Don’t you love getting mail? Especially those fabulous subscription boxes that bring pampering goodies to your doorstep? Well, kids love to get mail too! A win-win idea for both parents as well as kids would be a monthly subscription box filled with creative and educational activities that combines learning with fun. I got a chance to review one of the premium kids subscription boxes in India – the PodSquad Box, in collaboration with the MBCI. Check out what the box had in store for us and how the kids reacted to the various activities!
PodSquad Box
PodSquad Box is a monthly subscription box perfect for kids of 4 to 7 years of age. It includes several activities that promote creativity and learning. Some really cool and qualified people have come up with the idea and they have managed to hit the bull’s eye.
It is a themed box and the theme changes every month. This month’s theme is ‘Animal Friend’ and this box is what I will be reviewing today. Past boxes can also be purchased from their website.
What’s Inside
Each month, the PodSquad box arrives with a new set of fun activities for the kids. It contains all the materials required to complete each activity. The activities are a mix of DIY kits, books, posters and games. The makers of PodSquad box have created fun, imaginary creatures called the ‘Pods’ who feature in the books and the activities. Hence the name – ‘Pod’ ‘Squad’. Every box also contains a collectible ‘pod’ toy for a keepsake.
The Animal Friend Box
Are you prepared to be blown away? I wasn’t! There seems to be endless things inside the Animal Friend box and the kids come up with even more ways to play with them. I will let the pictures speak:
Packaging
The packaging of the box receives 10 on 10! Everything comes packed in a sturdy, attractive box that is strong enough to be used for storage later. Our box is now the official ‘Animal Friend’ box. The kids are using it to store the keepsakes from this box as well as other small animal-themed toys and flash cards that they have. The looks of the box and the anticipation of the stuff it contains within, is enough to light up the eyes of any child!
3 DIY Activities
The Animal Friend PodSquad Box contained three animal themed DIY kits with easy instruction sheets and all the materials needed to make them.
A Card Paper Birdhouse
A Painted Rock Pet (Pet Pod)
The kit came complete with an ‘Adoption Certificate’ for the new pet 🙂
The ‘fragrant glue’ included in a kit was a novelty and loved by my stationery-addicted children!
Finger Puppets with Pipe Cleaners
The kit for this activity did not include the ‘pom poms’ required to make the heads and I have promised the kids to fish them out of my crafts drawer (I have them stashed somewhere!) so this craft is on hold.
All the activities were easily accomplished by my 5 year old. Now this is something that I like very much. It gives the children a sense of accomplishment to do something on their own.
A Board Game
A lovely board game that encourages physical activity along with mental stimulation is included in the box. The game was super duper fun and my son and his friends were at it for quite some time.
Activity Poster
The podsquad box animal activity poster is printed on both sides.
A double-sided poster with coloring sheets on one side and activities and a progress tracking chart on the other side.
I was only able to put it on the wall after all the coloring was completed on the other side.
Story Book in a Drawstring Bag
This was such a wonderful surprise! The box included a beautifully illustrated story book in a colorful drawstring bag.
Mini Bird Chart
My husband and I are both avid bird watchers. It is our habit to point out different birds to the kids on the way. We were both happy to see a mini bird chart with pictures of common birds included in the box. The little chart can be carried along to recognize the birds around us.
Collectible Toy
Loving Pod from the book – The Puppy Surprise
A cute stuffed ‘pod’ toy is also in the box. At first, we did not know what it resembled and took it to be a cute little keepsake. But once we opened the story book, my son was thrilled to see that his little toy was one of the ‘pods’ featured in the book. Now it is one thing to own a toy, and completely another thing to own a ‘character’ featured in a book or a movie.
My Thoughts
There are several things that I simply loved about the PodSquad Box.
1. First and foremost, I loved that all the DIY activities were easy enough for little hands and yet, not exactly your run-of-the-mill activities. Each activity helped my son make something unique and he was able to do most of it himself.
2. The fact that the PodSquad Box team has a advisory panel consisting of education professionals is clearly visible from the way each activity is designed. I loved how each activity is accompanied by the ‘Learning Skills it targets.
3. I am a reading mom and encourage the kids to read as well. I liked the addition of a book to the box. It will remain with the children forever and remind them of what this theme was all about.
4. The entire idea behind the box if fun learning. Adding a chart to monitor the progress is an excellent idea.
5. I loved the idea of a keepsake ‘pod’ that the kids see featured in the books and other activities.
6. ‘The Animal Friend’ box took every opportunity to encourage good behaviour towards animals. Every activity doubled up as a message to do something nice for animals.
The space on the back of the board game is utilized to teach kids about good behavior towards animals.
7. And finally, I am also a very techie mommy and encourage my kids to be the same. I liked the fact that the fun does not end with the box. It can taken further to some online activities on a special membership website.
U always suggest great ideas for kids