Kiwi Crate is a kids’ craft and activity subscription that comes with everything you need to complete a great project or two, usually a pair of crafts that can be used as toys or playtime props. The box is geared for ages 5-8, and the projects are always age-appropriate, though some require more parental assistance than others.
Kiwi Crate is the most popular craft and activity subscription box for kids!
DEAL: Use this link to save 30% on your first box of Kiwi Crate! (or KiwiCo family subscriptions Tinker Crate, Koala Crate, Atlas Crate, Cricket Crate, and Doodle Crate).
This month’s theme is MARBLE TIMER!
Kiwi Crate includes all necessary supplies for the featured activities, plus explore! magazine.
Construct a marble-powered mechanism that helps keeps time! Experiment with your timer and design new paths to help the marbles run faster, slower, and everything in between. Then time yourself while creating colorful dip-dye wood art.
All the items inside the box!
Explore! Magazine
An issue of explore magazine is included in every Crate. It is full of fun content that brings the project to life. explore! has read, draw, learn, explore, eat, and make designated activities. There is really a lot to look at and read – a comic, puzzles, and games – and it really extends your young one’s engagement with the Crate. Each expands on the theme of the box, whether through factoids, drawing activities, or recipes, but the variation is helpful for engaging different learning styles and interests.
There is always a comic featuring Steve the Kiwi and his pals.
My kids enjoyed the comic so much!
This magazine also includes a lot of historical and scientific information relating to the current theme.
There’s a feature about some of the most well-known devices used by our ancestors to check the time, including sundials, candle clock, water clock, and sand timer.
There are also on-page activities, like this one where you need to spot the difference between the two photos.
Kiwi Crate Crafts
The second booklet that comes in every crate is the actual instruction booklet for the crafts, and it often includes additional activities beyond the extension projects included in explore!
Every Kiwi Crate comes with a unique Steve sticker (like your merit badge for completing the box). The first box of an annual subscription includes a poster for displaying your earned stickers.
The booklet contains a list of all supplies they provided for the crafts. It also has a rating of messiness and parental involvement for each activity.
For our first experiment, we will be creating a marble timer! This booklet provides detailed instruction and some illustrations, to help you finish the project with ease!
To build the marble timer, we used the backboard, stands, and foam piece.
We also needed the long bar, short bar, wheel, tubes, nuts, bolt, and thin and thick spacer.
There are no shortcuts! The best and the fastest way to finish each project is to carefully read and follow the instructions provided by the book.
We also got some marbles and shelves to complete all the materials for the marble timer.
Constructing the marble timer was so easy. First step is to put the stands and foam piece. This is to make sure that the timer stands firmly in place.
What I love about this booklet is that they have already anticipated some factors that may cause a problem to the project, and they’ve already provided some countermeasure tips to solve it.
The next step is to insert the shelves to the holes accordingly. On a separate phasing, construct the wheel and lever using the nuts, bolts, and pacer, and attach it to the board.
There’s our marble timer! Push down the short tube connected to the wheel, and let the marble roll down on the path you made using the wooden shelves. Once it reaches the ground, the second marble will automatically fall on the same path and repeat the steps until all the marble drops.
In this experiment, we will see how many seconds will it take for the marble to reach the ground after rolling from the top of the board.
Here is what it should look like once all the shelves and tubes are attached.
Using the same board, we can experiment and re-assemble the shelves to try different kinds of paths and make a statistical comparison on which path the marbles travel fastest.
It’s a very simple but well-made mechanism. My kids thought it was cool!
The next activity is the Dip-Dye Wood Art!
For this project, we used the wood pendant, strings, liquid colors, clips, clear sticker, and cups.
Unlike the first project, this one might be quite messy. To avoid unnecessary damage or markings on the furniture, do the project away from it and in a wide place.
Put the liquid colors on the cups and using the clips, get the wooden pendant and slowly dip it to your desired color.
Dry the wooden pendant for a few minutes and dip it again on the other color of your choice and then repeat the procedure until you achieve the design you want. Use the marble timer to time how long the ornament is in the solution!
According to the booklet, you can make the color brighter by re-dipping a part on the same color it was first dipped.
The final output looks fantastic. It can be used as a key holder or a pendant to a necklace.
Extension Activities
Every crate includes extension activities. For this crate, they included Tick Tock, Water Clock, which is about making a water clock using paper cups and a jar.
The booklet even introduced a fun recipe for an avocado toast! The other page also features a quiz, and they also encourage your kids to email a letter or picture to Steve, and if it is published, they’ll be sending you a plush kiwi!
Kiwi Crate kept my kids amazed and entertained with all the fun experiments and activities. My kids had a really great time assembling the marble timer and wood art. Aside from the science-related learnings, it also enhances problem-solving skills and one’s ability to follow instructions. This subscription is definitely perfect for anyone who has to keep kids busy for several hours, as they usually play with the items long after they’ve finished making them!
Did you enjoy this months activity? Let us know in the comments!
Visit Kiwi Crate to subscribe or to find out more about this fantastic kids’ craft subscription box!
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