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, Panda Crate, Maker 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 GREECE!
This side of the box features a list of all the materials inside.
The items were neatly stacked inside.
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.
Small items are packed in a sealed plastic container to make sure that they don’t get lost and arrive in good form!
Everything in the crate!
“Geia Sou!” means “Hello!” in Greece.
The letter opens up to show us an introduction to Greece!
You can explore more online after you get your box with additional activities and book suggestions! Atlas Crate recommends The McElderly Book of Greek Myths by Eric A. Kimmel and Tools of the Ancient Greeks: A Kid’s Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece by Kris Bordessa.
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!
Each box includes a sticker that represents the featured country. This month’s sticker features Laurel Wreath, Greece’s symbol of triumph.
My kids placed the newest sticker on the Adventure Book, along with the other countries that they have already explored!
My kids 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.
Atlas Crate Activities
These pages feature the beginning of the adventures of Anya and Milo in Greece.
They started their adventure in a monastery in Meteora, then explored the old pirate hideout in Kleftiko Cove. They also visited the famous Greek Peak, Mount Olympus. On these pages, my kids also learned about the Olympics, a popular sports event where athletes compete to see who’s the best in the world!
Aside from the Olympics’ history and tradition, there’s also a feature about The Acropolis which means “high city.”
According to Anya and Milo, The Acropolis is the home to towering temples, stunning statues, and other monuments, including the Parthenon and Erechtheion, that both serve as a temple, mosque, church, and even storehouse for gun powder. Lastly, there’s also a feature about the colored vase that don’t use paint, known as the Black-Figure Pottery.
Atlas Crate Recipe
The featured recipe for this month is tzatziki. It’s a delectable appetizer packed with aromatic herbs, served together with Greek olives and feta cheese!
This part of the booklet contains everything you need to know in making tzatziki. For the meze platter, you’ll need pita pockets, olive oil, salt, and dippable vegetables such as baby carrots, celery sticks, or cherry tomatoes. For the tzatziki, you can use plain Greek yogurt, cucumber, lemon, garlic, and dill with salt and pepper.
Atlas Crate Projects
For this month’s Atlas Crate project, the kids made their own Trojan horse and Santorini Collage!
Activity #1: Trojan Horse. To make the Trojan horse, my kids used slats, rings, body pieces, foam bellies, foam spacers, foam squares, trapdoor, plastic strip, and short sticks.
Here are some fun facts about the Trojan horse!
The ancient Greeks used to tell stories about a mythical war between Greece and Troy.
They battled for 10 years, until one day when the Trojans found a “gift” outside their unbreakable gates. They rolled the Large wooden horse into their kingdom not realizing that there were 40 Greek soldiers hiding inside! At night, the soldiers snuck out, let the rest of the Greek army into Troy, and won the war – all by horsin’ around.
This Troy project is divided into three different parts: creating the body, adding of the parts, and finishing the horse!
This part of the booklet features the different ways to play with the finished Trojan horse.
First, my son grabbed the horse’s body piece and with the plain side up, he poked it using the open slat ends all the way up through the square holes.
Next, he slid the foam belly onto the body and pressed it all the way down. He also slid the tail on top of the foam by poking the two short sticks through its holes.
Now, it’s time to have the horse stand on its legs and poke the long sticks through the holes in the front feet. Then, slide the wheels on both ends of the stick and hold the wheels in place using the rings.
To open the Trojan horse, push the bottom of the tail towards the leg, and the trapdoor will spring open.
To close the trapdoor, push it down until it latches under the top of the tail.
There are a lot of ways to use this Trojan horse. My kids used it as a mini-storage, where they put candies and other small objects inside it.
They also used it as a launcher, all they did was to put a small object on the top end of the trapdoor, pull the tail in between the horse’s legs, and let it fly!
Activity #2: Santorini Collage. For the second project, which is the collage, my kids used the sky piece, land piece, glue tray, buildings, foam squares, domes, glues, paintbrush, handle, marker, brad, and colored squares.
The back of the booklet features some facts about Santorini!
The beautiful island of Santorini is famous for its cobblestone paths, pristine white houses, blue-domed chapels, and for being an active volcano.
About 3,500 years ago, the Santorini volcano erupted and caused the island’s center to sink, forming a water-filled crater. Even today, there are signs of the island’s vibrant volcanic nature – like buildings carved out of cooled lava rock!
Just like the first activity, this one also comes with a detailed instruction sheet.
My son started the project by brushing a part of the sky piece with glue and fill it using the blue-colored, daytime squares.
Once done, brush another layer of glue on top of the colored paper, and fill it with another batch of daytime squares until all the spaces are occupied.
Leave the sky piece for a few minutes to dry. Once done, do the same procedure on the other half of the sky piece and fill it with the sunset squares which is a combination of yellow, purple, and pink colored papers.
Just like the first half, make sure to fill every spaces of the sky piece, and once again let it dry for a few minutes.
Pour the rest of the glue into the tray and brush it onto the two white spaces in the middle of the land piece and stick a brown land squares for each. Stick the buildings along the top of the land, add them in a row until we cover the brad and a few of the land squares.
Stick the domes on top of the buildings with flat tops.
Using the marker, my son drew a few windows and doors on some of the buildings.
Here’s my son’s finished Santorini Collage!
This month’s Atlas Crate brought my kids to another fun and beautiful place, Greece! They enjoyed everything in this crate, from the trivia and recipes to the exciting projects related to Greece’s culture and history. They love the Trojan horse and they play with it all the time. The Santorini-inspired collage looks pretty cool as well, and it’s now displayed at home. Whether your kids miss traveling or you’re simply looking for a new educational activity box for them, Atlas Crate is a great choice. Materials for the main activities are already included. You don’t have to shop for them separately and that is really convenient for parents!
What do you think of KiwiCo’s Atlas Crate?
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