My kids, 5-year-old Sofia and 8-year-old Sebastian, usually hang around the house on the weekends, either playing on the phone or just making a mess with slime and assorted small toys. This weekend, though, I decided that playtime would include an anatomy lesson, courtesy of KiwiCo’s Kiwi Crate called “My Body and Me.” It was way more fun than I thought it would be, and the kids enjoyed it so much. And I have to admit, I liked playing with it and helping them too.
The box came complete with materials, instructions, and extra resources
The box comes complete with every item you and your kids will need to put all the crafts together, a comprehensive instruction book with other learning suggestions for each activity, a lifesize anatomy poster (that we ended up putting up on their room door), and a book that kids can use to further explore the topics.
The first activity involved making some toys
Of course, the kids jumped right at the chance to make the toys: little plush organs. The two felt pieces for the plush toy were perforated all around to make it easy to “sew” and the piece of yarn had a solid piece of plastic at the end to be like a needle to be pushed through easily. They took a while getting the hang of the stitch pattern, but when they finally mastered it, it was quick.
Our stuffed toys were the cutest!
It’s an adorable idea to get your kids into their anatomy and organs, and though I don’t know about cuddling with a stuffed stomach, Sofia announced that she’d be sleeping with her stuffed brain, who she named “Brainy.”
Next up, a DIY stethoscope that was so easy to make
Then we created our very own stethoscope. I had to help with this particular one because, at one point, the ends of the earpieces have to line up perfectly — but they did most of the other steps on their own.
And it was actually operational!
The stethoscope worked! I was shocked how well we could hear with a medical tool made from plastic pieces, tubes, earbuds, and a little funnel. We had fun checking each other’s hearts — and even checked one of our dogs!
These X-rays glowed!
Our last activity was an interesting X-ray puzzle-type game. Using glow-in-the-dark paper and static cling stickers in the shape of bones, we made an arm and a hand using the lifesize anatomy poster. Then we shined a flashlight on the paper to “charge” it, so we could see the final result.
It was very, very cool
Finally, we had to go into a super dark room — in this case, my closet — to see the result of our X-ray experiment. I have to say, the kids really enjoyed this experiment, and making believe this was an actual X-ray developing paper. It was a great opportunity to teach them about their bones on their arms and the smaller ones that make up their hands.
You've gotta try this with your kids
Both Sofia and Sebastian enjoyed all the activities in this Kiwi Crate, from start to finish. As a mom, I appreciate all the teachable opportunities that we had while we basically played games. Plus, the box came with an Explore! workbook, full of extra stories, information, more experiments, and even recipes to try. It’s a great tool to help them delve more into the topics by either individually reading the book, as my second-grader can, or by me reading to them, if your child is like my kindergartener and still learning. That’s the whole genius behind these Kiwi Crates!
If you want to try KiwiCo Crates for your kids (or even for you!), visit their site and pick from different types and age-appropriate crates.
