The Cost: $23.95 per month, less with longer subscription length
Coupon: Use code SCREENFREE to save $5
Suggested Age Range: 2-10 years old
What’s inside: “Founded by a Scientist-mom, each box is thoughtful and has 4-6 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) Activities and a 12-page magazine! Each box a new theme designed to explore their environment, inspire a love of nature, and get away from screens! A great mix of science experiments and art projects – with everything you need to complete up to 6 activities in every box.”
Ships To: Worldwide
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After staying home for nearly a year, my son and I have found our “Covid Bucketlist” widdled down to nothing. And with Winter Break approaching, we were relieved to have a box full of STEAM activities to keep our minds busy. I tend to be a hands-on mother, planning activities, and crafts throughout the year. However this year, I have started running out of ideas (or the drive) to plan such projects. Therefore, I’m always on the lookout for subscription boxes that help me connect with my son, while also taking the planning pressure off from me.
Green Kid Crafts has been on my list to try for a while now since they combine experiments and art into one fun subscription box. The box was very well organized with supplies separated into two bags for the six pre-planned activities. Little things like that make my life easier since I’m not scrambling to find the needed supplies. The insert was brightly colored and grabbed my son’s attention with the arctic scene. I actually grew up in Alaska and have brought my son to visit. So the Arctic Science theme was perfect for us. Each activity was detailed within the insert and we also found some bonus pages that contained a maze and a hidden picture game.
Activity 1 – Northern Lights Postcards
My son and I often talk about the Northern Lights. As a kid, I remember watching them outside in the freezing cold and being so in awe! It is my dream to give the same experience to my son. This postcard craft was a great way to draw out our dreams. Plus, with the holidays, we were able to send the artwork as Thank You cards to our family in Alaska. Our box included the supplies needed to make four postcards, one was mailed before I got a picture of it. We did opt to use our own paintbrush since the included one was pretty small to work with. Also, in the instructions, Green Kid Crafts suggested that we use a white crayon to make stars that appear when we painted over them. However, there was no white in our box and we didn’t have one on hand so we did skip that suggestion.
Activity 2 – Watercolor Snowflakes
I used to love making snowflakes as a kid. We typically would use a piece of printer paper and need to get more creative with our cuts. I loved that this craft used coffee filters since it made cutting much easier than what I was used to. My son decided one looked like a web and had fun making it into a Spiderman web (see below picture). This was such a simple craft that we can easily replicate at home again and again. However, wasn’t something I had thought about doing together this past year. I loved watching my son get his creativity out.
Activity 3 – Blubber Experiment
For our third activity, our box included an experiment that taught us how blubber works. This experiment came at a good time since we had just been learning about how blubber helps keep walruses warm in the ice-cold waters of the arctic. There was only enough petroleum for one little baggie, so we took turns putting our fingers in the ice water. Even my husband got in on the action. We each were pretty amazed at how much warmer our finger that was covered in jelly felt. This was a great way to see in real-time how blubber keeps marine mammals warm.
Activity 4 – Arctic Games
While I didn’t take any action shots of our 2020 Arctic Games, we had a blast with this activity. Each and every game was such a fun challenge. I really loved that they were quick and easy to set up, and also didn’t have a ton of rules to follow. And since most of these games used items we have laying around the house, we are able to use the ideas to create this again and again. The competition aspect was amazing too since it got all of our blood pumping a little bit. Turning a fun game into something that gets you moving is a win-win in my book!
Activity 5 – Hare & Fox Window Clings
While this project was one we were really excited to try, we had a few mishaps. First, while inspecting the supplies, I squeezed the puff paint a little and half of our green exploded onto the counter. At one point my son dropped the glue bottle onto the half-done designs. And lastly, the “finished” clings ended up ripping in half while taking them off the plastic. Although we had a lot of fun trying to make a Creeper window cling, I can’t count this as a win. However, I am excited to try this again in the future with my son. I think with some practice we could come up with so really cool window clings.
Activity 6 – Beaded Snowflakes
Upon reading this activity, I thought it was way too young for my 7-year-old to enjoy, however, he seemed to really have fun with it. He decided to try to make a dragonfly (below, left). One thing that he mentioned while designing the snowflake (bottom, right) was that he wished that the beads weren’t so random in color. He wished to have more beads that were the same color so he could make better patterns on his snowflake. But in the end, he did a great job with what he was working with. And I had a lot of fun watching his thought process.
Overall
My family had a really great time with Green Kid Crafts over winter break. We were able to space out the activities over the course of our time off and really enjoy each and every project. The contents of the products inside the box were well under the monthly subscription price. However, that isn’t where I see value in this type of box. For me, the value is in the time saved planning each activity and gathering the needed supplies. Knowing that a box will show up each month with pre-planned projects is something I can get behind.
Try Green Kid Crafts today!
Save $5 on your first month with code SCREENFREE
All views in this review are the opinion of the author. The Review Girls will never accept payment in exchange for a review, but will accept a box at no cost to provide honest opinions on the box. This post may contain affiliate/referral links. Read our complete disclosure.Â