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Kiwi Crate
Cost: $19.95/month.
Ships To: United States and Canada.

Our April 2014 Kiwi Crate arrived this week and it could not have come at a better time. L is (was?) sick, so we needed something to do inside that was calm, but still fun.

If you aren’t familiar, Kiwi Crates are designed around fun themes and filled with all of the materials and inspiration for hands-on projects for kids ages 3-7. L is 5 (almost 6) and is getting to the point where he can be more in charge of the project and is able to follow along on the instructions better and better each month.  I think he’s going to love it when he takes charge of the projects and can help WB do them! It won’t be too long.

Kiwi Crate ships via FedEx Smart Post. It came in record time this month. I think it took maybe four or five days. It’s usually a week, so this was amazing.

I couldn’t remember what the theme was when I got the box out for L and I to do, but it came back to me when I opened it up!  And I knew he’d be into it.

Our April 2014 Kiwi Crate theme was “Rainforest” and included two projects – “my jumping frog” and “my rainstick”.  Kiwi Crate now sends a variety of different crates to subscribers (as many as eight different crates are circulating each month per Kiwi Crate) so you may or may not have received the same crate I did this month.  Some subscribers will receive Rainforest this month, while others will receive a crate sent out in a previous month. I have subscribed for almost two years so I always get the “new” crate because I have already received most all of their other ones.

Project #1: My Jumping Frogs:

The first project we worked on was “my jumping frogs” and included everything you needed to build a log launcher and decorate leaping frogs.  You can then use the frogs to play a game to see who can land the most frogs in the pond.  This project was low on the messiness scale, medium on the grown involvement scale and involved discovering, moving – fine and creating.

L and I worked on this one totally together and each colored and decorated a few frogs.  He only let me launch a few though and I never once got them on a pond.  Our frogs were launching all over the kitchen.  LOL!  We need to get a bigger pond!

Project #2: My Rainstick

The second project was “my rainstick” and included everything you needed to build a rainstick and decorate it with stickers and feathers.  This project was low on the messiness scale, required medium grownup involvement and involved moving – fine, creating and discovering.

We loved this project!  I was under the impression that you used a rainstick to try and get rain, but that does not appear to be the case (thank goodness).  It really does sound like rain too.  I was surprised that wooden beads and paper really make it sound like rain, but it seriously does.  L (and WB) both love shaking this and listening to it rain.  We are going to take Kiwi Crate’s suggestion and try putting marshmallows, rice, etc. in there instead of the beads to see what it sounds like.

Kiwi Crate also includes an “explore!” magazine which has tons of activities, craft / project ideas, stories, drawing ideas, etc.

L got to work right away on the “Hidden Picture” page in the box.  He loves those hidden pictures and I used to as well when I was younger!  We’ve love an entire activity book of just those. He also has big plans for us to work on building our own terrarium.  We just need to get some seeds and get started.

Did you get Kiwi Crate this month?  What’d you think?  Which box did you get this month?   If you are interested in subscribing, head to the Kiwi Crate website to order your crate.  And don’t forget to use the coupon code “RAMBLINGS25” to save 25% off your first box!