Kiwi Crate Review & Coupon – Ice Lab

January’s Kiwi Crate was a seasonally-appropriate collection of ice themed experiments, the Ice Lab!  Kiwi Crate is a kids’ craft and activity subscription and it comes with everything you need to complete two great projects, usually a pair of crafts — this month’s crate was a bit unusual, as the second main activity was not a craft, but a set of experiments to perform.  This box is geared for ages 3-7, and the experiments were age-appropriate.   Kiwi Crate is the most popular craft and activity subscription box for kids.

Kiwi Crate includes all necessary supplies for the featured activities, plus explore! magazine.  You really need very little from home to do the crafts. Usually, you only need a pair of scissors (which is sent to you with a new subscription!), but often the pieces are pre-cut.  The crate includes self-adhesive items or glue/glue dots if needed for the crafts.  This crate needed some ice from your home, but it included a tray to make it in!

Each issue of explore! magazine  features a short comic, experiments and puzzles or picture or word find type games.  My son likes to complete the explore! activities cover-to-cover before proceeding to the crafts.

Our daughter sneaks the book out first and reads the entire thing.

Every issue of explore! has a comic featuring Steve and his pals going on an adventure that fits this month’s theme. It has additional information and crafts and activities you can complete with household supplies to keep the fun going.

explore! has read, draw, learn, explore, eat, and make designated activities.   Each is an extension on the theme of the box and include factoids, drawing activities, and even recipes.   For parents, they are also a great way to keep your child entertained while you peruse the contents of the box and take a peek at the instructions for the crafts (it only takes a peek — they are always very clear and simple)!

The learn section of the book focused on ice, snow, and crystals of all kinds.

There’s always a cut out craft to make at the end of the booklet, too!  This edition had paper snowflake templates — one was shaped like Steve the Kiwi!

As always, the box included a theme-specific Steve sticker.  Our sticker poster is getting very full!

The instruction booklet folds out, so you can lay it on the table.  It is similar to the “blue print” used in Tinker Crate, the engineering-themed box Kiwi produces for slightly older kids.  The sheet states the contents of the crate and shows the difficulty, messiness, and parental involvement required for each of the two main projects.

The instructions for the two main crafts.  As always, the two crafts were thematically related but stressed different creative aptitudes.  One is usually very mechanical and process oriented, the other is more artistic or crafty.

The box included a series of experiments to conduct with ice and crystals.  Dye was included for use in both the experiments and for decorating the paper snowflakes.  Much of the kit was provided for use in the ice lab activities.

The snowflake decorating used Epsom salt solution as a painting medium.

We went very light on the dye, so even the messiest children could participate (apparently while still wearing breakfast).

The solution thickened a bit, making it easier to see where we had painted.

Crystals formed as it dried, leaving our snowflakes looking jagged and frozen.

Six experiments explore the concepts of buoyancy and freezing point using ice cubes, salt, and food coloring.

One of the make activities, explore!‘s do-it-yourself section, had us growing salt crystals out of a solution.

The main experiment included on the blueprint sheet was a comparison of the relative density of salt and fresh water.  The blue food coloring sank in cold fresh water, while the red food coloring floated atop the cold salt water.  Kiwi Crate provided some great explanations of the concepts behind the phenomena observed, all explained in a way that is age-targeted.

The dye droppers needed to be cut at the top — once open they were easy for our five year old to apply.

Our nascent salt tunnels, which made cool tie-dye patterns on the ice.

We always have a blast with Kiwi Crate.  There is always lots to learn in the crates, but this one was particularly scientific in flavor.  Our kids love Kiwi Crate because it is the best box in the Kiwi family for them both to do (they are five and seven).  The activities and instructions are generally very simple, but the kit always includes some factoids and extension activities that keep our older child interested.

Visit Kiwi Crate to subscribe or to find out more about this fantastic kids’ craft subscription box! Use coupon code MS30 to save 30% on your first box of Kiwi Crate (or KiwiCo family subscriptions Tinker Crate, Koala Crate, and Doodle Crate ).