Kiwi Crate - June 2015 "Backyard Adventure"

So, initially this Kiwi Crate box was a bit of a let-down for me. I felt like the name was a bit misleading. I see the name of the box when it ships, so when I saw "Backyard Adventure" it led me to believe that we'd, well...do stuff outside. Or at least end up there. This was not the case (though technically one activity could be done outside). 

That being said, Grant had a lot of fun with this box. One activity was a growth chart (he loves to have us measure him so he can see how big he is) and the other was backyard golf (which could be played outside if you have a good spot for it - we don't, so it stays inside). I let Grant choose which to do first and the golf game won.

All the pieces included and the detailed instructions.

For this one you make little bugs and flowers from the pipe cleaners, felt pieces, and googly eyes.

I couldn't resist the urge to make some too!

Then you weave the pipe cleaners through the little holes on the golf arches.

Then you add the bottoms to the arches and assemble your stick.

And since they included a ball in the box - it's time to play!

This past weekend, we did the growth chart. A growth chart is something I never bought for Grant. I've always measured him in the doorway of his room and made marks, so this activity was fun and came in handy :)

Everything you need including a ribbon for hanging.

There were three sheets leaf of stickers, some rubbing crayons, and a plastic texture sheet. You put the crayon sheets over the plastic texture sheet and rub the crayons over the stickers and the texture plate makes them have lines like real leaves (they actually designed it so the right leaf would have the right patter (oak leaf, maple leaf, dogwood leaf). I thought that was very interesting and well thought out!

Grant had a hard time keeping the stickers on the plastic while he colored, so helped him hold it quite a bit (and, yes, I colored too). But we got it worked out.

After the stickers are all colored, you just add them to the branches on the growth chart.

He filled up the top and all the little branches along the tree, so
since he loves jumping in leaf piles so much, he put some on the ground too.

Then you just pick a spot and hang it!

I hung ours a foot off the floor.

There was also a fun little bingo game in the booklet that comes in the box. We haven't done that yet but definitely will soon.

We already have our July box, that came earlier this week. It's called "Interesting Insects" and I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

I was really skeptical about getting (and keeping) this subscription. I think I said in my last Kiwi Crate post that $20 per month is a lot, to me, for a craft box. But so far, I'm really impressed with it. They really do include everything for you. With school starting in just over a week I'm not sure how much time we'll have for these so I may have to put the subscription on hold (I love that you can do that). But so far, we've both enjoyed what they've sent us and I think I look forward to the box showing up just as much as Grant does!

Kiwi Crate - May 2015 "Science of Color"

Back in early may I tried a $5 mini box from Kiwi Crate which contained everything we needed to make two wind cars:

We had a lot of fun making them and playing with them after. It also made me curious about what a full sized Kiwi Crate contains. The mini box signed me up for a regular subscription so instead of cancelling, I went ahead with letting the first box come.

Our first box was called Science of Color. I was pretty excited when it came and couldn't wait to see the activities it had for us. I will admit that $20 a month is steep, to me, for what I thought were just crafts but it did contain everything we needed for the projects (except water hahaha). There were two activities, a bonus activity, and a booklet comes with it that has suggestions for more things to do. So far, I was impressed.

The contents of the box

"Color Separation Lab"

Spin Art!

Bonus color experiment activity and the booklet
(which has a cut out/pop up rainbow activity)

I admit to letting the box sit around for a while. I thought we had plenty of time to do it and the weekends had been so nice that I didn't want us stuck inside. But this past weekend was ungodly hot outside (AND our June box has shipped) so it seemed like a good weekend for some inside activities. On Saturday we did the Color Separation Lab.

Getting set up.

They give you very detailed instructions for each project. For this one, you color on the "mess mat" with the marker color you're using and you draw a thick line of that color on a strip of paper (provided) and then fold it and stick it in the water. The paper slowly absorbs the water and when it gets to the marker lines, it separates. And the mini-scientist notes on the mat what colors they see.

He liked watching the water soak into the paper and work it's magic.

Noting his findings :)

When you're done and your strips of paper are dry, there is a rope you can hang up and little clothes pins to hang up your paper strips like a fun little garland.

So project #1 was a success.

Sunday we did the Spin Art! I was so excited to show Grant this! Though because how "school-like" the first project was, I think he wasn't looking forward to it as much as I wanted him to. But when we got it together, he was really excited to start.

See how detailed the instructions are?

For this one they sent you stuff to basically make a top and you spin the top in the box. They sent several paper disks that fit onto the top and watery paints to be squirted onto the spinning top with a dropper (all included). Grant got heavy handed with the paints they provided so I sort of made more with food coloring I had and water. I don't think my homemade version worked as well as the ones sent in the box, but Grant thought it was great that he didn't have to skimp on t he paints and had no complaints about them.

He really loved this activity!

Some of the finished artwork

This acitivity was a HUGE hit with Grant. And even though it looks like it should have been messy, there was very little clean up involved. They sent enough paper disks for him to make 8 pieces of spin-artwork. He was so excited about what he made that he was asking to send them to people (Gramma, my sister, etc). And because the top was made of wood and they sent spare pastic pieces, we can keep the top and do this project again (if I cut out some paper circles that fit). 

We haven't done the bonus activity yet or the pop-up rainbow (that requires a gluestick that I don't have) but the two main activities were pretty great. They tell you in the instructions the level of parent involvement and I found that to be pretty accurate. Grant could do a lot of it by himself but still needed my help with stuff too (like putting the top together, for instance). When I checked my account after getting an email that our June box shipped, I saw that it's called Backyard Adventure. I'm excited to see what that one has for us!

Fun with Fluffy Stuff

Confession: I love Pinterest. And I've gotten sooooo many ideas from there! (Not all worked out well, of course, but still.) Ages ago I saw "fluffy stuff" on there, pinned it, and forgot about it (source: Play Create Explore). I have no idea why I re-came across it but I picked up the few ingredients for it the next time I was at a store and decided to save them for a rainy day.

Literally. The week after Easter I think it rained just about every day. My sister had sent Grant a bunch of stuff, one thing being a foam airplane that he was dying to fly outside. Every day on his way out the door he'd ask to fly the plane that night after dinner and we would tell him "Yes, if it's not raining" and every night it rained. Poor kid. So one of those nights I surprised him with Fluffy Stuff. To say it was a hit would be the understatement of the year!

That's all you need!

• 2 - 16 ounce packages of corn starch
• 1 can of shaving cream {foam}
• a big bucket or bowl

I used all store brand ingredients ($3-$4 total). I did buy the bucket thing ($5) because I didn't think I had a good container for it. The only thing is that the "stuff" had a tendency to sneak out of the handle holes but it really wasn't a big deal.

Here's what you do:

• Empty your corn starch into the bucket:
  
• Empty the entire can of shaving cream into the bucket:
  
• Let a very happy and excited kid mix it all together and play!

  

  Do you see that smile? He was so excited.

Right after he went to town with the mixing, I got out a spatula to help. Grant immediately shouted "I WANT TO DO THAT! I WANT TO DO THAT!" and I just let him go to town.

Monster trucks got involved.

And there was just a whole lot of happiness.

He played with this stuff for an hour and a half, only stopping because it was bath time. When Husband told him he needed to get ready for his bath, Grant replied "Um...I think I'll play for a bit longer." Which, as you can imagine, didn't go over well. That aside, I was happy that this stuff worked and to see how much fun he had with it!

Notes/Suggestions:

• I always lay down a large towel under the container when we do activities like this or the indoor sandbox. 
• I stored the stuff in air-tight container for future play.
• I think this would be great outside but it was an awesome rainy day inside activity.
• In the link where I got this "recipe", she colored hers and let her kids have a "snowball fight" which would be so fun! But Grant had a blast just playing in it too and making his own little Monster Jam rally. 

Linking up for
Made by you Monday!

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren and Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Saturday evening we took Grant to the ER with stomach pains he'd had on and off since around noon. While this initially wouldn't have made my list of "favorites" for the week, ruling out appendicitis and skipping emergency surgery definitely is a favorite. It was a very long evening - including a 20-30 minute ultrasound - and Grant was so incredibly patient and well behaved the whole time. After the ultrasound they decided to try giving him oral fluids instead of starting out with an IV and he drank like a champ. So they sent us home around 2 a.m. telling us it must have been a "bug". We all spent the next day recuperating.

The ER staff kept Grant happily entertained!

2) One night this week (Tuesday maybe? I can't remember.) we made a fort in the living room. I haven't done this in a while and we had so much fun pretending to camp. We pretended to gather wood for our fire, roast marshmallows, hot dogs, and burgers (Grant kept stealing my pretend stick!), and we tried to pretend to sleep but there were monsters to watch out for. It made me want to get a tent so we can camp in the backyard!

3) I finally finished editing the wedding pictures for my brother-in-law & sister-in-law and mailed out a package to them this week! I'll probably share some here in the next few days.

4) One of Grant's teachers will text me pictures every once in a while. Yesterday was "water day" at school and she sent me a picture of Grant having some fun. I love it when I get surprise pictures of him during the day!

5) A few weeks ago I found out that my sister & I won a giveaway from a website I'm a big fan of called Pick Your Plum. I've ordered some great stuff from them and randomly enter some of the giveaways they do on facebook. You tag a friend in the comments and if you win, you both win. And my sister and I won one!! My box came yesterday filled with three fun scarves, a bracelet & earring set, plates, cups, baking cups, treat bags, serving trays, and table runners! I can't wait to use it all!!

Happy Friday!
Have a great weekend!