Very Honest Kiwi Crate Review

Have you heard of this new trend of monthly kids subscription boxes?

They are offered for just about anything now, from clothing, to crafts, to games, to makeup, to books. Every month you get awesome new products to try, without having to go through the process of shopping online or in a store. Some of even catered to your preferences, age, lifestyle, and more.

As I am homeschooling my kids for preschool this year, and I am not very crafty, I have been looking into various monthly kid subscription boxes. I recently signed up for two different FREE samples/trials – a Kiwi Crate one, and a Citrus Lane one (Citrus Lane has since shut down).

Kiwi Crate offered a FREE Mini-Kiwi Crate box, featuring a Lantern. I only had to pay $3.95 shipping.

Kiwi Crate Review

Our Kiwi Crate arrived shortly after we ordered it, and we were able to make the lantern craft, play with it, and test it out.

The box contained a small, flickering, battery-powered, tea light, star stickers, a star hole punch, an instruction book, storybook, pipe cleaners, colored sheets, and the pre-cut paper lantern.The craft was super easy to put together, especially since the lantern was also pre-cut and scored with fold lines.

My kids needed a little help figuring out the hole punch, and they got tired of making stars. The stickers are what assemble, or “glue” your box together as well as attach the colored sides.  Pretty simple.

Obviously, you could glue them down if you wanted to. The lid just slid on and you popped the light in there, and it was done! Easy, peasy.

And my daughters thought it was pretty cool. They loved taking it into our downstairs (under the stairs) closet, where they could shut the door and be in pitch black darkness, using their lantern for their light source. We even used the lantern as a cool night light in their bedroom that night. I was actually pleasantly surprised that it survived past day one. But, all good things must come to an end.

The next day, one of my daughters decided she had to see what would happen if she kept twisting the pipe cleaners around, and around. Well, it meant that the whole paper got ripped and the pipe cleaner was no longer attached at top on that side.

And then little brother would grab hold of the lantern and crunch it.

And by the third day, since it was already “ruined,” one of my daughter thought that she must completely destroy it by cutting it up into little pieces with a scissors. And the top of the light was removed, so we were left with a little circuit of wires and a light.

The only thing we have left of our Kiwi Crate at this point is the star hole punch, which actually is pretty cool, and we’ve used it for a different, preschool-related, craft already.

Oh, and we still have the book, which, we, honestly, haven’t even read yet! Oops. But, it has some cool extension activities and ideas in it!

Is it worth it?

So, what do I think of Kiwi Crate? I think it’s a pretty cool, easy craft! Do I think it’s wise for my kids…. Maybe not. Because I know my kids. And they have a knack at destroying and dismantling everything they are given.

Do I think that other kids would love this? Absolutely. My kids did love it; they just loved it to pieces, a little too literally.

Also, the free trial of Kiwi Crate, is a sample-size craft. Usually Kiwi Crate boxes come with at least one other craft and other materials as well.

Kiwi Co monthly subscriptions run at $19.95 a month, and with free shipping. They are even less if you pay up front for a longer subscription plan (6 months or a year). They also offer a sibling add-on option for $9.95 a month, which knowing my twins, might have been a good idea.

It’s hard to say for sure if a Kiwi Crate subscription box is a good deal. I do think the lantern could have been made with a sturdier material (like cardboard) and that they could have provided actual glue or something better than (not very sticky) stickers to hold the craft together.

But, each month the craft is different, and I’m sure some are going to be better than others. But, over time you just might balance it out.

Kiwi Crate has expanded its offerings as well. They now have a Koala Crate for ages 3-4 offers hands-on play and learning. The Doodle Crate is perfect for ages 9-16+ who love art, design, and inspiration. And the Tinker Crate is great for ages 9-16+ who are into science and engineering. They also have a Panda Crate for ages 0-24 months and an Atlas Crate for kids 6-11 to learn geography and culture.

Have you tried Kiwi Crate? Are you going to sign up and try it out? Have you tried other kid subscription boxes before?