Kiwi Crate Review – Let’s Bake

We recently opened M’s second Kiwi Crate box, Let’s Bake, which she received as a birthday present.  Kiwi Crate subscriptions currently start at $60.00 for 3 months ($20.00/month) and go up to $205.00 for 12 months ($17.09/month).  In lieu of a subscription, they also allow you to purchase single crates, at an individual price of $19.95 plus shipping.

Similar to the Castles and Catapults box, this one contained two main activities, as well as a separate “explore” activity book with additional ideas.  Each activity came with an instruction book, and on the front an estimate of the mess factor and parental involvement.  It also shows the skill set your child will be developing.  Inside it explains what materials are needed for the project, and then a step-by-step guide with photos to explain the assembly process.

The kids started with the chef dress-up.  You start by placing plain white stickers on the included chef’s hat and apron.  The object of the activity is not to color the stickers themselves, but instead to color the stickers and outside the edges.  Once you peel the stickers away, you are left with a scribbled outline.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures of our own completed items, but you can see an example from the photo below.  The kids also loved the metallic crayons, and have continued to use them during craft time since.

We then moved on to the frosted cake.  The “cake” is actually made of foam sponges, and includes clay “icing” to decorate with.

This activity was quite messy, and too difficult for L and M on their own.  Even J struggled to apply all the icing evenly.  The all had a blast decorating the cakes though!  For this activity, you have the option to make a two layer cake, or two single layer cakes.  Instead, the boys each made a two layer slice of cake, and M made her own single layer cake.  While the kits are only meant for one child, so far they have done a good job of sharing the supplies so all three can join in.

The “explore” activity book was similar to the last.  It included a short comic book style story to read, a couple drawing pages, and additional activities to do with items you would typically have around the house.   With the business of the holidays we never made it around to finishing all of the items in the activity book, however I feel the time spent on the main activities alone justifies the cost of each crate and as such have already ordered more crates to be delivered.