Why I NOW Love Subscription Boxes. What Changed My Mind
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this review or post, but all opinions are our own.
As with almost every post there are affiliate links which mean that when you choose to make a purchase, use the link in the article and the companies I work with will send me coffee money. I love promoting companies I believe in and strive to always bring you the very best. Affiliate links help bloggers make a living while doing what we love; which is writing and sharing. Thanks for being awesome readers, otherwise there would be no point!
Why was I avoiding subscription boxes?
I thought subscription boxes were expensive.
There was a fear that I would be locked in forever, trying to find the fine print loop holes, like the CD club I joined when I was 15. (ok it was cassette tapes, like you didn’t get sucked into that too)
Some irrational part of me kept saying I could just get all of the parts for the project in the science book at the craft store when I am in town.
So, How did a frugal mom like me ever get interested in subscription boxes?
I’ll tell yo got sick of telling my kids no.
No, we don’t have the balloon for that experiment. We don’t have a button battery. Really, we don’t have radish seeds (in December). No, no, no. At some point, even I got sick of hearing me say no.
All the while, I kept liking the ads for cool subscription boxes. I created a Pinterest board for them them and soon I was clicking on the link to check them out.
As I started looking at these great little kits, I started to wonder
What Was Keeping Me From Trying One?
1. I was worried about cost
I sure didn’t want to pay $25 bucks for an activity that the kids would tear up and blow through in one day. Then I considered all the times I ran to the store for a $5 button battery, a red balloon, drinking straws or some other random item I needed to complete an experiment.
Those were just the common items. The nearest real craft or hobby store is sixty miles away. That means 120 mile for a tiny motor, various LED lights, or model paint. We are losing a good chunk of a school day. Suddenly the cash it would cost to have every item neatly packaged, double checked and delivered to my door, was the equivalent of gas money.
2. I was not sure I would get quality items
We are super frugal. I spent almost nothing for a stretch of four years. Nada. Bills and our tithe, the mortgage got the rest. We have lived through some tight times to keep our employees paid and our business open. Though those days are behind us; we have a little more breathing room, I remain watchful with my spending.
I did not want to pay $40 for popsicle sticks and tissue paper. Because we made our own fun for many years, I know how much things cost. I wanted to be assured that there was quality products in every box.
3. I needed activities that last longer than an episode of Blues Clues
Seriously! I can get 30 minutes of entertainment and a few fun facts from Netflix for free. If I was going to pay for a subscription box, it had to offer engaging activities and projects. It needed to have multiple activities for extended play. I wanted to learn and teach while using them. Could we get inspired to explore a little further. That was my hope.
I tried out a few subscription boxes and discovered…
There are plenty of boxes in varied price ranges
With a Groupon I snagged a “School Kit” for three monthly boxes for $27. You’ll hear me rave about the Groovy Lab Box. (I’ll have a review up later this month) You can snag a 3 month subscription for under $30 each month. Sign up for their email and they will send you offers as a new customer at Academics in a Box Inc.
You can check out the full review of KitHub’s Future Engineer Kit on the blog. We loved the little red tool kit full of electronic and motorized parts to use in their easy to follow projects. The large kits run about $50 and could cover your science lab for the whole month with extended lessons that you can find in their site and links to cool makers like the MIT Lab. Smaller individual project kids are $10-$20. We especially love the sturdy instruction cards. They make the projects easy to follow. The heavy card stock will out last the initial project so you can use them again and again. There are literally boxes for every kind of learning and child. Do some searching and I have a few on my Pinterest Board
My Subscription Box was full of unique and value added items
The kits I’ve used have been worth every penny. There is no buyers remorse here. Groovy Lab’s box was literally stuffed with awesome stuff. More that we could use up in one session. It was full of fun items I did not have on hand. Insulated foil to make a solar oven and photo sensitive paper, tools for the experiments, instructions, a log book.
Bitsbox and Wonder Girl box are two of my favorites for monthly boxes that inspire. Bitsbox is packed with coding activities to keep your kids interested in their newly acquired code skills. Again with the awesome high quality cards with code challenges and prompts. Wonder Girl box is under a revamp. Their boxes are full of inspiration for a young woman who loves books. I can’t wait for their reveal so I can sign up to get the first one. It is a gift so, shhhh!
The boxes I tried were made for creative extended play.
My fear of the kids ripping of the wrapping and burning through the activities was unfounded. The truth is that there is plenty to do for the kids. I have a ton of flexibility in how I present the box to my kids as well. With out Engineer Kit from KitHub, we had a science day and did all of the experiments in one day with three kids. With one kiddo I could have split it into three separate science lessons with experiments and then one Frankenstein style mash-up day to make a cool experiment from the left over components using what we learned.
Most the learning kits focused on one concept and included additional extended ideas and links on their websites. Groovy Lab always has extended learning activities on there site for all of their current boxes. BitsBox sent me an awesome PDF to try out some of their coding cards before I ever ordered anything. Reach out to them on twitter @BitsBox and tell them 200fingersandtoes sent you!
The main point is don’t be afraid of getting stuck with a lot of expensive junk you can not use. I have not seen that with the boxes I have received so far. They have been filled with fun, clear, useful projects that we have all been able to play with again and again. What are you waiting for?
What boxes have you tried? I would love to hear about some that we have never heard of before.
