KiwiCo Maker Crate Review: The Best Subscription Box For Teens

If you are looking for something fun for your teens you are going to love our KiwiCo Maker crate review.

As a mom, and especially a homeschool mom, I am very aware of my strengths and weaknesses. Math and history, I can do, in fact, I look forward to these in our school day. However, science and art are just not my jam.

But as I am a homeschool mom I need to integrate every subject into our homeschool. So what better way than to outsource all creative lessons to KiwiCo?

The KiwiCo Maker Crate is the third subscription box we have now received from them. And honestly, we both love them.

Find out which KiwiCo crate your teen or tween will love with our honest reviews.

**Disclosure: I was compensated for my time to write this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I only share resources that I would use with my own family and those that I believe other homeschool families will enjoy. There may be affiliate links in this post.**

The KiwiCo Eureka Crate is the one we use for supplementing science which also introduces engineering. (Check out our KiwiCo Eureka Crate review)

KiwiCo Doodle Crate is what we use for art and creativity, and the KiwiCo Maker Crate we use for art and design. (Check out our KiwiCo Doodle Crate review.)

The KiwiCo Maker crate is aimed at teens and adults as it is definitely harder than the other 2 boxes we have. But this is a perfect box for middle and high schoolers.

The first box we received was the electro-luminescent sculpture. Carry on reading for our KiwiCo Maker Crate review with an exclusive 50% discount off your first box.

Maker Crate from KiwiCo

The KiwiCo Maker Crate is aimed at everyone over the age of 14. Today I am sharing with you our review of the electro-luminescent sculptures.

My 12 year old son completed this Maker Crate and although he really enjoyed it, he did need a little help with it. So the age rating of 14 and above is about right, but with a little help, a 12 year old will love it too.

One of the things that have drawn me to KiwiCo is the fact that everything you could possibly need is right there in the box. Even the sticky tape. However, for this one, you need a ruler!! In fact, even if you don’t have one you can take an educated guess as to what 12″ is!

The box includes:

Unlike the other 2 KiwiCo crates that we have had, the makers guide was more for inspiration and talking about the history of wire art, rather than a makers guide. For that, we had to resort to video instructions.

To be honest, it was all fairly self-explanatory even for Freddie who is 12, but the video was nicely done.

Making the Electro-Luminescent Sculpture

As everything is already in the box you can start straight away with absolutely no planning. This is perfect for our fairly hectic lives!

Before you start creating your masterpiece you are advised to try and work with the wire. Manipulating it into different shapes, using the wire bending tool. I highly recommend you spend at least 30 minutes on this. Freddie decided to skip this step at first (as I wasn’t watching him) and he actually had to go back to it.

When you have finished the practice session now is the time to manipulate the wire into the shape you want.

There are templates you can use, a swan, a hello sign, a leaf, and more. Or you could create your own.

Freddie started with the cat design, and it didn’t go to plan. So he then started again and did the leaf design. There was enough wire to create 2 different designs, and the wire was durable enough to rebend it over and over again.

When you have added the wire design to the base plate you have the option to add white or green electro-luminescent wires.

This is quite tricky but KiwiCo added about 100 zip ties for you to make sure the EL wire follows the line of the sculpture.

The finished product.

KiwiCo Maker Crate Review

Yet again the KiwiCo crate did not disappoint.

Top 10 reasons why KiwiCo Maker Crate is for you:

1. I love the fact you get something different every month, next month may be a macrame planter or a punch needle pillow for example.
2. You are learning lots of new skills.
3. Everything you need is in the box, you don’t need to be rummaging around the house for tools that you don’t have.
4. There is no preparation required, so you can open the box and start creating.
5. Although we used it in our homeschool, this is a fantastic box for adults who want to learn new skills.
6. The quality of the products is exceptional. Not just in this KiwiCo box, but in every box we have received.
7. The instructions are excellent. My son has never made a wire sculpture before, and nor have I so we definitely need a few tips on how to bend the wire. KiwiCo knew this and made sure there was ample wire to practice with.
8. You get to create something you would never normally do. We didn’t wake up one morning and think about creating a sculpture that lights up.
9. KiwiCo maker crate is a great way to introduce art and design into your homeschool (especially when you are not particularly arty!)
10. The price of the box is excellent (but make sure you use my exclusive discount HOMESCHOOL to get 50% off)

KiwiCo Crates

If you are looking for something fun for everyone in your family, KiwiCo has the answer. They have engaging subscription boxes for babies all the way through to adulthood.

Make sure to use our exclusive 50% off with coupon code HOMESCHOOL.

Panda Crate

Panda Crate (ages 0-24 months) was developed in partnership with Seattle Children’s Hospital. Each crate helps babies learn by doing what they do best — playing, exploring, and most importantly, interacting with the adults in their lives. Crates arrive every other month and are filled with two months’ worth of content! See our KiwiCo Panda Crate review for more details.

Koala Crate

Koala Crate (Ages 2-4) delivers fun hands-on activities to engage the natural curiosity and creativity of preschoolers in play-based learning. Check out our detailed KiwiCo Koala Crate review.

Kiwi Crate

Kiwi Crate (Ages 5-8) delivers young innovators all the materials and inspiration needed for fun hands-on projects that explore art, science, and engineering.

Atlas Crate

Atlas Crate (Ages 6-11) sparks kids’ sense of adventure and curiosity, inspiring them to see themselves as world citizens. See our review of our geography subscription box

Yummy Crate

Yummy Crate (Ages 6-14) helps kids discover the science of cooking with recipes and activities that explore hands-on experimentation in and out of the kitchen.

Doodle Crate

Doodle Crate (Ages 9-16) invites young designers to build creative confidence by experimenting with art & design techniques in monthly hands-on projects. Check out our KiwiCo Doodle crate review.

Tinker Crate

Tinker Crate (Ages 9-14) helps young innovators to discover and learn about science!

Eureka Crate

Eureka Crate (Ages 12-100) teaches kids (and kids at heart!) how to apply science and math principles to engineer solutions and make awesome things they’ll love using every day. Check out our KiwiCo Eureka Crate review

Maker Crate

Maker Crate (Ages 14-100) Whether you’re 14 or 104, a first-time crafter, or an experienced maker, this is the box for you. A new art and design workshop in every box. Check out our review above.

Check out the best subscription boxes for teen boys that we have loved in the past or continue to order.

If you are looking for even more homeschool curriculum reviews check out all of the others we have reviewed over the years.

Last Updated on 3 November 2023 by Clare Brown