Dive into our in-depth KiwiCo Tinker Crate review to discover the contents, activities, and benefits of this innovative STEM subscription box for kids.
My kids have been receiving various KiwiCo subscription boxes since they were in kindergarten. We have loved every single crate and it has become my secret weapon for turning those rainy afternoons or weekend lulls into opportunities for creativity and learning.
My son is now in 4th grade (where did the time go?) and we are excited to tackle the Tinker Crate for ages 9+! Even though he has enjoyed the innovative STEAM projects from the Kiwi Crate, he is ready for more challenging activities that will take his critical thinking to another level.
KiwiCo Tinker Crate Overview
KiwiCo’s Tinker Crate is designed to ignite a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) with educational and entertaining activities.
Tinker Crate is a hands-on subscription box by KiwiCo designed to spark the curiosity of budding engineers, scientists, and innovators. Suitable for children ages 9 and up, Tinker Crate explores the intricacies of various STEM concepts and unleashes the power of imagination through engaging projects.
Summary:
AGES: 9-14
PRICE: $18.50/month
PROMO: Use promo code MOMBRITE to get 50% off 1st month’s subscription!
What Comes in the Tinker Crate?
The Tinker Crate comes with all the materials you need to make the science and engineering projects. We received the Glowing Pendulum crate and it included an illustrated blueprint instruction manual, a special-edition Tinker Zine magazine, and all the materials needed to build the glowing pendulum.
Tinker Crate Review
Before diving into the projects, we first read the Tinker Zine magazine. It provides a comprehensive explanation of the scientific concepts used in the activities. In this case, we read about the butterfly effect and chaos theory.
I am always impressed with how simple yet effective the Tinker Zine magazine explains the science behind the projects. I have a background in engineering and I wish that somebody would have taught me chaos theory by connecting it to the butterfly effect and demonstrating it with a double pendulum.
The Tinker Zine magazine includes many more examples of chaos theory in everyday life. We have done the food coloring in milk experiment multiple times, but never related it to chaos until now!
The Tinker Zine also talks about the random walk, which is a fun dice game to play with your kids. I learned about the random walk in my college finance class so I explained to my kids how the stock market is like the random walk game – chaos!
The glowing pendulum Tinker crate doesn’t only touch on chaos theory, but also ultraviolet light. The atoms in the glowboard, which was made out of a fluorescent material, absorbed the UV light and got energized. Then the atoms released the extra energy as visible light, which was the random green trails that we saw from the pendulum.
If your kids are interested in learning more about fluorescence, the Tinker Zine also comes with activities you can do on this topic. As you can see, every KiwiCo crate contains so much information as well as experiments you can do with your kids to supplement the main project.
After reading the Tinker Zine, my son was so excited to build the double pendulum. He was able to construct the entire pendulum by himself following the detailed instructions in the blueprint. The illustrations were really helpful in ensuring that he got the orientations of all the pieces right before moving on to the next step.
I like how the blueprint has a “stop and test” section for the kids to slow down and test everything before moving on. It’s super frustrating for kids (and adults too!) to have gone through the entire instruction manual just to realize that they missed a step or put together parts of the pendulum incorrectly. The “stop and test” sections ensure the main parts are working as planned before moving on.
The glowing pendulum was so much fun! My son said that it was one of his favorite crates from KiwiCo, though he had said that about other crates as well. The chaotic motion demonstrated by the double pendulum along with the fluorescent light was mesmerizing to watch.
After we finished experimenting with the double pendulum, we moved on to the next activity in the instruction manual. We used washi tape to create a maze on the glowboard, and the challenge was to move the light through the maze by controlling the light with two strings. It took a while for my son to figure out how to use the strings to guide the light through the pathways but eventually, he mastered it.
Final Thoughts on the KiwiCo Tinker Crate Subscription
As a homeschool mom, KiwiCo crates have been integral to our science curriculum. The Tinker Crate has age-appropriate yet challenging projects for my 4th grader and is a great next step after the Kiwi Crate.
The innovative activities are invaluable in demonstrating otherwise abstract or confusing science concepts for elementary school kids. You can make each crate a month-long learning experience by doing a different experiment every week!
YOU MAY LIKE: