STEM subscription boxes are an excellent way to get your kids to learn something new every month. Each one comes with everything you need for fun STEM projects!
Whether recent events have left you scrambling for a fun way to educate your young ones at home, or you’re simply looking for a great way to keep them engaged in learning outside of the classroom, the best STEM subscription boxes for kids are bound to be a big hit, not only with them but with you too.
Short for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, STEM subscription boxes come with all the materials you need to engage them in a wide range of fun and fascinating projects, ensuring they’ll never run out of reasons to love learning!
The best part is that each box comes with clear instructions for parents so that you can help them through each stage of the process.
Here are the 10 best science subscription boxes for kids that will introduce your little learners to the captivating world of science and technology!
Top 10 Best STEM Subscription Boxes for Kids
Given that STEM covers a board area, it’s perhaps not surprising to find such a huge variety of subscription boxes out there.
If your kids are interested in one particular subject -like technology, for example- you’ll find plenty of packages catering exactly to that specific topic.
Alternatively, if you wanted to keep things interesting, you could always choose a subscription service with a different theme every month, say a chemistry-inspired project in the first month, and a robotics activity the next. That way, your kids can eagerly look forward to discovering what’s in store for them each month.
Below, we’ll list what our family chose as the best 10 STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) boxes covering the whole range of subjects, including those focusing on a particular theme as well as those which rotate the theme each month.
1. KiwiCo
($19.95 – $34.95 per month)
Best for Ages 2 – 16+
KiwiCo’s best-selling monthly Kiwi crates offer different activities and projects that explore science, technology, and engineering concepts in a fun, practical, and hands-on way.Â
Crates come in 4 different categories – for ages two to four, five to eight, nine to sixteen, and fourteen and up.
You don’t need to be a science genius to help your kids learn – the KiwiCo STEM boxes come with detailed, step-by-step guides.Â
As a provider of both STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts and Math) boxes, KiwiCo also offers Kiwi Crates based on art and design, as well as geography and culture, but for the sake of this guide, let’s focus exclusively on those in the STEM remit.
The Koala Crate (Ages 2-4)Â
The Koala Crate introduces preschoolers to the world of science, math, engineering, and more using play-based learning and using easy concepts they can grasp. Kits include activities designed to improve motor skills and teach them a wide range of subjects through fun activities such as pretend-play a trip to the doctor, create beautiful rainbows, and camp at the comfort of your own home.
The Kiwi Crate (Ages 5-8)
The Kiwi Crate is designed to introduce younger children to primary science concepts through engaging science experiments, games, and develop their love of learning.Â
Activities include gaining an understanding of basic mechanics by building their own arcade-style claw, learning about fundamental physics concepts by building a fun pinball game and gaining an understanding of the science of trees through an entertaining balancing game.
The Tinker Crate (Ages 9-16+)
Problem-solving, building, critical thinking, and engineering are skills kids can get from the Tinker Crate, a monthly science subscription kit that includes materials and hands-on activities that promote learning science and engineering, like learning about pendulums and automation.  Â
The Eureka Crate (Ages 14 up)
Older kids – and kids at heart! – will have fun working on electronics, and physics projects that will help them apply practical science and engineering principles each month.
Projects include building a desk lamp, making an electric sharpener, and even making a musical instrument from scratch!
2. Beautiful Discovery
($29 per month)
Best for ages 9 and up
Beautiful Discovery awakens your child’s sense of wonder with nature-inspired activities such as eco-games, art projects, origami, stories, and games designed to teach them about biology, ecology, and more.
Kids will have the chance to identify, model, and decode patterns that can be seen on shells, trees, and leaves. Young learners will also get the opportunity to challenge their perception of patterns with drag-and-drop code games.
3. Green Kid Crafts
(Starts at $29.95)
Best for Kids Ages 2 to 10+
The Green Kid Crafts science box makes science enjoyable and accessible for toddlers and pre-teens alike.
The monthly science subscription box combines the fun and creativity of art projects with fascinating science facts to create a range of nature-based STEAM activities to help them learn about the natural world.
Each age-appropriate, eco-friendly box contains between 4-6 projects per month, along with a 12-page magazine filled with project ideas, instructions, stories, puzzles, games, tips for parents, and more.
Here’s what you’ll get per age:
Junior Box Ages 2-4
A carefully curated box packed full of simple, age-appropriate activities to help build your child’s basic science skills. Boxes could include counting kits, outer space discovery boxes, and science craft projects!
Discover Box Ages 5-10+
Kids can learn more about complex science topics the fun way by working on an exciting volcano project, engaging in wonderful weather experiments, and more. Packages for this age group also tackle topics like the solar system, geology, and ecology.
4. STEM Discovery Boxes
(From $24.95/month)
Best for ages 7 to 12
Approved by the Parents’ Choice Foundation, the science-based STEM Discovery Boxes offer three unique experiments and projects per month covering a wide range of science projects.
Whether the focus of a particular project is electronics, chemistry, physics, coding, or anything else each one is geared to help your kids understand the how and why behind the way everyday items work. Some of the finished products can be used as toys your kids can play with for hours!
Previous boxes have featured such engaging activities as making a fiber optic lamp, building a dinosaur, learning about stethoscopes, creating solar system models, coding projects, melting stuff, and building neon lamps!
As with all the boxes in this guide, you can easily cancel your subscription anytime.
5. Mel Chemistry
(Starts at $34.90)
Best for Ages 10-14
If you’re raising a chemistry fan, it’s time to get the Mel Chemistry monthly subscription box. Each month, they’ll receive two or three experiments based on a similar theme, all designed to nourish and encourage their passion for science.
In month one, they’ll even receive a free VR headset that works in conjunction with your smartphone to really make your kids feel like they’re learning inside a real lab! The package also includes all the equipment, safe chemicals, and instructions to bring their experiments to life.
Mel Chemistry also has a website and an app you can check for additional learning resources on how to use your monthly kits.
Although every chemical experiment is guaranteed to be safe for kids, parental supervision is still encouraged.
6. Spangler Science Club
($19.99 to $29.99 per month)
Best for kids 5 to 12 years old
Spangler Science Club projects are designed specifically for kids aged 5 – 12 years and their parents to work on together. The $19.99 box contains 5 easy-to-create, hands-on experiments per month, while the $29.99 box ups that to 10 experiments.
Each project is aimed at helping young learners understand science in everyday life. Activities can include lava science, volcanoes, attaching molecules, magic sand, and indoor snow.
7. Creation Crate
($29.99 per month)
Best for ages 8 – 12+
Is your kid fascinated with electronics? If so, fuel their interest with Creation Crate, a monthly, electronics-themed subscription crate designed to prepare kids for the tech jobs of the future.
Each month, your aspiring engineer or electronics specialist will receive a complete kit to design, program, and operate all kinds of cool gadgets such as a digital FM radio, an audio visualizer that changes the lights as the music plays, and more.
Each new project draws on skills and knowledge learned the previous month to ensure all that learning really sinks in.
As if that wasn’t enough, you can also add extra single-project boxes such as creating a Bluetooth speaker, an alarm clock, or a personal voice recorder. Depending on the project, these will set you back between $19.99 and $85+ in addition to your regular subscription charge.
8. Bitsbox
(Starts at $16.95 a month)
Best for kids 6-12 years old
With digital technology playing an increasing role in our lives, coding is not just a cool talent, it’s an invaluable and marketable skill that your kids may one day turn into a highly profitable career.
Bitsbox believes coding can be taught at an early age and sets out to do just that by making the discipline fun and accessible.
Each month, your kids will receive everything they need to create a different app. They can then head to the Bitsbox website and build a fully-functioning app that works on any mobile device.
Bitsbox comes in 3 varieties:
Basic Bitsbox – Subscription rate at $24.95. Kids will get a binder where they can put all their materials in.
Deluxe Bitsbox – Includes the same materials as the Basic Box. The package also comes with stickers, collectible cards, toys, and other fun stuff. It starts at $37.95.
Digital Bitsbox – Kids will receive their packages via email. No need for paper! It starts at $16.95.
It’s never too early to introduce your science wiz to the fascinating world of robotics! With this box, kids will learn how to build and make a robot with the help of a detailed instruction kit!
9. Go Box
($159 + $20 a month)
Best for ages 9 and Up
Go Box is a monthly robotic kit delivered straight to your home. The Go Box comes with a car named GoPiGo – a mini robot you need to use to complete projects (also known as missions) every month.
These missions include making GoPiGo mimic animals, tinkering with the settings to add light to the car, or attaching a sound and buzzer to GoPiGo.
Monthly missions come with a clear instructional manual that can help kids complete their projects easily! The Go Box combines learning electronics and engineering in one – now that’s a steal!
10. Groovy Lab in a Box
$29.95 per month
Best for Ages 4-8+
For the future scientist in your life, there are few better STEM subscription boxes than the options offered by Groovy Lab in a Box.
The company has two packages; a Young Creator Series aimed at 4-7-year-olds and a Stemist Series suitable for ages 8+, both offering a different science project each month that is designed to expand their creativity and critical thinking skills.
What we like best is that learning with Groovy Lab goes beyond what’s in the box, quite literally.
While the box itself contains all of the materials they’ll need to complete that month’s experiment, the ‘Beyond…in a Box’ online portal expands on their learning with videos and interactive activities.
Children also receive a Lab Notebook where they can record what they’ve learned and a special Engineering Design Challenge. This deliberately doesn’t come with instructions so that children are encouraged to put their learning to work in completing the challenge.
Life Skills that Kids Learn from STEM
There’s more to STEM than simply inspiring their love of learning. As they work through the projects in any of the above subscription boxes, your little ones will develop valuable skills and knowledge that will serve them well throughout life.
Creativity and Ingenuity
A big part of STEM learning is finding solutions to problems using the information they have learned from lessons on science, technology, engineering, and math.
STEM projects and challenges foster creativity in kids, encouraging them to come up with their own solutions to problems, draw on their own inner resources, and turn challenges into opportunities.
Resilience
Do you want to help kids develop the grit to persevere even if things are hard?
STEM can help you with that.
Projects are designed to be age-appropriately challenging. Combined with the joy of having completed a project, this teaches young ones an invaluable lesson about perseverance and the benefits of seeing things through.
Fearlessness
Without risk-takers, advancements in health, medicine, robotics, and technology may not have happened. STEM teaches kids to be risk-takers – yes, this includes messing up the codes, or failing on experiments – and encourages them to learn outside the box.
Teamwork
Learning STEM together as a group can make kids appreciate the power of teamwork. Solving STEM projects don’t always require that everyone be the scientist – some team members can be recorders, analysts, data encoders, and presenters!
Confidence
As young kids become hands-on with STEM problems, they realize that they have the skills and knowledge to conceptualize solutions. Consistently building projects and creating solutions can build your child’s trust in his skills and ability, even if they don’t know the answers right away. STEM projects push kids to venture outside their comfort zones and motivate them to try new things better.
More than anything else, STEM will teach your child to be creative, fearless, confident, and proactive – help build these life skills early with these 10 science subscription boxes for kids.
