KiwiCo Tinker Crate Review

KiwiCo is a company that has several lines of subscription boxes for children starting at the preschool age and going all the way to teen and adult. They have science, engineering, craft, culture and cooking boxes.

Although, KiwiCo is not necessarily a game, they do provide a similar experience that games do—critical thinking, family time and lasting memories. They also have a number of crates (boxes) where you can make your own games like air hockey, pinball, basketball and a fishing game for younger kids.

For today’s review we’re looking at the KiwiCo Tinker Crate Vacuum Chamber.

What’s Inside a KiwiCo Crate

Inside a crate you will find everything you need to make the item on the box—a vacuum chamber. Plus you will also find items that you can use to further explore that crate’s theme. Of course, you will get step by step instructions but you will also get a booklet that explains the science behind that crate’s item. In ours we learn about air pressure, how a vacuum works and instructions for more experiments.

Building a KiwiCo Crate

To start, we spread the parts need to make the vacuum out on the table. We followed the step by step instructions and built the vacuum using tubes and plugs and other specialized parts.

In all honestly, our 12 year finds following the steps a little tricky but with a little help and some clear thinking, it came together easily. (Note: science and building are not strong suits of ours, others may not have any problems.)

In about ten minutes we had a working vacuum chamber.

Experimenting

Now the fun part came. The first experiment involved a balloon. We had to skip this step as we have a latex allergy in the house.

The second experiment had us attaching a large jingle bell inside the chamber. After vacuuming out the air, we discovered that the bell no longer jingled. The instructions explained why this is.

Next, the instructions included some ideas for further experiments. We decided to try a marshmallow inside the chamber. I have to say this was the best part of the whole night. It is incredibly satisfying to pull and push the lever and watch as the marshmallow grew and grew and grew.

Next, we tried again and found that although it worked, it didn’t work as well. However, the marshmallow looked the most different after the second go around. It changed texture and when it was eaten, she found that the marshmallow was cold and more dense but the taste remained the same. We tried several more marshmallow just to see what would happen.

After the marshmallow, we tried several different items in the chamber with varying end results.

Next, she wanted to know what would happen if you put a finger or arm inside. The instructions said not to put living things in the chamber. Instead, we looked it up on YouTube and found a fascinating video of a guy would put his arm in a vacuum.

Next Steps

The KiwiCo crate came with a bonus challenge kit where you use the chamber to move water from one pipette to the other without squeezing.

Sadly, we ran out of time for this experiment but we plan to spend more time experimenting with it and other things—and I’m sure more marshmallows!

Even More Steps

The booklet also has instructions on how to build your own barometer—as well as explaining what this is and why it’s important. We chose not to do this one as we had done a similar experiment a few months before.

KiwiCo Crate Add-Ons

KiwiCo understands that kids have a thirst for knowledge. Therefore, they have created an add on for books. The booklet tells you what books to get if you’re interested in the theme of the crate. You can add these into your crate.

What We Like

First, the quality of all the items in the box are top notch. We like that they send more than just the items need to try one experiment. The booklet is also great with explaining everything and suggesting other things to try.

Next, we like that there are video instructions if you’re struggling or would prefer to watch instead of read. There is also a trouble shooting section that is valuable for when it just doesn’t work.

Most of all, we like that the KiwiCo crates inspire a love of learning in a fun, hands on way.

What We Don’t Like

First, as I said before, our 12 year old finds the instructions a bit hard to follow. (She hasn’t tried the video ones yet.) However, the girls have built many sets on their own with no adult help.

Next, sadly, most of the crates don’t go back in the box after you build them. This has the creations hanging around without a spot.

Are KiwiCo Tinker Crates Worth It?

In this world of screen time and more screen time, it is refreshing to see children get involved in hands on learning. The hours of entertainment and experimenting are more than worth it and with so many options to choose from KiwiCo has something for everyone.

We recommend taking some family game time and making it family learning time—fostering a love of learning and making great memories not to mention so seriously cool gadgets.

When all the experiments have been done, settle in for some more family bonding with some games. You can read our game reviews, cards games and dice games to find some new ones or remember classics. You may even find some to experiment with; many of our games show variations to try like the card games Uno, Spoons, and Kings in the Corner and the dice games Beat That, Tenzi and Pig.