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This Is What You Need to Know Before You Buy: A KiwiCo. Review

Is KiwiCo worth the money? Are the KiwiCo creates good quality? Do kids really enjoy these boxes? Let’s talk about all this and more in my totally honest KiwiCo review!

When I tell people we use KiwiCo as a big part of our science this year, they immediately follow with the previous questions. They want to know about the money aspect, the quality, if kids actually like them, and what to do with all the projects when you’re done with them!

I had some doubts myself before I ordered it, so I thought I would do a KiwiCo. review for the fellow doubters and let you know how we use it as a big part of our science curriculum in our homeschool.

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Is Kiwi Co worth the money? Are the Kiwi Co creates good quality? Do kids really enjoy these boxes? All this and more in my totally honest Kiwi Co review!

My ‘mom-view’ KiwiCo. review

Because we’re moms and we want the best stuff for our kids, but we also want to spend our money wisely, I’ve broken this down into small, bite-sized bits of info for you for easy reading.

This is just something that I wanted to share (because spoiler alert: I think KiwiCo. is awesome! BUT I do have some thoughts to make it really worth your while, and might not be for everyone).

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KiwiCo. Review: What Box Should You Get?

When we started getting KiwiCo boxes, there were just a few options. They have since expanded to offer lots of boxes for lots of ages and interests. Here’s a quick list of what they offer, what boxes we’ve tried and what we are currently subscribed to.

KiwiCo Crates for the Younger Years

  • Panda Crate: Ages 0-24 months for Exploring + Discovering
  • Koala Crate: Ages 2-4 for Playing + Learning
  • Kiwi Crate: Ages 5-8 for Science, Art and More! Vera received this one for a long time. The projects included are adorable and so fun. She’s made her own games, learned about animals, and more.
  • Atlas Crate: Ages 6-11 for Geography + Culture We tried this one out and it’s perfect to add to your geography studies!

KiwiCo. Crates for your Older Kids

  • Doodle Crate: Ages 9-16+ for Art + Creativity. I hate to pick favorites, but this one is my favorite!! I am SO impressed by the projects in this crate and would love to get it at some point too. There are art mediums and techniques included that I would’ve been too intimidated to go out and buy all the supplies and teach on my own. HIGHLY Recommend this one!
  • Tinker Crate: Ages 9-16+ for science + engineering. This one has been our longtime family favorite. First I ordered it for my boys several years ago for about a year. They sort of lost interest as they got older, but Sophia (then about 8) would always be really interested in it too. So, last year for Christmas I ordered her a subscription and have not stopped. She LOVES Tinker Crate! I would love to save them for rainy days, but in actuality, she normally completes them the day they arrive.
  • Maker Crate: Ages 16-104. This is a newer crate and is designed for creatives wanting to make things at a more difficult level. These crates look amazing!!
  • Eureka Crate: Ages 16-104. We subscribed to this one for a while and it was awesome! But to be honest, my 14-year-old was more interested in reading about the projects than actually doing them. We switched his subscription to the Kiwi Crate for Vera and everyone was happy.

What are the details of the Crates? What’s included? Can you use it with multiple kids?

  • First things first, what comes in the boxes? Every single thing you’ll need to create something pretty cool. Everything from the glue to a random pushpin to a package of fiber optic strands. It’s all in there. There’s also a large sheet with the instructions and a “magazine”, which is a booklet with a ton of info and other ideas about the month’s topic. Typically there are more projects in the magazine so the box includes way more than just one project.
  • How Flexible are the Ages? That depends. I have found the recommended ages are very accurate. The crates for older kids are pretty involved. You can certainly buy it for younger kids and make it a group project with older and younger and yourself.
  • Is it flexible if I want to cancel or just get a few crates? Yes, totally! That’s the only reason I did it. If I would have had to sign up for a whole year, I wouldn’t have done it. I wanted to pay for a period of time in full and I wanted to try it out for a short time, to see if we liked it. The first time, I did the three-month subscription over the summer. You can do a 3, 6, or 12-month subscription and the cost includes shipping.

    Or you can search through the shop and grab just one crate that stands out to you. It cost a little more this way though.

    It’s really easy to cancel too. On the website under ‘My Account’ you can manage all that easily. I had to update my debit card number and it was super easy to navigate.

    Also, when my son wasn’t loving the Eureka Crate, I was able to switch to another line of Crates really easily.
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A few other things I like about KiwiCo:

  • The directions are so clear and perfect for kids who might not be the most thorough of instruction-readers.
  • The project will sometimes require them to use even the box it came in. I really like this.
  • There are always a few extra pieces included in the kits.
  • Getting happy mail each month is so much fun!
  • I get an email when it’s shipped, so I know it’s coming. I also get a heads-up on what kind of project is coming, which helps us get all excited.
  • These are projects I would probably never do otherwise. I am not great at teaching science. There’s a lot of pieces involved, sometimes pieces that would be hard to find. I like the convenience. It’s SO nice.
  • It’s quality stuff. It really is. We’ve signed up for other monthly subscriptions and what we’ve got does not fit the bill. But this? This is so worth your $20 or so a month. I had doubts about what we’d get, but this was the biggest surprise for me. Great quality!

The Money Aspect

My biggest tip with the cost part of Kiwi Co is this: NEVER buy without a coupon! There are a ton of deals out there all the time. I try to share them occasionally on my Instagram page.

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Current Deal: Use code: BRIGHT for 40% off the first month!

They also offer holiday crates, which is so much fun! Love these!

This was such a fun kit (Kiwi Crate). It was all about animals that change color and this project included color-changing paint. When it was dry, you could hold the frog in your warm hands and it would change color. SOOO cool!

Final Thoughts on my KiwiCo. Review

So, to summarize, we really like KiwiCo Crates. A whole lot. Initially, I signed up for the 3-month subscription for the summer months. But I just signed up for another 3-month subscription. And I have since been getting two creates for almost a year straight.

The only hard thing I’ve found is what to do with the projects–they really pile up! For us, we love to play with the projects for a while–about a month or two. The kids will keep their very favorites on their dresser or a shelf for a while. After the thrill has worn off, we will pass them on to someone else or toss them if they’ve started to wear out.

I hope you found this KiwiCo. review helpful. I was really looking for something like this–short, sweet, and honest–before I signed up and I couldn’t find anything.

Need more science-y ideas without the textbooks?

Is Kiwi Co worth the money? Are the Kiwi Co creates good quality? Do kids really enjoy these boxes? All this and more in my totally honest Kiwi Co review!

What about you? Have you tried KiwiCo? What is your KiwiCo Review?

28 Comments

  1. They have monthly, 3, 6, 12 months subscriptions. How many crates will we get in total? Does new crate come monthly? How does that work? I would like to know more information from current subscribers before making a decision. Please and thank you.

  2. This will be the 3rd year I am ordering this for my 4 and 7 year old grandchildren. They (and their parents love it)!! Also, never had an issue with duplicate boxes or billing problems! You can cancel order renewal anytime after 1st box is shipped. I just set a reminder on my calendar!

  3. They have an option to do renewing or non-renewing boxes on their site now. I wasn’t going to sign up until I discovered the option to buy only a set number (with no renewal).

  4. I subscribed for KiwiCo subscription of six months. I just received a coupon for first month free and wanted to do another project. We had the eureka crate at first because I wanted the ukulele and other things. I’m thinking of going with the tinker crate and thought that it might be similar but not as difficult. Do you know if the holiday boxes will come around December or do you have to order them separately

  5. Did not see a date on this review so I thought I would ask and hope you are still responding to questions here. You mentioned handing them down to someone else… are these crates able to be disassembled and reused? I have 3 kids and want them all to experience things for themselves but don’t want to buy 3 of the exact same crate again and again.

  6. These subscriptions are something like investing in a time share. My son loved the kits, honestly, but getting out of your subscription is all but impossible.. They will bill your credit card for the next year before your 1st year is even up and will tell you that you, and I quote, “elected” to continue for another year. Then they will send you an email that they did cancel your subscription at your request, but then you read the fine print and it says they have cancelled your subscription for the NEXT year, 12 months down the road. I have sent email after email begging them to refund my money and cancel our subscription. It’s not worth the aggravation, Don’t subscribe unless you are ready to commit for multiple years, and good luck getting out of it even then.

  7. Th service is bad, we had to wait more then 40 days for 2 different subscriptions! The crates are often the same, if you had a previous subscription and then the auto-renewal of the subscription! This is not the way to attract customers, on the contrary, it’s a way to chase them away! I will never recommend this, even if the initial idea was good.

  8. Ugh! The makerspace cost $34 and I got a 60% coupon but only subtracted 12 dollars. Which brings me 22! I searched up online that 60 percent off 34.00 is 13.60! I hate kiwico! Will anyone?!?!? Give me a better coupon! KiwiCo is way toooo expensive!

    ~Please Answer~

  9. My child just turned 4. Is it best to order up to the 5-8 year old kit or start with the 2-4 year old kit? There is a big difference in the interest and capabilities of a 4 year old, compared to a 2 year old.

  10. Yes, I get that. I don’t love it either but almost all of the subscription services do that. I just write myself a note in my planner to cancel by a certain date so I remember…I have forgotten several times!

  11. Just be careful. They auto-renew you after the 6 months. I’m not a big fan of being auto-renewed and would prefer an email with a check yes or no to continue. These are great kits for fun – but for us they have been a little too simple for my 8 and 10-year-old who are in the gifted program at school. Better for the 8-year-old, than the 10-year-old. At first they looked forward to that box, but now my 10-year-old isn’t as big on it. The age range for this being for up to a 16-year-old is definitely over stated. Now they are a cool all-in-one and of course kids can take the idea and keep moving forward with their own ingenuity. But if you have done much STEM with lego robotics, little bits, sphero etc you may find these kits aren’t a good bang for the buck. I like the concept – but I think they should say these kits are like an age range of maybe 8 – 11 and then come up with more advanced kits so we have a way to size up.

  12. Thank you for this review! I have been on the fence about signing up but your review pushed me to just do it. Looking forward to receiving our crates!

  13. My almost 8-year-old is on his second-year subscription of Tinker Crates. At first, we did them as a family. Now he does them on his own and only comes to me when he needs assistance. He has completed a few independently. We LOVE Tinker Crates. I usually buy Kiwi and Tinker Crates throughout the year and give them as holiday gifts. (not huge impact upon opening, but, big wows when they complete them). I can’t say enough about them.

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