Most of the STEM subscription boxes are targeted at older children.
The Koala Crate from Kiwi Crate is not like most subscription boxes. And if you are looking to get a great gift for a young child, that’s great news for you.
We’ve done a hands-on review of the Koala Crate in order to give you a look at who it’s geared towards, what you get with a subscription, and what kind of a value it is. While all the details can be found below, after hours of putting the Crate through its paces we are fans. It’s a great science activity box for preschool children.
Who Is The Koala Crate For?
Koala Crate is designed for preschoolers. The ideal age range is three to four-year-old children. Boys and girls will both enjoy playing with the projects in this crate.
Who Should Pass on the Koala Crate?
As stated earlier, the Koala Crate is focused on 3-4-year-old preschoolers. While I feel like I shouldn’t have to type these words, I will: older children will probably not enjoy playing with projects geared to the pre-K crowd.
They might enjoy a different subscription box. Check out our STEM box subscription guide for age-appropriate ideas.
What Is the Koala Crate?
Koala Crate is a subscription crate service designed to give young children exposure to different concepts and materials that encourage learning and fun through a hands-on experience. Each month contains a different theme.
All the materials and projects are based around this theme. For example, our crate was based on music. We had three projects that all related to music in some form.
There are two sets of printed materials. One is the instruction manual for the grownup assistant. Ours was colorful and straightforward – exactly as instructions should be. The other booklet is a mini-magazine entitled imagine! . It goes into the topic of the month from a few different angles. It contains cartoon characters and seems geared to be read together with your child.
Our Hands-On Koala Crate Review
(Ed. Note: One of our contributors relayed their family’s experience with the Koala Crate. For background, their daughter is 3 years old. The opinions expressed in this section are solely hers.)
The excitement began when the Koala Crate arrived in the mail from Fractus Learning HQ. I guess it’s easy to forget as adults, but getting something, ANYTHING in the mail is a big deal to a young child.
It’s an even bigger deal when you’ve been told it’s a new toy to test out.
On our walking trip back from the mailbox, Liz was begging me to open up the crate so we could start playing. I admit I was worried that she was a little too excited, and whatever was inside the box had no chance of living up to the expectations of the 3 yr old mind.
Luckily, I was wrong. You see, my daughter loves music which just so happened to be the theme this month. After opening the neatly organized and packaged box (as seen on the unboxing video below), we made sure all the pieces were available. Nothing worse than beginning some activity to find near the end you are missing the rubber band package or whatever, right?
All the items were included. I would note there are some smaller pieces. For example, in this package, there were some small “jingle-bells”. These shouldn’t be a problem for 3 and up, but if you have a younger sibling along for the ride watching the activities you’ll have to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t swallow anything.
This kit had three creations – a xylophone, a tambourine, and a dancing streamer. We began with the tambourine because it was easy and Liz wanted to play with one “very very much!” With a little help from me – both reading and showing her how to get started – she had her tambourine built in no time.
The xylophone appeared at first glance to be more difficult to make, but because the pieces were bigger my daughter was able to more of the work herself. She was quite proud of that. There are stamps involved in this project so that only added to the excitement – every kid loves to stamp things.
Finally, the dancing streamer was basically an art project. It was fun, and once I set up the area to work she had no problem completing the task on her own. She’d then run around the house with the streamer and tambourine in her hands, making a joyous ruckus. It was like a G-Rated Woodstock!
What We Liked The Best
I liked how age-appropriate this kit was. All of the activities held Liz’s attention well, and she really enjoyed both making and playing with her creations.
The materials were sturdy, and everything was included that you needed to get going on building right away. Since there’s natural excitement on 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.
What Would We Change
The only suggestion I have is maybe to have the instructions in video format as well as on a page. I get we want to help kids learn to read, but some can’t at this age. It’d be nice for them to see the instructions on a screen as well.
Conclusion
If you are looking for something that’s fun, geared at your 3-4 year old’s abilities, and you can participate in too – the Koala Crate is a perfect choice. The only drawback is a strength as well – this is only made for pre-school children. It targets that niche and serves it well. It’s a good value for the time and fun level it provides.