Kiwi Crate: Summer Discovery Series

Inside the box, we found materials and instructions for a collection box and a star lantern, as well as a constellation guide and a deck of playing cards.

Little Crafter was so anxious to assemble and decorate the collection box when I told him it was meant for doing scavenger hunts outside.  Unfortunately, we had a week full of downpours and tornado warnings, so he had to wait what felt like forever in kid-years.  But when the sun finally came out and things dried off, he was still incredibly excited for it.  He had fun putting the stickers on his box and making everything just the way he wanted it.

There were four cards to use in the bottom.  The first one he chose to use was the colored squares.  He inserted it into the box, then we headed outside to search for items he could collect.

As soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk, he said, “Ooooooh!  I see something green!  The grass!”  Then, he bent down and ripped up an entire handful to put in his green square.  Oh, to be a child!

We searched the neighborhood together and he found flower petals, a rock, a dandelion, a leaf, and some mulch that corresponded to the colors he needed.

Once he’d completed the color card, we switched to one with pictures of specific objects for him to find.

Finally, we used the shape card.  The triangle and square were a bit tricky, but we finally found objects for each section.  I was working on filling out the blank card with some fun things {like “something living,” “something tiny,” “something smooth”} when we felt raindrops and had to pack it up and head inside.  {Notice that we had to save all his “treasures” in labeled baggies so that he could show Daddy}.

Fortunately, the starry lamp was an indoor project, so we worked on that to help take his mind off of the fact that he couldn’t explore outside anymore at the moment.  All the materials we needed were in the box, including a cute little star punch we can use for lots of other future projects, and even a battery operated tea light.  We literally didn’t need to provide anything; not even tape or glue.

It was a totally cute project, and was simple enough that he could assemble it without a whole lot of help from me, which is good since he wants to do everything all by himself these days.

We had such a good time with it that I took a look at what the crates in the Summer Discovery Series for July and August are going to be, and let me tell you, LC would LOVE them.  Here’s a peek: