Simple Simon and Company

SUBSCRIBE TO GET ALL THE LATEST!

Uncategorized

Life is like a box of Kiwi’s

Last month Elizabeth and I received an email from Jen at Kiwi Crate asking if we would review two of their “crates”.  She said that they would send each of us a sample crate that would have some activities in it based around a certain theme like dinosaurs.  (It would be a crate like the ones that they send out to families who have signed up for their monthly service.)
So we said, “sure”.
Why not?
And then I kind of forgot all about it until my husband came home from our PO box with an ADORABLE grass green box addressed to my kids.  And my kids, who never get anything in the mail were beside themselves with excitement.
We opened it together on the family room floor and sorted the contents.  (Both my husband and I were amazed at the amount of supplies that were packed into this box!)  When we were done I realized that what they had sent us would provide several afternoons worth of activities—it was above and beyond anything that I had expected.
(I tried to recreate kind of what the box looked like when we opened it—although by the time I took this photo the tissue paper was gone and the treasure boxes were already “buried”.)
When you open a Kiwi Crate you’ll see (beside the ridiculously cute packaging…seriously it is so dang cute) what “theme” you’ve been given.  We were delivered a “pirate adventure” crate.  Nothing could have suited my kids better!  They ate dinner faster than, well, faster than I’ve ever seen them eat and then it was time to choose their first activity.  They chose to decorate and fill their treasure chests.  (Each of them received a treasure chest and a set of wicked good markers to decorate with.) 
Simon and Grace each spent almost and hour designing both the inside and outside of their wooden treasure chests.  However, instead of taking photos while they worked I was too caught up in the fun  and didn’t take any.  (Seriously, I don’t know where my brain is sometimes.)
After they were done decorating they filled their chests with “treasure” (plastic rings for Gracie and candy for Simon) and then it was time for bed.  It made for a fun evening.  But that isn’t the end of the treasure chest portion of the crate…but I’ll tell you more about it later.
Besides the treasure chests Simon and Grace each got the supplies and instructions to make a pirate hat.
(This time I remembered to take some photos…like this one of the super cute folding instructions.)
Once their hats were folded each child had stencils, feathers, glue dots, and markers to style their hats with.
Simon took his hat designing pretty seriously but he refused to glue on the feathers…
…he was “pretty sure” that they were “real pirate feathers” and wanted to just keep them in his room.
And as for the continuing story of the treasure chests…
Kiwi Crates gives you little instruction booklets with ideas on activities your kids can do with the items that they make.  So at the bottom of our crate we had found a stack of “parchment” paper, X stickers, and giant pencils. 
We used these supplies to make treasure maps.  Simon hid Gracie’s box and made a map for her to find it and Gracie did the same for Simon.  Hiding the chests, making the maps, and finding them has provided hours of real, wholesome entertainment.  I’ve loved it.
So let’s see, I’ve told you about the hats, the chests, and the maps but there are still more activities: 
We still have more map making supplies left as well everything for each of my kids to make parrot puppets and pirate flags.  (I should have done these before writing this post but I’m selfish and want to keep stretching out the fun.)
It’s a lot of activities aside from all the other ideas included in the instruction booklets.  I really didn’t expect all of what we were sent.  And I was sincerely impressed.  The activities were fun, the instructions were clear (Simon followed them all by himself), and the packaging is darling.  (And many of the supplies can be used over and over again—like the pairs of scissors and the sets of markers.)
I’m so glad that Kiwi Crate asked us to review their monthly service.  It was a lot of fun. 
Elizabeth and her family received a different themed crate than we did and will be sharing it in August. 
But as for today (through Saturday)  the people over at Kiwi crate are offering our readers 25% off their crates!  Just type in the code:
SIMON25
when checking out!
Oh and one more thing…Kiwi crates is now also sending out gift crates and party packs.  So check those out to!
Alright, I really think I’ve covered everything…now I’ve got to get ready for art camp…today they will be painting trees by blowing paint through straws…8 year olds, paint, straws…yea, I bet I shower twice today.
-liZ

More from my site

Subscribe to get all the latest

Comments

  7. The Radke's says

    This is an awesome idea, but so many things like this don’t ship outside of the US to Canada. It would be nice if they could look into doing that. Many moms here would be willing to pay the extra shipping costs. I know lots of moms who would love to order this as well.