My youngest daughter has always had a penchant for discovery and building. She loves to learn through doing and finds building things a creative outlet. Her mother and I wanting to provide positive reinforcement and foster her growth sought out a monthly subscription box for brilliant young minds like hers.
We discovered the Tinker Crates by KiwiCo that are designed for her age group. Wanting to dip our toes in the water but also not wanting to spend a ton of money without the payoff we purchased a shorter plan and paid in full for a 10% discount. Life got in the way and I forgot about it until 3 months had gone by and nothing had arrived. I logged into the account and it showed they had received the payment but there was a stall in the ordering process. I reached out via chat and received a cryptic response for the delay and a promise to fix it.
Another 2 weeks went by but still no crates. Much less patient and wanting a refund I contacted them again but this time I got someone with a head on their shoulders who offered to send us all the missing boxes and some free material. A few days later 4 boxes arrived to an elated 8-year-old/budding engineer.
The first project we attempted was the spinning art machine. Bridget was tasked with assembling the components of the motor, measuring the dimensions inside the box and constructing the apparatus. Equally curious Phaedra and I assisted her and together we enjoyed the resulting art.
Following that she received several more projects including a few “oops, sorry we messed up” boxes bringing our current collection to 8. Each has brought her joy and beyond the first one she has built nearly all of them on her own with only the occasional question. To date she has completed a Walking Robot, Drifting Motorcycle, Phantom Projector, Parabolic Mic, Arcade Catapult, Paper Circuits, and Air Cannon.
Seeing the joy she gets with each of them and the educational value we’ve decided to renew and even added on the Doodle Crate that comes with a wide array of crafting challenges.
I asked Bridget to say something on the subject for prosperity. She offered, “I like Tinker Crates because you get to build and see what is happening. You can also change it and make it look different, explore, play games and have adventures with Tinker Crates. It’s SO cool the things you can make.”
Well said Bridget, well said.
3/24/2021
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