Today, we are reviewing Tinker Crate by KiwiCo! Subboxy paid for this box.
Tinker Crate is a STEM subscription box for kids ages 9-16+. Each month, you'll get all the materials and step-by-step instructions you need to build a creative, innovative STEM project. You'll also get the Tinker Zine magazine that will be filled with additional science content and activities.
Tinker Crate is great for kids who aspire to be scientists, engineers, and innovators!
Price: $19.95/month
Ships to: US, Worldwide
Shipping Cost: FREE (US), Varies (Worldwide)
TinkerCrate Deal: Save 30% off your first month of any KiwiCo line with this link and coupon code SHARE30.
Tinker Crate Wooden Air Cannon Review
Tinker Crate ships in an orange box. You can normally choose the theme of your first box, but since this was our second box, we got what is in Tinker Crate's normal rotation.
This month's project is “Air Cannon”. If you've seen an Airzooka toy before, then you will know what these air cannons are all about. They basically move air with a lot of force!
Here's a quick peek at all of the materials we got in our box!
Tinker Crate comes with a “blueprint” with step-by-step instructions on how to assemble each product.
I like how the instructions are illustrated and in color!
We also got the Tinker Zine magazine. This magazine helps you set up a water vortex experiment.
The booklet also describes some mini games you can play with the Air Cannons that we assembled.
With this Air Cannon crate, we got cardboard air cannon discs, foam stickers, 4 balloons, plastic holders for the discs, a dry erase marker with an eraser tip, black duct tape, smoke cones, and 2 colorful cardboard tubes (which I forgot to snap a photo of!).
We also got wooden parts to assemble the target board.
The Vortex Cannon Mini Games came with a laminated sheet so you can keep score for the 4 mini games that were provided. The dry erase marker is used with this sheet so you can use it again and again.
The finished Air Cannon and target board, per the blueprint, is shown below.
Our Assembly of the Air Cannon
My 9-year old son started by sticking foam stickers to the wooden target board supports.
He really loves building these awesome contraptions that come from Tinker Crate!
Once the target was built, he added the actual targets. They came in 3 different colors: blue, red, and yellow.
Then, we put the air cannons together. The first step was to cut a balloon where it starts to get skinny, and then to stretch the balloon over the top of the cardboard tube.
Then, my son secured the balloon to the cardboard tube with the black duct tape.
Here are the 2 air cannons with the balloons attached.
We then used the plastic parts to set the air cannon discs up on the cardboard tubes.
Once the air cannons were finished, we tested them out by pulling back on the balloon. The air started to fly and we started knocking down the target squares.
We also experimented with the different discs to see if the wider or narrower holes provide more air force.
Wrap Up
My 9-year old son had so much fun building and playing with Tinker Crate's Air Cannons and Target Board. He loved playing the mini games against me and his siblings. I love that he learns about STEM concepts, and has something to occupy his time – which is so much more important now that we are home so much. He looks forward to getting a new Tinker Crate each month!
Save 30% off your first month of any KiwiCo line with this link and coupon code SHARE30.
Tinker Crate
Tinker Crate is a STEM subscription box for kids ages 9-16+. Each month, you'll get all the materials and step-by-step instructions you need to build a creative, innovative STEM project. You'll also get the Tinker Zine magazine that will be filled with additional science content and activities.
Tinker Crate is great for kids who aspire to be scientists, engineers, and innovators!
Save 30% off your first month of any KiwiCo line with this link and coupon code SHARE30.
