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 AMAZING ANIMATION!
Kiwi Crate includes all necessary supplies for the featured activities, plus explore! magazine.
Learn all about the science of animation, and how to make still pictures look like they’re moving. Engineer a working zoetrope, a machine that turns still images into looped animations. Then get the scoop on drawing frames, so you can bring your very own animation to life.
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.
Tinker, Create, Innovate
KiwiCo equips the next generation of innovators with the tools and confidence for creative exploration and problem solving.
There is always a comic featuring Steve the Kiwi and his pals.
This magazine also includes a lot of historical and scientific information relating to the current theme including the science of moving pictures!
First things first, the kids read the magazine and they really love it!
This part of the booklet features a suggested activity, which is all about building tricky spinning toys.
Here’s an amazing article about the history of animation and how it improved through the ages.
Another activities to explore is playing with the glow stick and a film-in-the-blanks exercise!
The booklet even introduced a way to create a stop-motion movie that doubles as a midnight snack. All you need for this activity are toothpicks, small fruits or veggies, knife, and a phone or a tablet with camera. Also, there’s a Kiwi quiz on the next page, and you can also send a letter to Steve!
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 the supplies they provided for the crafts. It also has a rating of messiness and parental involvement for each activity.
Here are all the items for this month’s Amazing Animation activities!
The first activity is about making a zoetrope, a spinning movie machine that can bring still pictures to life.
It’s a pretty comprehensive activity that is divided into 3 major parts.
The booklet has detailed instructions and some illustrations to help you finish the project easily.
They also provided some useful tips and suggestions to finish the project with ease!
For the first part of the project which is the building of the base, we used the base disk, thick foam donuts, thin foam donuts, marbles, clear donuts, bolt, clear sticker, and clear strip.
We also used black stickers, black disk, zoetrope wall, screw, metal ring, and different set of frame sheets.
My son started the project by sticking the thin foam case at the center of the base disk. Then, he placed the bolt and the thick foam case on top of it and wrapped it using the clear strip and sticker. Afterward, he placed the first clear donut on top, put the 5 marbles in, and closed it using the next clear donut.
The next step is to install the zoetrope wall on the black disk and lock it up on top of the base using the screw and metal ring.
When it’s done, my son chose a set of frames, placed the frames on the filmstrip in order using the numbers on the bottom corner, and then slid the ends of the filmstrip together.
Lastly, he placed the filmstrip inside the zoetrope wall and spun it!
Here’s another fun animation activity! It teaches kids how to draw animations to create their own animation art.
This activity consists of 3 parts! First is about making an animation frame using the stick person on the top corner of the booklet. The second is about creating a flipbook.
For the third part, the completed zoetrope machine is also needed!
According to the animation tips, small details can be hard to see and it takes a longer time to draw, so simple drawings are preferred. It’s also more ideal if the first frame looks identical to the last frame.
For the second part of the activity, my son used colorful markers and a flipbook!
When you open the flipbook, you’ll see an unfinished drawing of a stick man.
Using the marker, my son completed the image by drawing a pair of arms and legs on it.
Once done, he turned on the next page and drew another set of arms and legs. This time, he drew it slightly different from the previous page.
He repeated the steps on every page until he arrived at the last part of the flipbook. He checked his animation by quickly flipping each page of the booklet.
Too cool!
For the third part, my son made his own zoetrope frames using the provided frames and markers. According to the booklet, it’s more ideal if the drawings are in a repetitive motion.
After creating his own frames, he folded on the dotted lines and carefully cut the frames apart.
Then, he inserted them into the filmstrip in order!
My son loves this animation project. He tried spinning the zoetrope at different speeds, and even backward!
Kiwi Crate did an amazing job again! They never fail to come up with new themes and projects that appeal to kids. This month, my son surely had a great time working on the spinning toy and the flipbook animation. Aside from the science-related learnings, the activities also help enhance kids’ problem-solving skills and further improve their ability to follow instructions. The booklet contains helpful information about the topic and even the instructions are kid-friendly. Most materials are also provided in the crate, so there’s no need to go out to grab supplies. It’s a wonderful box overall and it’s easily one of the most ideal subscriptions for a fun bonding time with the kids and the whole family!
Did you enjoy this month’s 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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