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 SPAIN!
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!
First, we got this letter that teaches us how to say “Hi!” in Spanish. It’s from Milo and Anya.
The letter opens up to show us an introduction to Spain.
We are also given a beautiful surprise of trivia cards filled with fascinating facts and photos.
In one of the flaps, you will find an Atlas Quest. You’ll be able to answer all those questions once you’re done exploring the country through this box!
Each month, we get a sticker that represents the featured country. This month’s sticker features a guitar, which originated in Spain!
We placed the sticker on the Adventure Book, along with the other countries that we have already explored!
Seeing these stickers made us realize that we have explored so many places already!
The table of contents is on the edge of the page for easy reading, just like how a travel book works.
This booklet also comes with a cute illustration of the country’s map with some fun facts and drawings of Spain’s notable events, sports, places, or products from that particular location.
These pages feature the beginning of the adventures of Anya and Milo in Spain.
Here, we can see Anya and Milo’s thoughts as they travel through the country! They also featured the works of Gaudi, an amazing architect who helped Catalan architecture to be recognized worldwide.
One of the most prominent works of Gaudi is the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia!
They also included instructions on how to make palm sounds and flamenco rhythms! These are so fun!
Finally, one of our most awaited parts is here! It’s a recipe for Patatas Bravas! There are detailed instructions included in the card as well as a list of all the ingredients you need.
The first step is to soak the cut-up potatoes in hot water for 10-15 minutes while preheating the oven. Then, pat dry the potatoes using a towel and spread them on a flat baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and add a generous sprinkle of sea salt. Toss them all together to get an even coating on each piece. Bake for 25 minutes but check at about 15 minutes or so and flip the pieces to make sure all sides get browned!
While waiting, get a medium skillet and heat up a tablespoon of olive oil and throw in some garlic and onion then add a dash of salt. In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, hot sauce and water, mix it and pour over the skillet. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Pop the potatoes out of the oven and into a serving dish then pour the sauce on top! You can also sprinkle some cheese and parsley if you like! These are so tasty!
For this month’s Atlas Crate projects, we’re making a Spanish Galleon and a Cubist Sculpture!
Activity #1: Spanish Galleon. For this project, the box provided the ship body, sticky foam shapes, deck, stand pieces, narrow-slot sticky foam, wood disk, hook, crossbar, support, wide-slot sticky foam, clear ring and tray.
They listed down some fun facts about galleons as well!
Galleons were also used to explore and colonize lands that were completely new to the Europeans. These voyages helped make Spain the largest empire on Earth at the time.
Building this galleon is divided into four parts: making the base, building the ship, foisting the sails and setting sail!
Each part came with detailed instructions on what to do!
After assembling the base, my son started putting the ship’s body together using the sticky foams.
It’s all just a matter of knowing the pieces you need and securing them in place!
The directions were pretty straight forward and they came with illustrations as well, so my son finished assembling in no time.
Here, he’s already putting the deck!
To finish the project, we also decorated the sails!
My son loves this part as well because he can be as creative as he wants with the design.
His sails have the usual skulls and crossbones but he added more flair by putting on a display of amazing colors! This was such a fun activity!
Activity #2: Cubist Sculpture. Next up, we’re set to create amazing works of art, just like Picasso! For this project, the box included shape cutouts, base, sticky foam, clear rings, stretchy tube, and paint.
There were fun facts about Picasso at the back of the booklet! It’s crazy to think that his artworks were among the most stolen in the whole world!
In cubist art, things are not shown realistically. Instead, viewers seem to see objects from many different angles at once.
There are 3 major things to do for this artwork: create the structure, cover, and paint!
Building the base structure was as easy as 1-2-3! The instructions were simple and direct to the point, my daughter had no problem following them!
Next, she put on the stretchy tube that will serve as the canvas.
Time for her favorite part, painting!
There is no specific requirement or instructions on how to paint this, just do what your heart desires!
They also included sticky felt so you can also make your own designs using them!
Here is my daughter’s finished product!
She used vibrant colors that made the artwork come alive. The felt stickers were a nice touch and it definitely gave depth to her “obra maestra”!
We had a really great time making the activities in this month’s box!
We also learned a lot about Spain like their architecture and we got a taste of their cuisine which was really good, by the way!
This was another amazing box! Seeing this in our mail makes the kids light up with excitement because they know that we’re learning about a new country! Exploring the box is like exploring the featured country itself. Getting a taste of their food, seeing amazing places, learning about their culture… Atlas Crate is truly an amazing way to teach your children more about the world! The activities are also a great bonding experience, not just for the kids, but for the whole family as well! We’re really happy with this subscription and we can’t wait for the next box!
What do you think of KiwiCo’s Atlas Crate?
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