I Tried KiwiCo and It's the Mom Hack for Toy Shopping I Didn’t Know I Needed

As a mom of four kids under nine years old, I’m no stranger to toy shopping. While we generally try to keep our house stocked with open-ended staples like blocks, art supplies, and outdoor toys, it can be hard to decide what to buy our kids when special occasions like birthdays or holidays arise. That’s why I was thrilled when I got the chance to try KiwiCo’s Panda Crate the month before my youngest kiddo turned 1.

In my house, all the “good” baby toys have seen better days (thanks to all those older siblings), so I was excited to order my littlest guy something just for him. I was also curious to see if the toys felt durable, were actually fun for him to play with, and how simple it was to order KiwiCo overall. Read on to find out what we learned.

What Is KiwiCo?

KiwiCocurates monthly or bi-monthly “crate” subscriptions that include toys and specialty items for kids based on their age, or, for older kids, their special interests. Each box offers four to six toys designed to support cognitive development and help kids explore all the new things their brains and bodies can do. The toys and items included in each box are designed in partnership with child development experts and are made with high-quality, durable materials. Each box also includes child-development information and a play guide for parents.

Since I was shopping for my youngest kiddo, I ordered from thePanda Crateline, which ships bi-monthly for babies up to two years old. But I had a lot of options because KiwiCo has nine different subscription lines for everyone from newborns to teens. The younger lines (which were what I was considering) are split by age.

KiwiCo Crates for kids zero to eight-years-old

• Panda Crate, which includes brain-building toys for little ones ages 0 to two and costs $34 per crate
• Koala Crate, which includes hands-on learning toys and activities for kids ages two to four and costs $24 per crate
• Kiwi Crate, which includes tools and toys that let kids ages five to eight tinker, create, and innovate and costs $24 per crate

In addition to these lines, KiwiCo also offers subscription crates that are tailored to older kids with special interests. These are:

Crates for ages six to 14

• Atlas Crate: Recommended for kids ages 6 to 11 and focuses on helping children develop an appreciation for world cultures; $24 per crate
• Yummy Crate: Recommended for ages 6 to 11 and focuses on cooking and baking; $24 per crate
  
• Tinker Crate: Recommended for ages 9 to 14 and offers hands-on STEM projects; $24 per crate

Crates for ages nine to 100

• Doodle Crate: Recommended for ages 9 to 16 and focuses on arts; $24 per crate
  
• Maker Crate: Recommended for ages 14 to 100 and includes creativity-based projects for anyone who likes to get crafty; $33 per crate
• Eureka Crate: Recommended for ages 12 to 100 and includes science-based maker projects; $33 per crate

Each of these lines ships monthly (with the exception of the Panda Crate, which ships bi-monthly).

With the Panda Crate, I had the option to upgrade to Panda Crate Plus, which costs $88 per crate and includes everything that normally comes in a Panda Crate plus one to two additional grow-with-me toys and play guides.

KiwiCo is not a low-cost toy option, but the items included in the boxes do seem to me to be high-quality enough to justify the price.

My Experience Ordering and Receiving KiwiCo

I found ordering from KiwiCo to be a simple and straightforward process, though I did have to jump around on the website a few more clicks than I expected to learn about the different crate options and what they include. After reviewing the various subscriptions and selecting Panda Crate, I decided to order Panda Crate Plus after seeing a side-by-side comparison of what’s included in each box.

I then entered my child’s birthdate and name, and was given the option to prepay for several months of boxes for a discount. If you choose to order six months, each crate costs $42 versus the normal $44 per crate. If you order for 12 months, each crate drops to $37 and, if you go all in and order for 24 months, each crate costs only $34. I decided to pay month-to-month and was then prompted to enter my basic shipping and billing information. I received an email notification instantly to let me know that I had subscribed, and a few days later, I received another to let me know my first box had shipped.

My Panda Crate arrived within just a few days of receiving my shipping notification. Because I ordered Panda Crate Plus, my order came in two boxes: one with the standard toys and play guide and one with the additional toys and play guide.

The boxes are sturdy and easily reusable, which can be helpful when storing or rotating toys. When you open each box, you’ll see a large cardstock foldover that includes images and descriptions of each toy in the crate. When you lift back the foldover, you’ll find each toy nestled into a cardboard insert and surrounded by tissue paper.

I received a sound and movement focused crate. The crate included the following items:

• Play scarves
• A wooden scarf keeper
• 瀑布shaker
• A round wooden shaker
• A grown-up guide

Overall I found the items to be high-quality, durable, and attractive. My baby was sitting next to me as I opened the box and was clearly excited to begin exploring what was inside. The play scarves fit nicely into the wooden scarf keeper, and my little one enjoyed pulling the scarves in and out as well as the (many) games of peek-a-boo the scarves invited.

While my little guy did enjoy shaking both shakers around, I felt they were very similar and didn’t seem unique enough to go in the same box. The grown-up guide was colorful and well-designed but I did not find that it offered a lot of novel or useful information.

These toys were both sturdy, well-designed, and attractive enough to occupy the front row of my playroom shelf. That being said, I’m not sure how long my son will enjoy them since they are less open-ended than some other toy options. For example, a xylophone toy can really only be played with as a xylophone, while more open-ended toys like stacking cups can be used to build, pour, fill with sand, hold other toys and so much more. I’ve found that my kids tend to lose interest faster in toys that have more specific uses than toys that can be incorporated into play in many ways.

While I didn’t have any customer service issues, I tried out the chat function on the KiwiCo website to see how helpful it was. When you click the “help” button featured on the website, a chat box pops up, though I was not able to actually chat with a person or even a helpful bot. After entering my questions, the chat box offered options for the category I’d like to explore and then suggested that I send an email. Since I did not have a real issue, I did not follow up with an email.

Pros & Cons

I had a good experience with KiwiCo overall, but here are my pros and cons based on what I learned while ordering from it, receiving, and using its products.

Final Thoughts

Subscribing to KiwiCo is simple, shipping is fast and free, and the toys in each box are durable and attractive. They are also designed to engage babies' brains and help them learn as they play. Not every item in the box was a hit with my kiddo and some of the toys felt a little bit repetitive, but overall, it was clear that he was interested and having fun as he explored them.

I wish that it was possible to see the contents of each of the boxes offered by KiwiCo ahead of time. That said, the toys and games included in the crate I received met my expectations and were in line with the sorts of toys featured on the website.

Trying out the Panda Crate also got me curious about the many other subscription lines that KiwiCo offers, including its lines for older kids and the Maker and Eureka Boxes—which each got added to my older kids' birthday wish lists. Overall, my KiwiCo experience was positive and I would recommend the Panda Crate to friends who have babies under 2, especially those that are stocking their playroom from scratch or who don’t like shopping for individual items on their own.