kiwi crate arrives...

we got a kiwi crate in the mail!!!

and all i can say is...

awesome.

absolutely.

awesome.

how many times do i browse pinterest... or think of an idea... and am so excited to do it... and have to go get the materials... gather them... prepare what i need... by then leo is completely over it... and so am i.  

in comes kiwi crate...

kiwi crate is this awesome company that makes these awesome boxes full of goodness...

to be more specific...

boxes full of completely complete arts & crafts projects geared towards children 3-8.  everything is included.  everything.  all you have to do is open it up and it's ready to go.

exactly why these pictures are as crummy as they are... the minute leo saw it, he dug in.  i didn't even have time to grab my good camera.  

see what i mean?

the box that we received was themed "farmer's market".  it had two projects in it... one lacing up fruits and vegetables, and another decorating an apron with fabric crayons (how cool is it that now we have a brand new set of fabric crayons that we can use for other projects, too?!).  

both activities lead to a great pretend play scenario of setting up a farmer's market, and selling fruits and vegetables.  they even included pretend money!

now, i have to say, leo has never really been a huge fan of doing a lot of craft projects.  they keep his interest for a little while, and then he moves on.  this, however... totally different. i don't know what it was about it... the fact that all the materials were right there in front of him?  the neatly packaged box, with everything in easily accessible packets?  or (what i think it was) the fact that he knew he was working up to the end idea of setting up a little scenario with all the things he created.  

i was so excited to get the crate, and wasn't disappointed in the slightest.  we immediately ordered a year's worth of monthly crates.  

how great to have fully stocked projects, completely ready to go that aren't just fun to do... but are also educational... in this one crate we worked on fine motor skills (lacing, drawing on the apron), counting (pretend money), color identification (fruits and vegetable colors), pretend play (farmer's market setup), and more.

kiwi crate does an annual subscription, monthly subscriptions, and now they even do individual crates if you just want to try it out, or want to have something on hand for a rainy day.  what's great about the individual crates, is that you can choose from a bunch of fun themes they have to suit your child... things like fairy fun, space hero, robot rally, making music... or a bunch more.  

head on over to kiwi crate to check them out.  be careful, the site is a little addicting... aside from the crates they offer, there's a ton of ideas to do at home... all organized by theme or even by age...

don't say you weren't warned :)

and if you head over there by april 1st and use the code 40KFANS, you can get 40% off your first month!  

full disclosure... i received the farmer's market kiwi crate as a free sample from kiwi crate.  in no way did that sway my opinion of how AWESOME it was!