Atlas Crate is a monthly subscription from KiwiCo that specializes in geography and culture for children between ages 6 to 11 years old. This box is designed to spark kids’ sense of adventure and curiosity, inspiring them to see themselves as citizens of the world. Kids can see and connect with the rest of the world, helping them grow beyond their own experience as they explore the globe.
KiwiCo also offers Kiwi Crate, Koala Crate, Doodle Crate, Tinker Crate, Tadpole Crate, and Eureka Crate. Atlas Crate is a great addition to the KiwiCo family as geography and exploration is always a favorite activity!
DEAL: Save 30% on your first month with this link on any KiwiCo line, no coupon code required!
This month’s box is all about INDIA!
Upon opening, we are welcomed by the cards and pamphlets that are essential to the activities. This subscription emphasizes learning through creative play as they provide in this box everything the kids might need. It builds a sense of adventure, an appreciation of other cultures, builds a sense of global citizenship and opportunity for parents and grandparents to bond with children.
Everything in the crate!
Namaste means hello in Hindi.
The cute envelope uses a string closure.
Every flap of the envelope has information about the box. We are also given a beautiful surprise of trivia cards filled with fascinating facts and photos.
We are introduced to Anya the cricket and Milo the sandpiper.
There’s also a card that lists all six tasks we need to be accomplished in this crate.
You can explore more online after you get your box with additional activities and book suggestions! Atlas Crate recommends Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India and Ramayana: Divine Loophole.
Atlas Crate Adventure Book
Missed our first review? You’ll get the rings in your first box, which will always start with the WORLD crate. Check out that review here!
The first item we got is a sticker that represents this month’s featured country, India!
We placed the sticker on the front page of the Adventure Book.
That’s our 7th! And we’re looking forward to more countries to explore!
The table of contents is on the edge of the page for easy reading, just like how a travel book works.
It’s a cute illustration of the country map with fast facts and where they have images drawn of India’s notable events, sports, places, or products from that particular location.
Atlas Crate Activities
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that enhances your inner core, emotional well-being, and promotes peace of mind. Featured on this part of the booklet are 6 simple yoga poses you can try at home.
Here are some fun, interesting and exciting facts about India including Shakuntala Davi the human computer, cricket, Bollywood, and more!
This booklet also contains a detailed 4-day adventure of Anya and Milo, they even added some colorful pictures of the places they went to!
Taj Mahal, meaning “Crown of the Palaces,” is more than a beautiful building. It’s actually a huge mausoleum made from ivory white marble and constructed by more than 20,000 workers and 1,000 elephants for 22 years. It’s also included in the New 7 Wonders of the World.
Indians are known for their artistic body markings that features unique pattern and eye-catching design. This traditional temporary body art is called Mehndi, and it lasts on the skin for a week or more.
Atlas Crate Recipe
This month’s featured recipe is Mango Lassi! It’s a cool and refreshing mango drink similar to a smoothie and a milkshake.
It’s so easy to make. Just prepare all the ingredients, put it all inside the blender, and blend until mango chunks become a mush. Add the yogurt, blend again for another 5-10 seconds, and serve.
We tried it because we love mangoes! Here’s my son making sure that the mangoes are all mushed.
In just a few minutes, our own Mango Lassi is done. It’s so sweet, refreshing, and healthy!
As an Atlas Crate ritual, the kids located the beautiful country on our world map. There it is!
Atlas Crate Projects
For this month’s Atlas Crate projects, we’re making Snakes & Ladders and Rangoli!
Activity No. 1: Make Your Own Snakes & Ladders. For our own version of Snakes & Ladders, the crate included a dice, snakes, ladders, play pieces, and felt game board.
According to the booklet, ancient Indians used this game to encourage the players to behave well. The goal of the game is to be the first player to land in the goal.
It’s so easy to build and play. Simply lay the felt game board, stick the ladders and snakes on their rightful places, and roll the dice!
Here, my two kids were discussing the rules of the game and I think they’re as excited as me to start the game.
I never expected that this game has a really deep history. It can also be a lesson to kids, that doing good things will get you ahead while being bad will definitely set you back.
Activity No. 2: Make Your Own Rangoli. For this project, the crate provided a design board colored sand, toothpicks, mess mat, clear cover, sticky foam rectangles, and cups.
Rangoli is an art form originated in India in which colored sands, rice, or flour are placed on the ground to form a well-coordinated pattern. They are usually made during Hindu festivals.
This instruction manual is so helpful. It’s so detailed and very easy to understand. It also has a visual representation that makes it easier to follow the procedure.
The back lists more fun facts about rangoli!
On to the first step! Using the tip of the toothpick, slowly remove the stickers on the part of the board you want to design and carefully pour the colored sand on it.
Make sure that all the segments are properly filled with your preferred colored sand to avoid the mixing of colors.
Remember: It’s a sticky board and we’re using sand, it would be hard to adjust or re-make the design once the sand is already stuck on it.
Once you’re done with the first design and have made sure that the sand is properly placed, you can now repeat the procedure on the other part of the board.
You’re allowed to be creative, like doing some mixing or shading. In this instance, my daughter poured a small amount of green sand on some parts while putting more sand on the other part of the board.
The technique she used is called shading, wherein some parts feature a light color while the other contains a darker color, giving a unique shade effect on the design.
It’s another batch of fun activities from Atlas Crate! My kids enjoyed them so much! They were serious in making their own snakes and ladders board game, plus they really had fun playing with it too. I also love how they were able to unleash their creativity with the rangoli making project. The end product is so amazing and I’m very proud of them. This subscription is a great way to teach kids to be more keen on details and be creative. It also features some amazing and interesting cultural information about the featured country! We can’t wait for next month’s crate! We absolutely love the game + craft combo that many of the Atlas Crate’s boxes feature, and this subscription has really sparked an interest in other cultures in our children!
What do you think of KiwiCo’s Atlas Crate?
Comments