Interested in KiwiCo reviews — or maybe specifically a Kiwi Crate review (since that’s the most popular box)? If you’re interested in trying a KiwiCo box for your kids, check out my completely honest thoughts below! And be sure to scroll to the bottom to get a promo code for 30% off your first box!
{Looking for more unique non-toy gifts for kids? Be sure to also check out our recommendations for the top 10 subscription boxes for kids, top 8 subscription boxes for toddlers, and top 13 magazine subscriptions for kids.}
What is Kiwi Co (formerly Kiwi Crate)?
If you’re looking for some really unique ways to keep your kids entertained, I highly recommend KiwiCo!
In case you’ve never heard of KiwiCo, it used to be called Kiwi Crate but after expanding and adding on so many different types of boxes, they rebranded to be called KiwiCo.
KiwiCo is a monthly subscription service that offers kid’s educational projects, crafts, and activities on different themes. Each box includes all the materials to make a fun hands-on project (or 2-3 simpler projects, depending on the box!).
What are the Kiwi Co age ranges?
The original Kiwi Crate was designed for kids ages 5-8, but they’ve now added on so many different options!
KiwiCo offers monthly crate subscriptions for various ages:
- Panda Crate for ages 0-36 months (Explore & Discover)
- Koala Crate for ages 3-4 (Play & Learn)
- Kiwi Crate for ages 5-8 (Science, Art, & More)
- Atlas Crate for ages 6-11 (Geography & Culture)
- Doodle Crate for ages 9-16+ (Art & Design)
- Tinker Crate for ages 9-16+ (Science & Engineering)
- Eureka Crate for ages 14-104 (Engineering & Design)
The two most popular crates (at least in our house!) seem to be Kiwi Crate and Tinker Crate, but I love that they have choices for different ages and preferences!
My Honest KiwiCo Review
If you’re looking for completely honest Kiwi Crate reviews, I’m here to tell you that my kids have been using KiwiCo for years and absolutely LOVE it. They received it as a gift one year and loved it so much that they continued requesting it as a gift each year after that!
I have fond memories of them running to the mailbox in excitement and anticipation to see what would be in this month’s Kiwi Crate box.
I still remember how much Silas loved the very first Kiwi Crate box we received in the mail! He made a glow worm from a sock and named it “Billy Butler” after one of his favorite Royal’s baseball players.
Since we’re a family that has never had a lot of toys, the KiwiCo boxes have been a great fit for us. It’s really nice that they’re mostly consumable and don’t contribute to toy clutter around the house.
I also really love how hands-on, educational, unique, and entertaining they are. And they always have really great instructions for kids (and parents) to follow.
Even as they’ve gotten older, they still really enjoy getting the boxes in the mail. (And I love that KiwiCo has now added on some really cool boxes for older kids!)
In fact, we recently received a Kiwi Crate and Tinker Crate in the mail and ended up taking them with us on our family vacation in Utah.
Our nieces and nephews loved working on the projects together and all gave it a thumbs up! (How’s that for an honest Kiwi Crate review? 😉) It was so much fun and such a great way for them to all do a hands-on activity together!
How much is a Kiwi Crate?
The one negative thing I have to say about KiwiCo is the cost. (But be sure to scroll down for a coupon code to save on your first box!)
While my kids have absolutely loved their Kiwi Crate boxes, we’ve always received them as gifts from grandparents. And I do think that they’re a little bit on the expensive side — especially if you’re on a tight budget.
This is why I think a KiwiCo subscription is a GREAT idea for grandparents as birthday or Christmas gifts! And you can purchase different lengths of subscriptions, depending on your budget — one month, three months, six months, or an entire year.
Save 30% Off Your First Month of KiwiCo Crates!
If this honest KiwiCo review made you interested to try it, I’ve got a great deal for you!
You can get 30% off your first box as a MoneySavingMom.com reader when you shop through this link.
And there’s no obligation to continue with your subscription after your first box. Just log in to your account and cancel your subscription before it renews at the regular price.
This is a great way to try KiwiCo at a discounted price and see if your kids like it!
Go here to grab this great discount.
KiwiCo Crates FAQ
Each box includes all the materials and instructions you need to make a fun hands-on project (or 2-3 simpler projects, depending on the box!).
They now have 9 different subscription lines for a large age range! Get Panda Crate for babies, Eureka Crate for 12+ to adults, and everything in between. There are SO many options now!
Yes! Their subscription boxes are amazing and have been around for quite some time. They offer screen-free, engaging play for kids of all ages. And while their customer service used to be lackluster, it’s improved tenfold over the past couple years and is much better than it used to be. Managing your account online is super easy, too! You can find tons of great KiwiCo and Kiwi Crate reviews online!
Yes! You can cancel, pause, or skip at any time right in your online account. It’s super easy!
Related Links:
- Top 10 Subscription Boxes for Kids
- Best 8 Subscription Boxes for Toddlers
- Top 13 Magazine Subscriptions for Kids
- 5 Reasons I’m Glad We’ve Chosen to Not Have Many Toys
- 5 Simple Ways to Cut Down on Toy Clutter
- 10 Non-Toy Gift Ideas for Kids
- Non-Toy Gift Kids: 10 More Ideas
- 10 Experience Gifts for Kids
- Top 10 Toys for a Minimalist Family
- 145 Non-Toy Gifts for Every Age
- My Completely Honest Review of Montessori By Mom Toolboxes
- My Completely Honest JellyTelly Review
I’m contemplating on getting this for my seven year old but they say that taxes and duty are not included. I’m from Canada and would appreciate if anyone else that ordered from Canada would tell me how much duty and taxes they paid. Thanks in advance!
That might be a question KiwiCo customer service could answer for you, too! -Meg, MSM Team
Beware- I ordered a three month subscription for my nephew. He loved it but they sent an email to them (not me saying if you don’t cancel it will renew). Because I gave them their email to track their gift I can’t get in to cancel and their isn’t a number to call…..I HATE when you buy a three month subscription and in very fine print it says it will renew automatically.
I’m sorry you are having trouble with your subscription. I would contact their customer support here so they can help you sort out the issue! Hope that helps! -Jordan, MSM Team
If I want to purchase this as a gift, can the first box be sent to me so I have something to wrap and give or will the gift be just the subscription?
I would think you could have the first box sent to you, and then change the delivery address in the account so the rest get delivered to the gift recipient. I would contact their customer service to be sure and I’m sure they can give you a more precise answer! -Jordan, MSM Team
1. Are they projects that can be reused? 2. Would materials in a project kit for a 6 year old, be a hazard to a younger sister 2 years old? I don’t want to send a gift subscription that might put a hazard to the younger sister. Maybe I should wait until the 2 year old is older?
There are going to be things in the house that will be a danger to the 2 year old – that’s just a fact of life, and where adult supervision comes in. I’m guessing that the 6 year old already has things that fall into the “hazard” category, like Legos, or Play Doh. Even marker lids or crayon bits can be a choking hazard. My suggestion would be to get the 6 year old age-appropriate gifts, and trust the parents to be mindful.
We had a subscription for about a year. In that time there were two boxes that did not come with all of the materials. This was very frustrating because my son could not complete the projects and I felt like it was a waste of money. Luckily it was easy to cancel the subscription.
Bummer! Thanks for sharing your experience! -Jordan, MSM Team
We were gifted two sets of crates last Christmas, another for a birthday last year, and then all four of my kids were gifted three months again this Christmas. We have had really good experiences with all of our crates. Of course, some have been better or liked more than others. The ones we got this christmas did not get used as much as others in the past. I’m not sure yet whether it’s because they were mixed among all the other Christmas gifts or if it’s the actual projects. Overall though, I recommend this service IF you are going to get a 3 mo subscription or more. Otherwise, I’m not sure it’s worth the money unless you have plenty of money to spend and aren’t very crafty yourself. I do think the Tinker crates and the Kiwi crates are better than the other lines. But what is received in all the crates is age appropriate and neat things my kids are always excited about! Also, I did call customer service last year before ordering the first crates and had a good experience with minor wait times. They were knowledgeable and helpful. We’ve never missed a delivery. I highly recommend!
Hi. We really like TinkerCrate at our house.
I ordered two 3 month subscriptions as Christmas gifts last year: TinkerCrate for my son, 12 at the time, and DoodleCrate for my daughter, 16 at the time. I opted to have the crates delivered in January, February and March. All of the crates arrived on time and included terrific projects. My son really liked his but my daughter was not as excited. The projects were interesting, but she was not interested in them if that makes sense. She discovered she is more of a sketch, draw, paint artist, so she gave her crate#2 (make a leather cover for a journal) and crate#3 (string of lanterns, I think) to the 12 year old who was quite delighted with this development.
I ordered a 6 month subscription when my son’s 3 month subscription ran out. Our packages arrived in good shape, on time and with the necessary materials. My son looked forward to their arrival, and would want to build immediately whatever had been sent. The directions were clear enough to allow him to work independently which worked out well…. once, at a park program, I accidentally nailed a birdhouse to the work bench, but I digress 🙂
As I said, we like TinkerCrate here. Our experience has been very positive. My son has been campaigning for renewal for Christmas.
Thanks!
If daughter likes art, check into switching her subscription to the doodle (art) crate.
I’m so glad your kids love it! Thanks for your honest review! -Meg, MSM Team
Is the appropriate for a 10-11 year old girl?
There are various boxes for different ages/preferences, so I’m sure you can find a great fit for her! -Meg, MSM Team
We’ve been getting these crates monthly since June. I have three kids, 11, 9, and 7; so I get three boxes each month. LOVE them!!!! Materials are all prepped, instructions are clearly written, and my kids get VERY excited about each project. My oldest son’s last project had a light that didn’t work properly, so we emailed the company and we were immediately sent a replacement box free of charge. These projects have stirred creativity, problem solving, curiosity, and a love of learning in my kids; worth every penny.
Yay! So glad to hear that. Thanks for sharing!! -Meg, MSM Team
Do you get the optional curated book to accompany the box? And is it worth the extra $10? Thank you!
Kiwi crates are amazing! Such a great quality of materials. Everything is working once assembled and booklets are full with information and ideas. I have a problem with storage thought. We accumulated so many boxes and finished projects and my son refuses to get rid of any single bit. Do you have any system for storage?
I didn’t see the option for 9-16
Click here and it should take you to Tinker Crate, which is for ages 9-16! 🙂 -Meg, MSM Team
We have 10 year old twins (girl and boy) that get Doodle Crate and Tinker Crate. The projects are well designed and executed and my twins seem to have no issues doing the activities. We have never had a problem with shipping or had a need to contact customer service. My daughter seems to enjoy her Doodle Crate projects more than my son enjoys the Tinker Crates. She’ll do her project the day it arrives, he usually waits for a rainy day or until we remind him about it. Overall, it’s a unique way to give a gift once a month.
Absolutely. How much of the project can a kindergartner handle?
My son loves the Tinker Crates. We started receiving the kits in August and they have been a huge hit. My son loves reading all the information and putting the projects together. He is learning so much. We have had great experience with customer service. One of the boxes we received were damaged from the rain. I emailed the company and they shipped out a new one within a few days. Overall we love it 🙂
Thanks for sharing about your experience! -Meg, MSM Team
I have 2 grandchildren ages 9 and 10. If I order them both Tinker Crate, will they receive the same projects each delivery?
Thank you so much for sharing about your positive experience! -Meg, MSM Team
I ordered the Tinker Crate today for my son. I was a bit distracted and accidentally ordered TWO 1 year subscriptions, which cost a little of $400. Oopppsssss I emailed customer service immediately. They responded the same day and canceled my order and voided the charge. We haven’t gotten our first crate yet, but I was very happy with their response in the same day.
I have been sending Kiwi crate to my niece (who just turned 8 in August) off and on since last Christmas. She LOVES it so I just ordered her a 12 month subscription for her Christmas present this year.
I liked having the option to pick and choose when I sent them to her and I fortunately never had any issues (as long as I went into my account prior to the due date).
I also like having the option to pick and choose between the crates since she is getting closer to 9.
How did you get to know what the next month’s project is before it is shipped?
If I order both of my children a tinker crate will they get the exact same thing each month in their boxes?
Yes, they will.
Yes, unless you choose different crates.
I’ve usually had pretty good response from their customer service. I tend to buy year-long subscriptions and just request that it be a “gift subscription” that doesn’t renew. I’m used to subscriptions being a little wonky on a monthly basis and I hate dealing with them. Not to mention, of course, that year-long is usually a much better deal.
My family has two kids and two subscriptions, which has also made things a little odd where we have accidentally gotten two kiwi crates instead of one kiwi and one koala (the 3-4 yr box that we have ordered). However, they have always fixed the issue and allowed us to keep the accidental box, which is good, since kids rip into the boxes as soon as they see them.
In general, I recommend the company and the boxes. We’ve always loved them and found them highly worth the price. Customer service isn’t perfect, but it is equal or better than the average subscription customer service that I’ve seen in other companies.
Thank you for doing this.
Thanks so much for the review
Thanks so much for that tip!
I have received 2 crates in the last 2 months and really like them. My daughter is almost three and we enjoy doing the projects together. I am a working Mom so sometimes on the weekends I am not sure what we can do together on days we don’t have plans and these crates are perfect. I enjoy the kits and the bonding time with my daughter when we use them.
Thanks Crystal, for great review.
Both my son and daughter were equally interested in the spin art project with cardboard rings, vials of paint and loved taking turns spinning the tops and creating fun psychedelic art. They also loved experimenting with the “color separation lab” where we got to mix different colors and see how they changed and morphed right before our eyes.
Kiwi Crate really was a fun way for us all to be involved in something creative and also learn a little something along the way.
I bought several subscriptions for my entire family’s kids for Christmas presents. As this is spendy, I did not want to continue forever. I cancelled by calling the customer service number. You don’t get a person, just a recording that requests you leave a message and include the name of the cancelled(child) subscription and reason for canceling(not really comfortable with this being mandatory) but it was effective. I cancelled all but my own son’s subscription and it was effective that month. They really could work on this but the crates are a life saver when you need something (NOW) to do inside. He loves em. I especially recommend the tinker crate, amazing hands-on science made so they can understand it and use it.
So glad your son loves the crates! They have majorly improved customer service since then, which is good! -Meg, MSM Team
Thanks so much for recommending Green Kid crafts. I may look into signing up for that to see what we think compared to Kiwi Crate.
Thanks so much for letting us know about your positive experiences!
We got a subscription as a gift, but i really felt it would be better for children older than mine, (4,2).
We had a subscription a few years ago and my son really loved them. If there was nothing going on he’d ask to do a project from his “boxes.” However, now that he’s older, I find we don’t have the time to complete the projects due to school, sports, and family time, so I cancelled it and we work on the projects from previous boxes we didn’t finish here and there when we have free time.
We’ve been getting Kiwi crates for almost two years now and we love them! My daughter looks forward to getting her “craft kit” every month. I love that she can often figure out how to do things herself even though she can’t read yet.
This is what we did and we loved it!
We have subscribed on and off to Kiwi Crate for over 2 years. Last year we cancelled it because we wanted to save some money. At that time they took a while to get back to me. However they refunded my money and I still got a crate.
We resubscribed earlier this year and got it for 6 months. After the 6 months we decided to cancel the subscription until after Christmas (since it will be a gift for our son). I sent one email and got a response within a day!
I think they have heard the complaint and made changes to serve the customer better.
I agree! I’ve heard they’ve majorly improved their customer service! -Meg, MSM Team
Just fyi…..you can purchase Kiwi Crate kits from Target. I have never purchased one, but after reading your review I might give a kit a try…..from Target. 🙂
Thank you so much for the tip about buying from Target! I was reading the posts and the comments and wondering if there was a way to get one at at time when I saw your comment! Thanks!
Thanks so much for the awesome tip, I will check into this at Target! 🙂
Oh, I didn’t know that! Thanks so much for sharing!!
I had Kiwi Crate for a year or so. Loved it but outgrew it so cancelled. I didn’t have any problems cancelling at all. They responded right away and I never got charged for a single box after I requested them to stop.
We have subscribed to Kiwi Crate for more than two years and I just signed my daughter up for the new Koala crate (she’s 3). I think out of the 30ish crates we have received, only 1-2 have I felt were not worth the price. The projects are really thoughtful, the materials are great and it is something our family looks forward to every month.
That’s so great!! I’m SO glad your daughter has loved it! -Meg, MSM Team
Cannot get this coupon listed on the page to work. Ideas?
There isn’t a code you have to enter. If you use our link in the post and enter your email address the 40% off offer will be automatically applied! I hope that helps! -Jordan, MSM Team
Thank you so much for your honest review
I’ve had it for over a year and have received great service. I was overseas and mail took longer than normal, when I didn’t get a box on time they apologized and sent another. Even after I received both they told me just to keep them. When I moved back to the states I had no issues PAUSING my subscription, wasn’t billed the following month, and received an email asking if I wanted to resume or cancel my subscription 🙂
So glad you had such a positive experience with Kiwi Crate!
We used to have Kiwi Crate and we miss it! Time to sign up again, but for which box? 😉 I am loving your detailed, honest reviews for this and Stitch Fix! How fun!
We have had a kiwi crate subscription for over a year. I’ve found the projects to be fun and almost all very well done. Creative and not boring! We use them on rainy days! As the subscription is a little pricey, we’ve asked the grandparents to give it to our kids (1 box plus sibling add on) as a gift- so I have never had to cancel. I will say that the Kiwi Crate app has been a great source of other crafts that we have made recently, it’s free!
Thanks so much for the tip about the Kiwi Crate app!
Hmm. I have found the projects to be a bit challenging for the age range they suggest. Lots of frustration and tears!
I get the eureka crates every month and I’m a bit under age do them, however I still mange to build them the same day I get them.
Do you ship to Australia and now much extra does it cost?
I was able to find the information international shipping on their website. They do ship to Australia! It is an additional $4.95 USD to ship just so you know. I hope that helps! -Jordan, MSM Team