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Kiwi Crate
Cost: $19.95/month.
Ships To: United States and Canada.
Coupon Code: Use code “MAT25” to save 25% off your first month.
Our October 2014 Kiwi Crate(s) have arrived! Mine was a bit delayed this month (all my fault), but it’s here now and we were super happy to see it.
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 and I have been doing the projects together for years and every now and then, WB gets in on the action!
My subscription ended in September and I didn’t realize it until October when they tried to bill my card that it wasn’t an active card anymore (please tell me I am not the only one who has had their credit / debit cards replaced about 10x this year because of all these security breeches). So I updated the card and resubscribed. Turns out I didn’t need to resubscribe because not only did I one box, I got two. Yeah, I somehow ended up with two subscriptions and now I need to cancel one. Oh well. I’ll get it straightened out for next month, but for this month it meant that both boys had their own boxes to work on.
The October 2014 Kiwi Crate theme was “Wild West” and included two projects “my hobby horse” and “my cattle roundup”.
Project #1 – My Hobby Horse
The first project we worked on was “my hobby horse” which included everything you needed to make and decorate your own stuffed hobby horse. It was low on the messiness scale, medium on the grownup involvement scale and involved “creating”, “exploring” and “moving – gross”.
Since we had two kits, WB and L both started off working on these. WB ended up throwing most of his stuffing on the floor for fun, so I actually ended up doing most of his. L was able to do his all on his own, but we both thought the sticky foam wasn’t quite sticky enough. Glue would have been a complete mess though, so I am not sure would could have made it easier?
WB didn’t get that you were supposed to ride around on the horse (well pretend to ride around), and wouldn’t listen when L tried to show him. He was much more entertained by just running around yelling NAY NAY!
Project #2 – My Cattle Roundup
The second project this month was “My Cattle Roundup” which included the all materials you needed to make and decorate your own cattle bean bags. This project was low on the messiness scale, medium on the grownup involvement scale and involved “moving – fine”, “exploring” and “moving – gross”.
L and I worked on these by ourselves and I am quite pleased with how our lacing skills have progressed. LOL. He laced (B did one too), I tied the bell on and they turned out fantastic. And where much easier to do than I expected.
So far we have only tried tossing the bean bags from a distance and then seeing if we could hit the circle. But I am planning to cut out the white part and let the boys take a shot at throwing them next. That should be fun!
I realized this month that I have never taken any pictures of the inside of the Explore! magazine, so I put a little collage together. It’s not all of the pages, but you can an idea of the types of games and stories and puzzles it includes. You can also see some of the other project ideas they provide.
Also included in the October Kiwi Crate was a Holiday Brochure which listed their Holiday Crates, Project Kits, etc.
We had a great time with Kiwi Crate this month and I love that WB is getting more and more in on it! The theme was fun for both boys and projects really can work for various age levels!
Did you get Kiwi Crate this month? What did you think? If you are interested in subscribing or just want to learn more, click here! New subscribers can use the coupon code “MAT25” to save 25% off their first month! And don’t forget that Kiwi Crate has also launched a variety of new crates including Tinker Crate, Doodle Crate and Koala Crate which you might want to check out as well!
I kept wondering what was so gross about the movements until I finally realized it’s gross motor skills not ewww gross!
HA!!!!!
We got the tinker crate in the mail yesterday. I think my big kids will like it. I got it for our daughter since I want to push more STEM stuff with her.
How old are your older ones? I am wondering if it’s too old for my 6 year old?
They’re 13 and 11. This first one would be doable with help from you. It’s building a motor.
My husband and I are starting the foster parenting process & I think I’d really like to do a kid box — especially an activity based one. Of course, I have no idea what age kiddo will land in our house at this point (assume between 1-4 years old)… but which do you recommend?
My sister did this box with my 6 year old son. They had a lot of fun. He loved riding around on his horse rounding up the cows (cats and dogs). My sister cut out the circle and taped the game to the table ledge. He loved that too. She liked the box because she was able to do it without my help LOL.