Koala Crate is a monthly subscription box from KiwiCo for preschoolers ages 3 to 5. It is educational and always hands-on. The activities are designed to be developmentally appropriate and enriching while also keeping it engaging, fun, and universally appealing.
DEAL: Use this link to save 30% on your first month of Koala Crate! (or any of the KiwiCo family subscriptions – use this page to find the best box for your little one!).
This month’s Koala Crate theme was WIND! As always, the box comes with all the supplies needed to create a trio of fun, age-appropriate crafts — plus it has a magazine with extra games and activities!
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 the magazine, so you can preview the activity while your child works on the activities in the booklet.
Imagine! Magazine
Imagine! magazine contains information relevant to the theme so your child learns a bit about the topic while having fun with the craft and play activities. The information is provided in an age-appropriate format and always feels like a game, not schoolwork.
A fun story introduces your child to the theme of the box. The same group of friendly characters is featured each month, and the familiar faces encourage engagement.
Your kids will always learn a little bit about the top beyond the projects, as imagine! provides some background – at least enough to provide some context and tie the cartoon in with the projects.
My son wasted no time and started to work on the tangled kites on-page activity.
In addition to the main projects, there are several games and activities in imagine! magazine. Activities usually include tracing, matching, picture finds, or word recognition games.
The kids tried to find the hidden things in the windy scene!
Everything in the crate!
Koala Crate Crafts
The instruction booklet is intended for the adult helper and gives detailed instructions for the activity.
It lists all the supplies, the 3 primary activities, the messiness level, and any grownup assistance needed. They’ve recently added some additional symbols denoting the developmental skills practiced in doing the activity, such as fine or gross motor skills, creativity, etc.
We’re doing three activities for this crate: making a wind car, making a windsock, and making a weather chart!
Wind Car. In making the wind car, the crate provided the following materials: car body, car base, sticks, wheels, craft sticks, foam block, clear stickers, oil pastels, pirate sails, blank sails, and a fan to power it.
After building the car, they designed the sails. We will test each design and see if one or the other makes our car go faster!
We tried out our car on a couple of different surfaces outside. The fan came in handy, because it was a very still day today.
Our outside surfaces were pretty rough, so it took some big “gusts” to get us moving. Fortunately, our fan lets us move our car inside, too! My son really enjoyed playing with the wind car!
Windsock. For this activity, we’ll need the following materials: oil pastels, windsock, fabric strips, string, and foam strip.
The construction was pretty simple, just some lacing and very simple knots. After designing the windsock and attaching the fabric strips, we’re ready to hang and test it out. You can also use the fan to watch how the wind moves it.
Weather Chart. For the last activity, we’ll be observing the weather using the weather chart, some stickers, and the windsock from the previous activity.
It’s best to put the chart on the window so the kids can easily watch the weather outside and record it in the chart. The chart includes stickers for both temperature and weather conditions. By observing the angle of the windsock, we can also estimate wind strength. The stickers can be changed everyday, so you can track the different weather everyday!
Koala Crate Extension Activities
Koala Crate usually includes an extension activity that uses common household supplies. It’s a great way to keep the fun going, and it always ties in and relates to the theme of the box. There are also suggestions for further reading on the subject. This month’s recommended books are The Wind Blew, Like A Windy Day & I Face The Wind.
You can also find other activities related to this month’s theme at the KiwiCo website.
Koala Crate always provides simple yet fun and entertaining hands-on activities that help kids learn too. All of the materials needed for each main activity are in the crate, complete with step-by-step instructions in the booklet. This month taught the kids a bit about the weather, and it helped them to become keen observers, too. I like how the windsock is used again in the last activity, the weather chart. This is definitely a great box not just for the parents and kids but also for babysitters, grandparents, or other caregivers!
Have you tried Koala Crate? What did you think of this month’s theme?
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