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So…an advertisement for Tinker Crates kept coming through my Facebook feed asking whether or not I had a young scientist in my house, and I would just look at it briefly, think “How cool,” and scroll right on past it.  One day, there was a video that started playing when I was scrolling through my Facebook feed that caught my attention.  It was a video of a bottle rocket that a child had built.  I quickly realized that I do have a young scientist in my house – his name is Zach.  I could totally see him building this bottle rocket and shooting it off inside the house or something crazy like that!

The ad totally worked on me.  I clicked on it, and went directly to their Kiwi Crate website.  You can “Get It” or “Gift It” – a great idea for a gift that keeps on giving (note to self).  I decided to sign Zach up for the 3 month subscription of the Tinker Crate for $19.95.  I will probably do a monthly subscription next time, but I wanted to check it out first.  The first kit we received was a Tinker Kit with the Trebuchet.

Here is what it is supposed to look like upon completion. Zach had his own idea for his...

Here is what the Trebuchet is supposed to look like upon completion. Zach had his own idea for his…

In this particular kit, you have everything you need to build an actual working Trebuchet that can launch a ping-pong ball up to 10 feet.  Zach had big plans to build this Trebuchet and launch the ping-pong ball at his sister!  Of course…  What else would a 9-year old boy do with a working Trebuchet?

All the directions that come in the crate are very clear and easy to read (and simple to follow), but if you get stuck, you can visit their website for tutorial videos to get detailed step-by-step instructions, tips, and even some tricks to experiment with its aiming and firing!  You can explore the physics of slings, levers, and air resistance with some guided help from the Tinkerzine magazine that comes with the kit.  Cool, right?

In true Zach form, he quickly built his Trebuchet without my help (incorrectly).  But he did it alone.  Because he skipped a few steps (most of them), he was not able to aim it and sling it as far as it should go, but he did not want my help to fix it.  He said “This is how I meant to build it, Mom.  I wanted it to work this way.”  I’m sure…

Even though it didn't work exactly like it should, he was still very proud of his final product.

Even though it didn’t work exactly like it should, he was still very proud of his final product.

So for the next week or so, I had bouncy balls all over my house.  He launched them everywhere!  It totally drove me crazy, but it was fun to see him excited to show his friends his latest creation.  And of course, he had to let all of them launch bouncy balls across my living room too!

See the colorful bouncy balls he's using? Imagine those all over your kitchen and living room floor!

See the colorful bouncy balls he’s using? Imagine those all over your kitchen and living room floor!

The founder and CEO of Kiwi Crate is a woman named Sandra.  She is a mother of 2 and started the company to encourage creativity and curiosity in children.  She loved projects like these, but had a hard time coming up with good, engaging activities for children, and found it even harder to gather the materials needed to complete the projects and experiments.

She developed many projects for her kids, and thought it would be great to share her ideas with other mothers who were also busy.  Great idea, right?  Who wouldn’t love a science experiment kit that someone else has put together for you?  Not only the materials needed, but information to explain why things happen, how they happen, and all the scientific principles behind it.

Kiwi Crate was created to fulfill that wish and to celebrate kids’ natural creativity and curiosity. We want to make it fun, easy, and delightful to spend time building, exploring and creating together. Since its inception, the Kiwi Crate team has grown. We’ve added creative parents who dream up the projects, valued experts who review them, and a community of kid testers who keeps us on our toes and ensures the projects are fun and engaging.

Wonderful pictures and step-by-step instructions that are very easy for kids to follow on their own.

Wonderful pictures and step-by-step instructions that are very easy for kids to follow on their own.

All of their experiments are developed by creative parents who dream of the projects, then they have valued experts review them all, and then they go through a series of tests with kids of all ages to ensure the projects are fun and engaging.  Their projects are designed with 5 principles in mind – Inspire, Create, Engage, Curate, and Deliver!  So far, from what I’ve seen, they deliver!

To get your Tinker Crate subscription started today, just go visit Tinker Crates by Kiwi Crate.  There are many different subscriptions you can try out.  I signed up for the Tinker Crate for Ages 9 and up.  They have several others that you might consider depending on your child’s age.

They have The Koala Crate for Ages 3-4, The Kiwi Crate for Ages 5-8, The Doodle Crate for Ages 9 and Up and The Tinker Crate for Ages 9 and Up.  You can also order one single crate, a mini crate, or other things too.  Their website is great – very informative, and very easy to understand what exactly you will be getting if you sign up.

I’m happy to let you know that we have received our second Tinker Crate. Guess what it is…  It is a bottle rocket!  Oh boy…  I’m sure Zach will decide that he wants to build this and try to launch it inside the house.  Good times…  I think I’ll keep this one hidden until I’m ready to sit down and monitor this activity.  The crate, just like the first one comes with everything you need to build a bottle rocket with its own launcher.

Everything you need in one small box! Easy to store, or keep hidden until you are ready for your child to "tinker" with it!

Here it is…  The “Build a Bottle Rocket” Tinker Crate.  Everything you need in one small box! Easy to store, or in my case, keep hidden until you are ready for your child to “tinker” with it!

And another neat thing – they also have their own You Tube Channel.  So Zach has watched the Build a Bottle Rocket Video and is very excited to do this project.  He’s also excited that he can post a video of his rocket to their Facebook Page.  What fun!  And now, after watching the You Tube video, I think he understands that he won’t be shooting his rocket off in the house…

So that’s my take on the Tinker Crates by Kiwi Crate!  I highly recommend them if you have a child like mine – one who was inventing different flavors of Gatorade in the kitchen when he was 3, or one who’s always creating crazy “concoctions” with different liquids from my kitchen still to this day!  Tinker Crates are your answer!  Can’t wait to hear what you think.  Until next time…