September 2018 Kid Wonder review time!
If you haven’t heard, Kid Wonder is a monthly subscription box for children (ages 3 to 6) that encourages them to learn through play. Each box will consist of 5 individual activity kits that are all centered around a specific theme. It will also include an educational booklet based on that theme, along with a dress up costume and all of the materials needed to complete each craft/activity. Every theme is approved by an advisory board of parents, grandparents, care providers, and educators interested in encouraging play-based learning, and quality family time. (Note: Boxes for older kids are coming soon!)
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.
Subscriptions are $24.95/month or less with multi-month subscriptions. Shipping is $5. — For a limited time, you can save 30% on your first box with coupon code “CRATEJOY30“!
Let’s see what’s in the September 2018 Kid Wonder box!
Everything was shipped in a colorful box that matched September’s theme — “Wilderness Explorers”!
The side of the box listed its full contents.
A peek inside!
On top was a welcome note from the Kid Wonder mascot pup, Scout.
Activity Book
A full color activity book featured camping tips, info on proper clothing/gear, games, reading practice, and more. A great introduction to the theme!
All of the activity kits were divided up into their own bags with instruction cards and materials tucked inside each one.
Kit 1: Dress like a Wilderness Explorer!
Each kit came with a 2-sided instruction card with step-by-step directions for every activity. The first kit included activities to help your child dress like a wilderness explorer. It included a backpack, compass watch, and pretend binoculars.
Let’s Make a Backpack!
The first activity was to “make” your own backpack by placing the self-adhesive felt stickers onto the provided (already assembled) backpack.
There were only 3 stickers to place, so this was a pretty quick activity. Both of my girls loved the backpack though and (naturally) fought over who got to play with/fill it up first. 😉
Let’s Make a Compass Watch!
Another easy activity, this required your child to simply color the white compass band using the included washable marker.
Coloring! — I didn’t think to snap a pic of the finished watch, but it went from white to solid orange.
Let’s Make Binoculars!
For some reason I had trouble figuring out how these were supposed to be folded. The directions made it seem easy enough, so I don’t know why I had issues… Eh, it happens. 😉
Here they are “in use”.
On My Wilderness Adventure!
Your child could plan their own little “wilderness adventure” using the fun checklist above.
Hiking Safety Coloring Sheet
A coloring sheet included some smart tips to make sure you always hike safely. Crayons were also provided.
Each kit included a different badge/sticker to earn once fully complete. The first one was “Wilderness Explorer” badge.
Kit 2: Let’s Go Camping!
The second kit had us setting up our own little campsite using the materials inside, as well as the Kid Wonder box itself.
Let’s Go Camping!
Two self-adhesive foam sheets were to be attached to the inside of our empty Kid Wonder box to serve as the night sky and the grass. Star and moon stickers would be placed in the “sky”.
Lighting up the night. (Completed campground photos further below.)
Let’s Assemble a Tent!
A colorful tent was to be assembled by simply folding the above cardstock to form a triangle and inserting the tabs to hold it in place. (Photos above show the inside and outside of the tent design. Completed tent below.)
Let’s Make Campers!
Two wooden “people” were included, along with a paint brush and two paints. They even included a waterproof apron and mess mat to keep things clean.
Each of the girls got to paint their own little person. 🙂
Let’s Make a Fire!
Using the self adhesive foam ring, you were to lightly crumple up the tissue paper squares and attach them to the ring to form a campfire.
Fire! Fire!
Here’s the finished campsite — complete with a tent, two campers (with giant eyelashes), a cozy fire, and a star-lit sky. So cute!
Counting Wilderness Animals
Practice math with your child using this animal-themed counting sheet. Addition was on the front, subtraction on the back.
Fire Safety Coloring Sheet
Learn about fire safety while coloring in the camping scene.
We earned our “Camping” badge!
Kit 3: Wilderness Training!
The third kit involved learning how to be a real wilderness explorer.
Training Card
A training card included a variety of different tasks/exercises for your child to act out. Once mastered, they would receive an official Wilderness Explorer certificate.
Wilderness Exploration Hike
This was a fun “choose your own adventure” type activity that had you read a short story to your child and allow them to pick one of two different options at the end of each passage. After each choice, your child was to act out the physical activity that was listed under that specific option. The map went along with the story, which made it extra fun.
Scavenger Hunt
Included was a paper bag with a full-color list of items to collect/spot on a scavenger hunt. We’re going to wait until the weather gets nicer (drier/cooler) to do this, but the girls are super excited. I love that they included a list of things to collect, as well as a list of things to observe (so no poor little bugs end up in these bags). 🙂
Food Safety Coloring Sheet
Another coloring sheet included important tips about food safety at camp.
Hiking badge: Earned!
Kit 4: Let’s Go Fishing!
Kit #4 had us painting our own fish and setting up a pond to go fishing.
Let’s Go Fishing!
We received five wooden fish to paint, along with a mess mat, plastic apron, paint brush, and three pots of paint. There was also a wooden fishing pole with a magnetic tip on the end of the lure to catch the fish (which also had magnetic ends).
Such concentration!
A cardboard “pond” was provided for holding the fish while you tried to catch them. It was simple to assemble, but I completely forgot to snap a photo of it finished. I also didn’t think to get photos of the painted fish. Oops!
Parts of a Fish
A 2-sided activity sheet featured a lesson on parts of a fish, as well as its lifecycle.
Got got our Fishing badge!
Kit 5: Let’s Make S’mores!
The final kit had us making playdough S’mores.
Let’s Make S’mores!
To make the dough, we needed to mix powdered sugar with each of the three frostings provided. After kneading each one, they were supposed to turn into a playdough consistency. Wax paper and a wooden spoon were also included, along with a cute S’mores baggie to hold the finished dough.
Our first two attempts left us with really sticky dough, that was more like straight-up frosting (which I suppose it was).
After playing with the last batch for a long time, it finally achieved the desired dough-like consistency. (It smelled delicious, too!)
Tic Tac Toe
A tic tac toe game board was included to play using your dough. You were to make X’s out of the brown dough and O’s out of the white.
Complete the Pattern
Your child could practice making patterns with this S’mores themed worksheet.
S’mores badge achieved!
My girls had so much fun with September’s Kid Wonder box! After completing all of the kits, they spent the rest of the evening playing with the campsite, stuffing things into their new backpack, and catching their painted fish. Another great box! 😀 Spoiler Alert: Next month’s theme is “Animal Hospital”! — Remember, for a limited time you can save 30% on your first box with coupon code “CRATEJOY30“!
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