August Ivy Kids time! I usually post my review earlier in the month, but it took us longer than usual to complete all the activities. (I’m totally not complaining! That’s a good thing.)
If you’re not aware, Ivy Kids is a monthly activity box for children aged 3 through 8. It was founded by a certified early childhood educator, turned stay-at-home mom who had begun creating her own activities in order to entertain and educate her kiddos.
Every Ivy Kids kit contains more than 10 activities, along with a book which all of the activities are based upon. The games, projects, and crafts are all designed to “develop fine and gross motor muscles, build math and literacy skills, encourage reading comprehension, and promote scientific thinking”. All of the materials you’ll need are included right in your kit, as well as instructions and age modifications for each project.
Let’s see what’s in the August Ivy Kids box!
As always, all of the activities were listed on the inside of the lid along with photos of the materials included for each one.
A peek inside.
“Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin” by Lloyd Moss – August’s theme was music, so it makes sense that they chose to feature “Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin”, a book about instruments in an orchestra. In all honesty, my girls were super bored with the book and I kind of felt the same. Ah well, can’t win ’em all. 😉
Every box includes a personalized item for your child/children. This month it was a musical alphabet chart with photos of instruments for every letter of the alphabet.
Make Your Little Strummer – Using the materials provided, your little one can decorate their own colorful strummer instrument.
Let’s mix ALL the colors!
The completed strummers. I found those little rubber bands around the house for days. 😉
ABC Instrument Bingo – My girls absolutely LOVED this game. Anything involving letters is always a hit with them. It was basically bingo with a musical instrument twist. Instead of numbers, you call out a letter and if you have it on your card (3 were included), you place it on that corresponding spot. The first person to fill up their whole card with letters is the winner.
CD for Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin – A cd was included which featured the instruments in this month’s book. The tracks are listed in the same order as they appear in the book so that you can play it along as you read.
Make Your Own Panpipe – This project involved cutting the colored plastic tubes to different lengths and taping them together to form a panpipe. My husband and I handled the cutting and taping since the girls are still a little too young to do it themselves.
They played them for maybe 5 minutes or so and shortly thereafter proceeded to rip off the tape and play with that instead. Toddlers…
Instrument Race – Using the spinner and stamps included, see which instrument will win the race. Spin the spinner and see which instrument it lands on… then place a stamp in the corresponding column on the board. Whichever instrument gets the most stamps first is the winner.
Instrument Family Race – This game is played pretty much the same as the last, but instead of individual instruments racing, there are instrument families. A helpful information board is provided to learn more about each family and the instruments included in them.
Make Your Own Shaker – Using the included materials, your child can make their own musical shaker instrument. Just add dried beans or rice and shake away.
Make Your Own Kazoo – Like the shaker above, this uses the same materials minus the rice/beans. Paint and stickers are included to decorate it as you wish.
The completed kazoos!
Maraca Simon Says – Your child can decorate their own colorful maracas and play the game “Simon Says” with them using the instructions on the activity sheet.
I think this is the third set of maracas they’ve painted, thanks to subscription boxes. They’re getting good. 😉
The finished maracas! Painted handles are totally overrated.
Recorder – A plastic recorder was included, along with instructions on how to play it. While I love that they include extra materials in the sibling add-on for most items, this is the one that they SO should have sent two of. SO many fights over this damn thing! haha
Instrument Memory Game – A game of memory that involves matching numbers up with their corresponding musical ensembles. We never did get around to trying this one out yet, since the girls kept wanting to play the alphabet bingo game. (Over and over.)
Make Your Own Tambourine – This project was another favorite. It involved lacing bells along each side of a cardboard tambourine and decorating it with the included paint and stickers.
Paint, paint, paint.
The completed tambourines. I love seeing how they each have their own different painting style.
Turn Your Ivy Kids Box into a String Instrument – Using the instructions provided, your child can turn their Ivy Kids box into a stringed instrument.
Guess the Instrument – Once all of the instruments in the box have been assembled, you can take turns trying to guess which instrument is being played. One person covers their eyes while the other guesses.
Yet another fun box from Ivy Kids! I say it every month, but my girls really do love these boxes. They’re packed with so many great activities and the sibling add-on is perfect for us.
If you’re interested in signing up for Ivy Kids, you can save 20% on your first box just by using the promo code “IVY20” at checkout. Plus, new subscribers will also receive a free gift and a monthly personalized item for their child!
Disclosure: I received this box for review purposes. I was not compensated in any way. All opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate and/or referral links.
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