to subscribe or find out more!  Use code HELLO50 to save 50%on your first box!

The Subscription: Koala Crate
The Description: Koala Crate sparks kids’ natural creativity and curiosity while saving time for busy parents. Every crate includes all the materials and inspiration for projects related to a theme such as colors, transportation or safari. Crates are designed to give preschoolers exposure to new materials and new concepts that encourage hands-on learning and fun. Ages 3 to 4!
The Price: $19.95 per month

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