Kiwi Crate Review - Spheres and Their Peers

I have wanted to try Kiwi Crate for the past few years but honestly didn't want to spend the money on a monthly subscription and enjoy searching Pinterest and finding our own creative projects. Recently I caved and decided to try it. Our first box arrived about two weeks ago and had two activities to go along with the theme, Spheres and Their Peers. We made 3D bubbles and a Tangram game. A few things I really loved about the box was, (1) everything was truly included; and (2) Blue Rock could do everything pretty much by himself with some supervision from me. He's six and has done a lot of crafts and experiments so he's familiar with making things. 

Here's what we got in the box.

This is a picture of everything in the box!

The first activity we did was make the 3D bubbles. There was a book about spheres and their peers we read. Then he took the pipe cleaners and straws and made some 3D bubble wands. He mixed the solution in a big bowl and we took it outside to blow bubbles. Princess helped as well and loved dipping the wands in the bubble mixture. It didn't work as well as we had hoped. We also found out the smaller wands worked better than the bigger ones. It took about 20 minutes to put together and they played with it about 5 minutes before getting frustrated that the mixture wasn't great. Although he did have fun putting it together. We also left the bubble solution outside for a week and Blue Rock would pick it up and try and blow bubbles every time he went outside. So it wasn't that he wasn't interested in it, it was just frustrating to get it to work how we had hoped.

What was included in the 3D bubble shapes

Making some bubble wands

Mixing the solution

Blowing bubbles!

We also made sculptures with marshmallows and toothpicks. I have wanted to do this activity for a while as well but never got around to it. When I saw the theme of our Kiwi Crate I decided it would be fun to do around snack time. This was not included in the Kiwi Crate box but was simple to do, buy some marshmallows and toothpicks and have your kids create things.

Marshmallow sculptures

The other project in the Kiwi Crate was making your own Tangram game. He's been doing tangram puzzles since he was two so I thought he'd like this project. It included some paper to cut out two 3D shapes and wooden shapes to color and dye to make a game. 

Caden liked cutting the shapes out and making the cube and pyramid as well as coloring and dying the wooden shapes but he didn't really care to play the game much. I'll probably keep it a little longer and see if he gains any interest in it before tossing it.

Tangram Game

Cutting out the 3D shapes

Making designs with the white crayon before dying them

Dying the first few shapes blue

Colored Tangram shapes

Overall the kit was cute and we'll probably get a few more. It makes doing a craft with your child(ren) very easy. Caden also loved getting a box in the mail just for him!

Easy Cloud Dough

We are getting some nice rain again this week. Today we decided to make cloud dough. It was so easy and super fun. It's a lot like moon dough but without the funky smell. All you need is 4 cups of flour and half a cup of baby oil (or you can use vegetable oil). We mixed it in a gallon sized bag to keep the flour contained then put it in a big container to play with. The kids had fun playing with it. Although Princess ended up wanting to take handfuls of it and drop it on the ground. Blue Rock enjoyed making cloud balls and other fun things. It was a nice sensory activity. I used lavender baby oil so our cloud dough smelled extra nice. 

Both Front Teeth are Out!!

A week ago Blue Rock lost one of his front top teeth. A few days later he was able to pull the other one out. He looks pretty stinkin' cute! Since it's not Christmas time but his birthday is right around the corner, I find it only fitting for him to sing, "All I want for my birthday is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, see my two front teeth..." The Tooth Fairy was generous and apparently loves the top front teeth because she/he gave $5 per front tooth. We're not sure if the Tooth Fairy is a man or a lady. What a cool way to finish up his kindergarten year. 

How to Make Your Own Crayon Etching Page

I wrote previously about buying some homeschool bundle books, which by the way, these books are awesome even if you don't homeschool. I got this idea from another book called Hands-On Art Activities by Marcia K. Washburn. I was able to easily transfer all of the e-books that I wanted to my Kindle and can access them on my Kindle, phone, or computer.

For our first art project from this book we did Crayon Etching. I gave us each a white piece of copy paper. We colored a shape with different bright colors. Then we covered the shape with a thick coat of black crayon. You have to completely cover the layer underneath. Last we took a pencil and drew a picture or wrote a name, we even played tic-tac-toe. The colors came through the black layer, revealing the colors beneath. Blue Rock loved it! We found that lighter colors worked best such as yellow, pink, and light green.

We talked about the neat color of surprises hiding under the black crayon. Then we talked about how even on the toughest days, God can still bring blessings to our lives. Romans 8:28 (NIV): ^"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Easiest Way to Color Rice

This is seriously the easiest way to color rice. Here's what you need:

Easy Way to Color Rice

White Rice
Plastic container with a lid
Food Coloring
Vinegar
Cookie sheet to lay the rice to dry on

I colored 1.5 cups of rice at a time. I put the white rice in the plastic container. Added about 1tsp of vinegar, a few drops of food coloring, then put the lid on and let Blue Rock shake it until the rice was colored. Then I spread the colored rice on a cookie sheet and let it dry for about 24 hours. Enjoy!

Princess had no desire to shake the rice but she loved reaching in the bag and grabbing handfuls of plain rice to play with all over the kitchen floor. 

Math Easter Sensory Bin

I made an Easter math sensory bin for Blue Rock. I colored some rice, which I haven't done in years, and took some plastic eggs and wrote some math problems. Then I gave him the sensory bin to complete. He has always loved eggs and thought this was fun and enjoyed playing with the rice as well. You could also do this with word families and other subjects your child is working on. I'll be making some toddler sensory bins soon.

LegoLand Grapevine

A few weeks ago it was homeschool week at LegoLand in Grapevine, TX. We decided to check it out. My husband was out of town for work so I asked if my dad wanted to go with us. He did and the kids had a great time! Blue Rock especially liked all of the rides and building things with legos. He's really at the perfect age to go. He's tall enough for all of the rides and is able to build a lot of neat things by himself. If you're ever in the Grapevine area, LegoLand is a fun place to take the kids. It's not very big but for a 5 year old, it's perfect. I think the best age range is 3-8. Although little ones can play and have fun too.

LegoLand

LegoLand

LegoLand

LegoLand

LegoLand

LegoLand