KiwiCo’s Tinkercrate

For Christmas, we got Gemma a subscription to KiwiCo’s Tinkercrate. 

I had seen ads for it and heard people say they loved it, but I wasn’t sold until I saw one of the 5th graders at the school where I teach, walking around with the claw machine he built. 

I grilled him about what he thought of the Tinkercrate boxes. Did he like them? How many had he done? Could he complete them by himself? Were they too easy?

He’d done three and had enjoyed them all. He said he could do them on his own, but that they weren’t too easy. They were “just right.” That was exactly what I was looking for.

I found a promotional code that made it possible to get a 6 month subscription for about $13 per box, so the price point was right. 

I liked that KiwiCo could ship the first box to one address (Grandma’s house, so it could go under the Christmas tree), and the rest of the boxes to a second address (our house). 

I also liked that EVERYTHING for her first project (a spin-art machine) came in the box. The only thing Gemma needed was a pair of scissors to trim the transistors. I also thought it was very cool that the project used the box as part of the design.

I wouldn’t have tried KiwiCo if I hadn’t had the promotional code. There are just too many subscription services on the market right now, and it’s difficult to gauge if a product will be a good fit for your child without getting to see the product up close and talking to a child who has used the product. I’m really happy with my purchase (the gift was a hit!), and I’m excited to see what projects come in future boxes.