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Tinker Crate
Cost: $19.95/month.
Ships To: United States and Canada.
Coupon Code: Use code “SHARE30” to save 30% off your first month of Kiwi Crate and their family of boxes!
Tinker Crate (which is part of the Kiwi Crate family) introduces 9-16-year-olds to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) through fun, educational activities. Each Tinker Crate comes with all the materials needed for building the project, instructional video, and blueprint with step by step instructions, as well as a Tinker Zine with additional science experiments and activities.
Tinker Crate ships via FedEx Smart Post out of California.
L, my 8-year-old, has outgrown Kiwi Crate, so I thought we’d give Tinker Crate a try.
The October 2016 Tinker Crate project was “Fiber Optic Stars.”
Instructions
The instruction booklet included full details on how to complete each step of the project. We had a little trouble getting the illuminator box set up, but we figured it out.
Materials
Our Tinker Crate included everything necessary to complete the project such as a battery pack, batteries, the illuminator box, foam sheets, resistor, red jumper wire, optical fibers, a constellation sheet, etc.
Completing the Project
L was able to do 80% of this project on his own and needed just a bit of assistance from me. We opted to make Orion – The Hunter for our constellation. The instruction booklet also showed an example with a name, which looked neat too. We have some leftover materials so we may be able to do that one too.
Tinker Zine
Each box also includes the Tinker Zine, which includes additional science activities and experiments relating to the theme. This month’s Zine included a Bending Light project, “Stories in the Stars,” a Trick of the Light project and more.
We enjoyed our first Tinker Crate. It’s perfect for L (again he’s 8), and while he did need help with some parts, he didn’t find it frustrating like I thought he might. He found it challenging and loved the Science aspect of it.
What do you think about Tinker Crate? If you are interested in subscribing, you can sign up here and use the coupon code “SHARE30” to save 30% off your first month of Tinker Crate and their family of brands.