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 ARCTIC! 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.
My son wasted no time jumping into the in-book activities.
They include fun stuff like mazes, puzzles, word hunts, and find-the-difference and matching games.
Everything this month’s box!
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 have also include symbols denoting the developmental skills practiced in doing the activity, such as fine or gross motor skills, creativity, etc.
For this Crate, we are making some dress up items, two kinds of toss game, and decorating our own wrapping paper!
Polar Bear Dress-up. For the first activity, we got felt paw pieces, felt paw stickers, lacing yarn, headband, and felt ear stickers.
First, place the two felt paw pieces on top of each other then stick on the felt paw stickers to create your own paw pads.
Once all the stickers are secured, thread one lacing yarn into the corner hole and tie a knot. Lace the paws by pulling the yarn through and around each hole. This is great lacing and sewing practice!
We pulled the yarn through and around until they get into the last hole, then we tied it off. All that’s left is to add the claws!
Unlike the paws, the ears are way much easier to do. Simply peel the white ear stickers, fold them around the band and put the black ear stickers.
Roar! Here’s my cute little polar bear!
Snowball Toss. A white ball, bath scrubby, sticky dots, and fluffy yarn are all the items provided in the crate for the next activity.
For the scratchy snowball, just cover the white ball with sticky dots. It’s quick and really easy to make!
There are 25 pieces of scratchy sticky dots in total!
We tested the scratchy snowball by putting it on the polar bear mitten. When it sticks, it means it works! The scratchy pads make catching the ball easy. Over time, our snowball picked up some of the black felt bits which actually made it easier to see.
The second ball was made by wrapping the fluffy yarn around the shower poof. This one didn’t stick to the mitts, but it was soft and squishy. My son enjoyed playing with it!
Snowflake Stamps. For this activity, the box includes a wrapping paper, ink pads, foam stamp pieces, and a stamp base.
According to the pamphlet, this activity is quite messy — so make sure to use a mess mat or do it away from your nice furniture.
We just attached the self-adhesive foam stamp pieces to the stamp base, put ink on the foam, and pressed it on the wrapping paper. Each stamp is half a snowflake, so you have to stamp a couple times for each snowflake. The Crate came with two kinds of snowflakes and two shades of ink. You can stamp abroad pattern like ours, or you can go wild and cover the paper with snowflakes!
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. This box included a recipe for salt dough snowflake ornaments. There are also suggestions for further reading on the subject. This month’s recommended books are Over in the Arctic, Over and Under the Snow, and Best in Snow.
It’s still early in autumn but this crate made us already excited about snow. Activities were all fun and engaging! As always, the instructions on the pamphlet are detailed and very easy-to-follow. What I also like about this subscription is that they provided most, if not all, the materials needed for each project. My son loved dressing up as a polar bear, and he got really into it! Overall, this is 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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