Kiwi Crate

Being a boy, Jack loves to run and jump around. He literally runs from room to room - the downstairs neighbors have never said a thing, but I'm pretty sure they can hear someone running the length of the apartment every morning starting at 6:15am. We often hit the playground or some other physical activity to tucker Jack out.

Sometimes, though, it's fun to trade in the playground for some time at home. I recently signed up for a monthly subscription to Kiwi Crate which sends a monthly "crate" containing two craft activities. Each box has a theme and all the associated stuff that you need including simple directions.

We received the first box this week and it really exceeded my expectations. I'm a sucker for the details, the marketing and the packaging. Each box is about the size of a shoe box. When you open it, the contents are wrapped in tissue paper sealed with a sticker like a present. Get past the tissue and the box is split into two compartments, each containing a little how-to booklet and everything you need for that activity. I was impressed with the quality of the materials and the details -- like a "zip line" which could have easily just been a piece of thick plastic rope, but this was a thick plastic line with sparkles inside. Or the heavy gauge paper they include for everything from the crafts to the instructions.

This month's theme was Bugs. The first activity contained those dehydrated sponges that you put in water and they swell up. There were a dozen small sponges that were shaped like bugs -- we had fun putting them in water and watching them grow. Included were 3 tempera paints, a paintbrush, a pencil, and 3 large pieces of thick paper with leaves and flowers on them to use as blank canvasses on which to stamp your bugs. The second activity was even cooler. Enclosed was a plastic bottle, translucent stickers, glowsticks, the sparkly rope, precut bug wings and feet made from vellum (there are those details again that I love!), googly eye stickers, and a cork. Decorate the bottle with the translucent stickers and cutouts, drop a glowstick inside, place the eyes on the cork, and you have yourself the most awesome firefly that glows from within. Now string up the firefly and he can "fly" back and forth on the rope like a zip line.

Firelfly zipping along

As if that weren't enough, there were also several 5x7 cards each printed with a picture of a different bug and fun facts that were educational and a conversation starter with your little one -- did you know a spider is not really a insect? Jack doesn't yet have the attention span to actually go through the cards in depth, but I found them fascinating.

We can't wait till next month.