*Disclosure: I was gifted a Tinkerer box for the purpose of this post.
Every child needs a little help on their way to becoming successful adults. One of the best ways to help support them is giving them little challenges to support their growth. Whether these are art of more science based projects can depend on the child’s interests. However, it is shown that kids who are encouraged to do more STEAM activities can become more confident in problem solving and analytical skills.
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Tinkerer Subscription Box Review
We have recently tried the Tinkerer Box subscription, which is a STEAM subscription. There are several different boxes suited to different age ranges.
Wonder Box
The Wonder box is for younger children, aged around the 3-5 years old. And the box really does what it says on the tin, learning through play, creating a sense of wonder. Each box has between 3-5 different activities, an instruction guide and activity book.
The activities are different each month and can include everything from making play dough maths pizzas, to making felt vegetables and catapults for castles. I know my kids would have loved this box when they were younger!
Odyssey Box
Next is the Odyssey box, aimed at children aged 6-8 years old. This is a science and art box, with 1-2 projects, a science magazine and instruction manual per month. The main aim of this box is to encourage children to be creative and engineer their own builds using the instruction manual.
There is a wide range of activities that you could receive, including exploring centrifugal force using spin art, creating a UV lighting stage or even making your own spy gadgets! This is great for the curious kids who like to be able to do things themselves!
Explore Box
The final box, Explore Box, is aimed at older children, aged around 9-12 years old. This builds on the curiosity they had as younger children, engineering more complex builds. Each month and can new box is sent out. They include one STEM project, an instruction manual and a science magazine.
You can find activities such as bubble blowing robots, chemical tornados with a chemistry kit and even infinity mirrors. We were sent the hydraulic arm Explore box to review
Hydraulic Arm: Explore Box Example
The Hydraulic arm explore box contains everything you need to build the hydraulic arm, an instruction booklet and science magazine.
My 11 year old got stuck in straight away, piecing together the wooden parts with plastic screws and tubes. The Explore box projects have a little more to work through than the other boxes, so it does take a bit more time and concentration. He was able to do the majority of it himself, but needed a little help. Mostly to hold different water filled tubes whilst he was fixing them onto the structure! Some things require more hands than you have!
He was very pleased with how it came together and can use it to lift up small items and swivel it around. There have been a few leaks, which is expected. But it works really well and a great way to learn about hydraulics.
The magazine is filled with lots of hydraulic knowledge and fun facts. Great for budding engineers!
Quality of The Box Contents
The boxes contain wooden and plastic parts similar to other types of children’s subscription boxes we’ve tried in the past. All seem to be good quality and sturdy enough for the children to handle and put together with minimal help.
The instructions are very clear, with both written instructions and images to guide the children through the build. The magazine is excellent, child-friendly, filled with information related to the project. With information on the history of the topic, how it works and real life examples. Did you know that dinosaur animatronics use hydraulics? And spiders legs work very similarly to hydraulics, which is why their legs curl inward when they die?!
So in summary I would say it’s great quality, both in the materials used and written content included in the box.
Our Overall Review of the Tinkerer Subscription Box
So would we take out a subscription of the Tinkerer box?
Yes! I definitely would! It would make the perfect gift from family, as they can choose to pay for a one-off box purchase or a subscription from 6 months upwards. I really love the look of some of the other boxes, especially the chemical tornado and the flying saucer boxes!
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Tinkerer Subscription Box Review
