Cricket Crate is the newest member of the KiwiCo family that’s specifically curated for babies 0-36 months old. Cricket Crate aims to lay the foundation for lifelong learning through educational toys, books and other baby essentials delivered to your child each month. The subscription costs $19.95 per month, just like the other crates from KiwiCo.
This month’s all about Kitchen Play.
Note: Cricket Crate is available in three versions — the Newborn Pack is designed for babies of around 0-3 months old. It comprises a storybook, baby-friendly toy, and some reading for parents that highlights developmental milestones and other items of interest. This review covers the version designed for 24-36-month-old kids, which started shipping in November 2017. They are also launching an intermediate version for kids ages 4-23 months. Look for that to be available soon!
DEAL: Use this link to save 30% on your first month of Tadpole Crate! Cricket Crate also offers a deluxe version with a board book that matches the theme – for a limited time, the upgrade is free!
Wonder Magazine
Wonder Magazine is full of practical advice and developmentally appropriate bonding tips great for new and veteran moms, dads, and other caregivers!
There’s a parenting advice column and a brief overview of the magazine’s contents…
…as well as tips for play time!
All of the KiwiCo family of boxes strive to mix educational content with fun activities. Much of the learning is geared toward developing basic skills like motor coordination. There is lots of great info for parents to read — it really adds some insight into the growth your child is experiencing.
Because the target age for Cricket Crate is so young, the focus is all on providing information and support for parents, and the activities are geared toward providing quality bonding time between baby and parent.
There were also activity suggestions for some real-world adventures to have with your child, complete with ideas for tying in the lessons from the Crate activity. This month, they even included a recipe for a birthday salad!
Cricket Crate Materials
Everything in my box!
Play Stove Set. The first activity is all about imaginative play using the stove set included in the box. It helps improve kids’ creative thinking skills.
The play stove set is composed of toy kitchen equipment and tools, including a stove with wooden knobs that can be turned, wooden ladle and spatula, and a pot. These materials are non-toxic and child-friendly.
DIY Dough. The next activity is about making dough. I like that there are actual pictures for visual reference and the steps are really easy to follow. The activity helps improve arm and shoulder movements, hand-eye coordination, early measurement skills, and even the kids’ vision and smell.
Ingredients for the dough were properly labeled and stored in easy-open foil packs. We received a dough stabilizer, a dough liquid which is packed in a plastic bottle with a cap, dough oil, and dough powder.
Cricket Crate Bookmark & Board Book (Bonus Upgrade!)
Another card contains a mixed-up salad recipe, which is composed of peaches, cherries, and grapes. Slicing the fruits can be done by the adults, while kids can help in mixing the fruits together.
This month, we received a board book entitled Cricket’s Birthday Surprise.
The pages are thick and the texts are not lengthy. Perfect for kids who are just new to reading or being read to. The illustrations are really pretty!
Some words are bold and italicized for emphasis. I like that the illustrations are not overpowering the text and hues used were not too striking.
Cricket Crate Activities
Here’s my son trying out the dough making activity! First, he added all the ingredients into a small mixing bowl.
Once done, he mixed them all together. My son didn’t want to use his hands at this point.
Here, I let him use a spoon to mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, it’s less messy.
In between mixing the dough, we read the board book!
Time to get our hands on the dough!
He then decided that it was time to cook the dough. He had lots of fun with the play stove! If you’re skeptical because you already have a play kitchen, let me tell you how ridiculously excited my little guy was for this box – and our play kitchen is in the same room!
He used the wooden play utensils to mix the dough as he continued to play pretend cooking. Good thing the dough wasn’t too sticky!
This activity also helps kids understand the difference between what is real and what is make-believe.
My little chef in action!
The knob on the stove is actually a great way to teach them what a stove looks like when the fire is on so that they know that they need to be very careful about the real thing.
We love Kiwi family boxes, and Cricket Crate is not an exception. This month’s kitchen play themed box was a fun way of introducing our son to how things work in the kitchen. They even included easy to follow recipes, and we’re excited to try them out too. Meanwhile, activity cards are always loaded with useful information including playing tips and ideas! As experienced parents, we can safely say we could have really used monthly goodies and information delivered to us for any of our three kids. This subscription would make a really great gift!
What do you think of this month’s Cricket Crate?
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