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Koala Crate
Cost: $19.95/month.
Ships To: United States and Canada.
Coupon Code: Use code “SBR50” to save 50% off your first month.
Koala Crate is from Kiwi Crate’s line of crates and is designed for preschoolers ages 3-4. The box includes all the materials and inspiration for projects related to a theme such as colors, transportation or safari. Crates are designed to give children exposure to new materials and new concepts that encourage hands-on learning and fun.
Koala Crate ships via FedEx Smart Post and took about a week to arrive. Sometimes they ship mid-month and sometimes they ship closer to the end of the month.
W (my 3 year-old) and I have really been into craft / art projects lately, so we started on this one as soon as it arrived.
The January 2016 Koala Crate theme was “Little Artist” and included three projects “color block painting”, “abstract sculpture” and “art smock”.
Project #1 – “Color Block Painting”
The first project in the crate was color block painting which included all of the necessary materials to paint your own brightly colored masterpiece. It was high on the messiness scale, high on the grownup involvement scale and involved “creating” and “discovering”.
L (my 7 year-old son) and I had actually done a very similar project in Kiwi Crate a few years back, but this was all new to W. He needed help with the taping, but he was all over the painting part. The box included only one paint brush, but I gave him some extras to use. I knew that one paint brush would have meant that the entire picture would have been one color (aka the color made when the blue, red, green and yellow paints are mixed). I love the way this turned out and will be keeping it in my office next to the one L made all those years ago!
Project #2 – Abstract Sculpture
The second project in the crate was creating an abstract sculpture out of colorful beads and shapes. The project was high on the messiness scale, high on the grownup involvement scale and involved “moving – fine” and “creating”.
The first step in this project was to “paint” the shapes and beads that are used on the sculpture. This involved taking the paper with the shapes on it and wooden beads and placing them into Koala Crate box. Then, you squeezed all of the different colors of paint in the crate, closed it and shook it all up. We used an excessive amount of paint (LOL), so we had to wait for it to dry overnight. Then you took the pipe cleaners, beads and paper shapes to create your masterpiece on the pegboard. You get them to “stay” by attaching a piece of cardboard to the bottom of the pegboard which holds everything in place. This turned out better than expected. I don’t know where we will display this artwork, but making it was fun.
Project #3 – Art Smock
The third project in the crate was art smock and included the materials necessary to personalize an art smock to make crafting a little more neat. It was high on the messiness scale, medium on the grownup involvement scale and involved “creating” and “communicating”.
We probably should have worked on this one first so that it could have been worn for all the other projects, but oh well. We decided to put W’s handprints on this to make it more of a keepsake. I think it turned out pretty cute!
What do you think of Koala Crate? I love that Kiwi Crate branched out into some different ages groups because this one is just right for W. If you are interested in subscribing you can sign up here and use coupon code “SBR50” to save 50% off your first month.
Ours just arrived today, and we had a snow day, so it was perfect for doing a craft project. I didn’t think of adding the hand prints on the smock, but that’s a great idea. We may have to add those tonight!
such a great, and thorough review, thanks so much! we’ve just ordered our first Koala crate and are awaiting its arrival so this gives me a great idea of what to expect, thanks!