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, Doodle Crate, and Maker Crate).
This month’s theme is PEEK INTO PONDS!
Kiwi Crate includes all the necessary supplies for the featured activities, plus explore! magazine.
Take a peek beneath the surface of a pond, and you’ll find that there’s much more to it than meets the eye!
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 love reading the magazine, they find it very interesting!
This magazine includes a lot of historical and scientific information related to the current theme. This month, it’s all about the science of ponds.
This part of the magazine features the different types of creatures that live in a pond’s ecosystem.
The magazine always make learning so much fun!
It also features frogs and an activity that explains the science behind these lively leapers!
This jar makes a nice representation for creatures that can be seen on a pond. The next page has a fun search activity that involves dragonflies!
The booklet even introduced a unique recipe that is closely related to this month’s theme, the Greek yogurt guppies! Also, there’s a Kiwi quiz on the next page and instructions on how to send a letter to Steve.
Kiwi Crate Activities
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 Peek Into Ponds project!
The first activity is making chalk art frogs! In this activity, kids will use floating chalk to decorate colorful frogs.
The materials provided for this activity are tray, chalk, chalk grater, cover, green rubber band, watercolor paper, and frog cutouts. From home, all you will need are paper towels, scrap paper, and water.
The booklet contains detailed step-by-step instructions, accompanied with illustrations.
The first step is to set-up the grater. Just place the grater on the table with the holes down, put the cover on top, and secure with a rubber band. Flip it over and it’s ready to be used.
To grate the chalk, rub a piece over the holes of the grater. You can choose as many colors as you want!
The next step is to release the chalk dust on the tray of water. When that’s done, you can now and make chalk art by putting the watercolor paper over the chalk, close to the water.
Let the paper float for 5 seconds before removing it. To dry, put the chalk art on a paper towel.
Now, it’s time to decorate the frog cutouts!
The cutouts come in different colors, so it’s exciting to see how they look like with the shades of the grated chalks.
Just repeat the steps until you’re done with all the frogs!
For the next part of the project, my kids built a popping lily pad powered by a rubber band.
The included materials for this project are clear stickers, white rubber band, and the lily pad.
There are also instructions on how to properly use the finished project and the science behind it!
My son started by attaching the frog papers on the lily pad using the clear stickers. Then, he slipped the rubber band over the top of the lily pad and slid it into the slits from the back.
He also pulled and twisted the rubber band to make an X, then put it into the slits at the bottom part of the lily pad.
The next thing to do is to open the lily pad and fold it inside out. When this is done, the rubber band should be outside.
Now, it’s ready to be used! Place the lily pad on a the table and hold it down with your finger. Then, let it go to watch it pop!
The last activity is about making an aquarium in a bottle!
The provided materials for this activity include an empty tray, syringe, fish, mini cups, cups A and B, stir stick, small paper squares, black rings, markers, salt, and bottle. From home, all you will need are scrap paper and water.
In this activity, my kids colored the paper squares using the markers.
Aside from the instructions, there are also tips on how to perform specific steps more effectively.
After coloring the paper, my kids dunked them into salt water to create the colors. Then, they injected the colored salt water into fish with rubber bands around the bottom.
Once the fishes are all filled with colored salt water, it’s time to test them! Just drop a fish (tail first!) into a cup of room temperature water. If it floats freely with its mouth straight up, then it’s good to go. If it floats flat, it means you need to add more salt water inside. If it sinks, then you need to squeeze a few drops of salt water out.
The last of the activity is setting up the aquarium and learning the science behind the activity.
My daughter filled the bottle with fresh water until it was three-quarters full. Then, she dropped one fish at a time in it!
She also sealed it with a cap!
My kids definitely enjoyed making their own aquarium!
Kiwi Crates never fails to come up with fun projects for kids age 5 to 8! This month’s Peek Into Pond themed box was a great way to get kids creative while learning new science concepts. My kids’ favorite activity from the box is the chalk art! They loved choosing chalk colors and then putting the grated chalk on water to create a unique pattern for the paper. They also enjoyed making the lily pad, as well as making the aquarium. All of the materials are provided and the instructions made it easier for my kids to accomplish everything with minimal supervision. This subscription is ideal for learning at home and it can be shared by siblings so it makes for a fun bonding experience as well!
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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