There are TONS of choices available on the market for a parent looking for a subscription box for their son or daughter. While most are good choices, Kiwico has over time come to stand out from the pack.
As part of our testing, we’ve spent time building and playing with all the KiwiCo review crates. We’ve given you our honest and unbiased opinion in this review – frankly, we’ve been quite happy with the value for the money. These reviews have been a big hit with you, our readers, so we plan on adding to and updating our reviews over the coming months and years.
We’ve put together this report on ALL of our Kiwi Co subscription box reviews. We break down who will like and benefit the most from each particular subscription product line, and flag when one is definitely not a good fit for an age group. Hopefully, it’ll save you time as you shop for a fun crate for your child.
There is a wide selection of subscription options to choose from when deciding on Kiwi crates. You can get a standalone crate, a 3-month subscription, half-year or full-year – it’s up to you.
Exclusive Kiwico Review Savings For Fractus Learning Readers:
1. Which Box Is Right For My Child?
2. Our Reviews of Kiwico’s Subscription Boxes For Toddlers and Preschoolers
2.1 Panda Crate
2.2 Koala Crate
3. Reviews of KiwiCo’s Subscription Boxes For Kids
3.1 Kiwi Crate
3.2 Atlas Crate
3.3 Doodle Crate
3.4 Tinker Crate
4. Kiwi Co’s Subscription Boxes For Teens
4.1 Eureka Crate
4.2 For Aspiring Teen Artists
4.3 For Future Engineers
5. Are There Any Crates Adults Would Enjoy?
6. How Is Shipping Handled
7. Can You Skip A Month With KiwiCo?
8. Can You Ship Every Other Month?
Here Are Our Unbiased Kiwico Crate In-depth Reviews
After spending well over sixty hours both reviewing and editing other parent reviews – I am really impressed with the products. I’ve personally recommended KiwiCo crates to relatives as gift ideas for nieces and nephews.
This was a face-to-face, conversational recommendation so there was no benefit to Fractus Learning. I just knew it’d be a good fit for some cool kids I care about. That’s how I instruct our reviewers to attack their product reviews – like a family member asked you to take a look at a product and know your opinion.
I’m also excited about some work we’ve been doing behind the scenes. We’ve negotiated a special deal for our readers. We haven’t been told how long this deal will last so you might want to jump on this while you can!
For a limited time, you can get a discount off your first box purchase. You don’t have to enter a coupon – just use our money-saving link here. It’s a great way to try out KiwiCo and save money too!
Our Ultimate Review of Kiwico's Subscription Boxes & Crate For Toddlers and Preschoolers
Our tester thought this Kiwi crate was a lot of fun. There’s replay value in the Panda Crate for his toddler, and it allowed the two of them to spend some quality time together having a good afternoon. "Panda crates are a great way to build fine motor skills."
For Children Ages: 2 - 4 years
Arrives: 1 Crate Per Month
I liked how age-appropriate this (Koala Crate) kit was. All of the activities held Liz’s attention well, and she really enjoyed both making and playing with her creations.
The materials in the review crate were sturdy, and everything was included that you needed to get going on building right away. Since there’s natural excitement about getting a package in the mail, it’d be a shame to squash that enthusiasm with a missing part or two. We had to deal with none of that in our crates.
Kiwico Crate Reviews - Kiwico's Subscription Boxes For Kids
For Ages: 5-8 years
Arrives: 1 Crate Per Month
The Kiwi Crate instructions were really well done. They were written clearly and organized logically. This is a must-have feature for a product where the child can work on projects mainly by themselves. The Kiwi Crate exceeds this bar. You can feel the quality of the pieces included in this activity. The border, backing and pinball parts were top-notch. I don’t see anything breaking in this set for quite some time. Both my daughter and I agreed this feels like a good value.
For Ages: 6-11 years
Arrives: 1 Crate Per Month
I really liked that my 10 year old was able to tackle the projects without really needing my help. He had a little trouble with a plastic package (and we didn’t have a scissors handy), but other than that setback was able to build and complete the non-cooking projects by himself. (For my mental health, I'm not quite ready to run my own experiment to see if he’s ready to use the oven solo for cooking!)
For Ages: 9 - 16+ years
Arrives: 1 Crate Per Month
For Artistic-Minded Kids
The STEM crate doesn’t cheap out when it comes to the included items. The clay, paints, and electronics were of high quality. The clay-shaping tools were made of a thick plastic – there should be no problem with anything breaking in this set.
Both my children thought the project length was about right. I was surprised by this considering the age difference. They liked that there was a break in-between some of the steps which made for the project to feel more like two “bite-sized” ones,rather than one long one. Our Doodle Crate’s project required overnight time to dry before the painting could be done.
For Ages: 9-16+ years old
Arrives: 1 Crate Per Month
For STEM-interested Kids
The instructions were clear and well organized which helped with our review. This is pretty important in a product where the child is expected to work on projects mainly by themselves. As a father, I though the Tinker Crate is solid in this regard.
My son liked the open-ended nature of the blueprints provied by Kiwi Co. The Tinker Crate lives up to it’s name in this regard – plenty of space to tinker. There are enough pieces to improvise, and it’s pretty simple to break apart a previous build to create something different. A great source of STEAM projects!
Kiwi Co's Subscription Boxes For Teens
He liked this KiwiCo project the best so far. This subscription box is practical, he says, because you build something that is useful.
I agree that his creation is practical. It is sturdy enough and looks good enough to have it in use in our kitchen. It’s a cool, innovative conversation piece for him as well when family or friends come to visit.
He also really enjoyed learning something new. Most KiwiCo boxes teach something new, but usually it’s how to do something, rather than how something simply works. It’s a bit of a distinction but an important one.
In addition to the Eureka Crate, Kiwi Co has two other crates that teenagers will enjoy. They span from older kids well into the teenage years, so the full reviews are above. Click on the heading that fits your child’s interests best to read our synopsis.
Kiwico Crate Questions You Might Have
Which Kiwico Brand Subscription Box Is Right For My Child?
The great strength of KiwiCo’s box lineup is what makes it hard to choose. They have A LOT of crates available – each with a different theme! That’s a good thing since it allows you to tailor the subscription box to your child – but can be frustrating trying to find out the right crate
It can be hard to flag down and read the right review to make sure you are getting the perfect crate for your child. There are two ways Kiwi Co classifies their projects.
First and foremost, the products are broken down for different age groups. Kiwi provides a recommended age range for each crate. As with all things related to kids, the end of the ranges are fluid. Your child might be more advanced than the “average” kid of the same age. Take that into account when looking at a Kiwi crate.
KiwiCo does try to break down the crates by interest area as well – when feasible. This primarily comes into play as you hit the teenage boxes. If you have a teenager, remember that the Doodle Crate is more art focused. There are drawing, painting and even some clothing projects available. On the other hand, the Kiwi Co Tinker Crate has a science and engineering bent. The Eureka Crate is a little more advanced and concentrates on engineering and product design.
Kiwi Co Crates - Are Any Of These Projects Suitable For Adults?
That is a legit great question! The Eureka Crate is a perfect choice for an adult looking for fun projects to build. The Tinker Crate and Doodle Crate are both advanced enough that an adult could enjoy creating with them as well.
The remaining projects for the most part wouldn’t interest an adult working on the project by themselves. You can read from our reviews that most adults report they enjoyed kiwi company projects with their children.
How Is Shipping Handled?
Shipping to the USA is usually included in the cost of the subscription crate. All of our review crates were shipped to Wisconsin, for example. With energy prices as volatile as they have been recently, Kiwico has at times added a shipping cost to the subscription price.
As of August 2022, shipping to Canada was $5.95/month extra. The remaining countries that KiwiCo can ship boxes too have monthly additional charges between $5.95 – $10.95.
You can check if KiwiCo ships to your country – and how much it will cost – by checking the table here.
Will KiwiCo Allow You To Skip A Month?
Yes, if you are enrolled in monthl subscriptions. You are allowed to skip one month of crates at a time. It’s called “pausing”, and is an option available in your “My Accounts” -> “Subscriptions” tab. If you have questions, you can reach out the support staff at customercare@kiwico.com. They are very helpful!
The following short video quickly walks you through the process.
Is It Possible To Have Crates Shipped Every Other Month?
According to KiwiCo, it is possible to move to an every-other month schedule for your subscriptions boxes.
Once you sign up for a subscription, contact the Kiwi Customer Care team to let them know what you want to do. They will take care of the changes for you.
10 Comments
How realistic are the recommended age ranges for the Kiwico Crates? I’m worried they might be too tough for a child at the bottom end of the age.
I think all the products – the Kiwi Crate, Koala Crate, Tinker Crate, Panda Crate, Eureka Crate, and Doodle Crate especially – are really age appropriate. If you have a problem and have more than a one month subscription, contact customer service and I’m sure they will work something out with you.
I’ve had it for over a year, enjoying excellent customer service support. I was abroad and delivery took longer than expected. Kiwico apologized and delivered another package which got there on time. And after getting both crates, they instructed me to hold them rather than mail one back. Talk about customer service!
After I moved back to the united states I had no trouble PAUSING my subscription during my move. They definately didn’t skimp on customer support!
It’s great to hear you had such an excellent experience with Kiwi Co. We highly recommend their subscription service!
Please be advised before subscribing that canceling your subscription after the first year can be a nightmare. They charge your credit card for another year before your subscription is up and then tell you that you “elected” for another year and will not under any circumstances refund your money. Just know what you are getting into.
We didn’t have that issue – but thanks for sharing your experience. Nowadays, I tend to fire up a card from privacy.com for any one-year subscription – since I’m horrible about remembering to cancel subscriptions.
They have termed subscriptions.
Termed subscriptions are not automatically renewed. They have a texting help button for questions.I am excited to get my first crate!
Kiwico is truly an awesome brand!
I’ll leave a two-fold comment here, that the crates my niece & nephew received were very well-received and they had fun through the year with each monthly crate.
So no issues with the product itself, but customer service was definitely not a strong point for me. A few examples – it’s not easy to find how to contact customer service and they don’t automatically send an email when crates are shipped or your card is charged. I was getting loads of marketing emails from them initially so it was really easy to miss the one email letting me know my 3-month subscription was being renewed. You also can’t edit or remove a credit card from your profile.
Soo yeah – they’re not eager to please with the customer service but again, the value seemed pretty decent (especially when considering free shipping) but frustrating dealing with their company in general.
Yes kits are amazing, but not impressed with automatic subscription renewal. No contact before charge is made to your card. Seems a little shady for a so called reputable business. This is not a cheap product. We have had some illness and deaths in our family recently and kiwico kits were the last thing on my mind. It would have been nice to have a reminder that my subscription was up and they were going to renew it automatically. For this reason I will not be renew from them ever again or be recommending their product.