Homelearning: Subscription boxes - Green Kid Craft

Even with the decision to enroll her into formal education 2 years ago, I have always been sitting on the fence when it comes to the issue of formal schooling. The questions that always lurk at the back of my mind are "Are there more things to life than just textbooks?", "Does Dumpling find her learning meaningful?" and "Do the activities and lessons propel her interest and natural sense of curiosity?"

Frankly, even now that she's in Primary 2, these questions still linger. Granted that English is taught in a more meaningful manner (Stellar) where children acquire grammar rules and vocabulary through specially selected story books, but the idea of engaging children in meaningful hands-on learning (in my opinion) seems to be somewhat lacking.

Hence I started my research on subscription boxes last year where I ordered Green Kid Craft, Little Passports and Junior Explorer. Each was specially chosen to map an area of interest that Dumpling has. These boxes were not and are not sponsored but I thought that they are pretty neat for some of you who wish to do more and do something different with your kids :)

:: History

Green Kid Crafts prides itself on being a green company that focuses and provides education activities for children with their boxes which is very much STEM based but with a little something special - all the activities are craft based.

Green Kid Crafts is a mother’s invention, created by a working mom and environmental scientist who wanted to make the most out of the limited time she had to spend with her kids. Like many other parents, she wanted to spend that time connecting with her kids, not scrambling for ideas and shopping for supplies. 

Why Green you may ask? It is because they are eco-friendly and are committed to the following:

Its boxes are 100% recycled. We use recycled labels and envelopes for shipping.

It integrate eco-awareness into our box themes as much as possible.

It minimize packaging and printing and use recycled materials.

It bundles materials using plant-based, compostable clear bags.

It avoids craft foams and plastics.

It ensures supplies can be composted, recycled and/or reused whenever possible.

It gives back. At least 1% of sales is donated to environmental organizations through its membership in 1% for the Planet.

From a parent's perspective, it is definitely a box puts my mind at ease where I know that the kid is not exposed to any toxic paints and materials.

:: How it works

Each box comes with 3 - 4 activities and you can choose a "once off" boxes or a subscription box (based on 3 months, 6 months or a 12 months plan). Besides subscription basis, Green Kid Craft also offers Discovery themed boxes that features cool themes such as Robots, Ocean Science, Kitchen Science, etc., Creativity themed boxes and STEM science kits (there are some which overlap into the Discovery themed boxes).

So you then choose the "type" you want and then add to cart.

The kiddo has tried both the subscription boxes and the themed boxes.

:: How it looks inside 

These are from 3 different kits:

Each box comes with a "intro" card (see above) which shows you the final craft item. The activities are pre-packed into each bag and most of the things you need would be in there (except the odd and end items like scissors, etc).

:: What we like: the activities

Based on the subscription boxes I have researched on, Green Kids Craft is one of those that has the best value. With 3 - 4 activities and full color printed cards / instructional sheets, I find the price (from USD19.95) reasonable.

So, how is Science being explored in these boxes?

Some activities are more fluid where it is up to you to explore the topical interest.

For us, it is a lot of conversational points. From the leaf pendent (yes, the leaf and paint were included) and the decoration of a Fabric bag, we had a chance to talk about leaves and their roles, types of leaves, global warming (based on Dr. Seuss poster below!), etc.

One of our favorite activities was a chance to build this:

This was from one of our monthly subscription boxes and yes, all the leaves and fern and even the soil, were included in the pack. Considering that the box had to travel about 3 - 4 days to Borderlinx (which is where I ship it from) and then to SG, they did remarkably well :p

As the kiddo built this, she created her own "rainforest" and with a lid over this, it was turned into a self sufficient terrarium. Over the next few days, observations were made and she saw first hand the water cycle process. 

Another interesting experiment she did was this which was on sounds:

Our conversation went like this:

(Placed salt into the balloon and I blew the balloon up)

Me: why is there sound now?

Kiddo: hmmmm...

Me: what's the difference in the balloon?

Kiddo: You blew it up! Now there's air!

Yup! Sound needs (medium) air to travel 

When I asked her which is her favorite activity to date, she selected the Lava Lamp.

As you can see, the talking points are also included and these are printed on the experiment card (see bottom of the card in the picture below)

:: The shipping

This has to be the greatest concern for most of you readers who are not based in the US. I ship my boxes via Borderlinx. Borderlinx recently started an economy option for parcels from US to SG (there are certain size and weight limitations) but via this economy route, my shipping was about SGD17.

For Economy, the delivery takes longer (which I do not really mind - about 7 to 8 days so far as compared to the regular option which takes about 3 - 4 days but at about double the cost too). It is trackable BUT I realised that it does not involve a door to door delivery. The postman merely placed it in my letter box (found out after 2 days when I was trying to trace my box!).

On the whole, Green Kid Craft has been great in occupying the kiddo where she can be left to her own devices, craft and learn at the same time. The activities are usually quite simple and I personally feel that they are great for younger children (K1 onwards) if they are able to read the instructions on their own. Having said that, this will also suit children who enjoy craft and are new to Science concepts. If you are looking at specific Science inventions and concepts for your children, this will not be for you but if you are looking for a fun experimental box which encourages hands-on learning, I personally think that this box has great value. Based on the multiple awards that it has won, I don't think I am alone in thinking so.

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Through her eyes #9 - Jim Weiss 'Live' Story Telling and the tale of Hercules

Dumpling is an avid reader and has a voracious appetite for good stories. We are blessed as she started reading independently early on and this has made my homeschool sessions much easier as a lot of our themes and the books that we read are child-led.

Recently, Jim Weiss visited Singapore for a story-telling event amongst other workshops that he conducted. I do not quite recall where exactly I have heard of Jim Weiss but I recalled that all that I have read have been great reviews so far. Known as a 'master story teller' having a liquid gold voice, I bought tickets to watch him in action with the little one. And he did not disappoint. 

The hall was packed and everyone waited anxiously for him to start. He was very animated and held the attention of children and adult alike with his expressive reading style. Jim told 5 stories that afternoon - the Tortoise & the Hare, a Hercules adventure, a "wise man" tale, The Lion & the Mouse, and The Fisherman & the Genie.

It was quite an experience for me to watch him slip into the various characters of each story easily - one moment he was the proud lion and in the next second, he was totally believable as this small and frightened mouse (in Lion and the Mouse) who knew that his life was just hanging on by a thread for waking the Lion up.

Jim also has a special gift of being able to read the 'energy' level of the crowd well. When he could sense that the crowd was a tad fidgety (especially with the younger children) he had everyone participate in the story telling. In Hercules, he had everyone help out by chiming in (with sound effects) during his story telling. It is no wonder he was swarmed during the intermission for autographs!

Dumpling queuing in line to wait for her album to be autographed

Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan was amongst the crowd of audience and in an impromptu moment (during the interval), he too, shared a story.

 Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan,  Minister for Environment and Water Resources, presenting a token to Jim Weiss

While in the past, Dumpling used to read in the car, we have now managed to successfully break this bad habit by letting her listen to Jim Weiss's CDs instead. :)

Here's sharing a clip on Razor TV and you can see why this award winning story teller is well-loved by both the adults and children. I would highly recommend his CDs to encourage the little ones in reading more and introducing to them fairy tales too. 

Dumpling's recommendation? She & He: Adventures in Mythology. She really likes the story Atalanta and the Golden Apples since she is still very much into Greek Myths but her favorite Hercules tale (not told) is about the Queen of Amazons which she wrote about below.

For me, I like that Jim was able to bring the stories to a level that is easily understood by children even when the stories are on bigger topics like Myths and include classics by Mark Twain, etc. :) In addition, these CDs would complement our homeschool topics well too. We heard that talks are in the way for him to return next year and yup, both the kiddo and I will definitely be watching him in action. 

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Through her eyes #1 - Bye Bye Butterflies

From a recent Homelearning Field Trip which I helped to organise, some 30 odd kiddos not only had a chance to tour Butterfly Lodge and understand a bit more about this beautiful insect but many also brought home with them a caterpillar kit to rear and watch the metamorphosis process.

Our caterpillars pupate only after  4 - 5 days and was at that stage for the longest time! And as 'luck' would have it, we were out the morning when both emerged from their chrysalis! What greeted us when we reached home after lunch was not 1 but 2 butterflies! Dumpling was thrilled to bits!

This was our 3rd time rearing them and compared to the second time (first set did not make it, our caterpillar died after 4 days for some reason), Dumpling is a lot better at saying 'Goodbyes'.

She kept telling me that the butterflies were beautiful and was really happy that they "made it this time"!

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VeggieTales Lapbook!

I chanced upon VeggieTales quite by 'accident' when Dumpling and I were at the library. I was captivated by the title and the illustration and took a second look. I then saw a post on A Journey Through Learning on the lapbooks that they created on VeggieTales titles and I decided to try it out. To my pleasant surprise, I actually enjoyed it as much as Dumpling!

The title which we picked up was titled Pistachio, the Boy that Woodn't. Dumpling was the first to notice that there was a pun on the word 'woodn't' and laughed about it. We played the DVD as soon as we can. The entire VeggieTales series is based on Christian faith but delivered through a cartoon format and importantly, children are engaged with familiar fairy tales / stories. In this title, it is a tweak of classic tale: Pinocchio.

There was corny humor in the show - Geppetto was renamed as Gelato and of course, Pinocchio as Pistachio. The story started with Gelato carved out a boy named Pistachio who took on the similar adventures as the classic story. But what I liked about the show are the catchy songs (some definitely corny) and the way the story was able to bring a certain biblical message down to a level where it is digestible. The DVD discussed 'obedience' and why we must 'Honour our Father and Mother' through the mishaps that Pistachio faced along the way.

The lapbook elements consisted of pockets of activities around character and traits discussion...

(Overview of some of the activities from the lapbook)

We also had a chance to discuss about the role of parents in Dumpling's life and the lessons which we have taught her. It was a very interesting and enlightening session for me just to hear it from Dumpling's perspective!

Dumpling giving it some serious thoughts before replying and discussing her views 

with me...

And then writing it out... 

Having a think about Gelato and his role in the show and in Pistachio's life... 

We then did some verse reading and discussed the commandment below

Included in the printables pack was a parable told by Gelato which is turned into a sequencing exercise

There are a few more activities from the printables pack which I did not include in this post. Here's a trailer on Pistachio to share:

Interestingly, the DVD did not touch on being truthful which to me, is one of the most obvious topics of discussions. Having said that, Dumpling enjoyed the story and I like that the DVD and the lapbook provided me with a chance to discuss values in an applicable and more importantly, a lighthearted manner with Dumpling. As I am not very much into TV time so we took the opportunity to revisit and read the classic Pinocchio too. We have since there reserved 3 more titles from the library so no prizes for the right guesses as to what we will be doing over the next few weeks. :) 

Saturday Science - making slime!

For Science, Dumpling and I are still exploring the "chemistry" part on "matter". Previously we have made 'Bob the Blob' using Polymer powder. So when we came upon the page on Making Slime, Dumpling was so excited!

Off she went measuring the water...

Good way to introduce "measurement"

The main "ingredient" to make the slime...

And at this point, when we checked the manual, it read that we are to make it green so we had to use the colour tablets. This was a good way to build up from the previous experiment on colour mixing.

Then she asked me a question: 'Mama, do you think that the colours will mix together or they will be 'separated'?" I was very pleased with the question as it shows her thought process. We then made predictions...

So, we tried it out and this was a good chance for me to explain a bit on density... The colours mixed almost immediately into...

We stirred and stirred and waited for a bit (manual said to stir continuously for 5 mins but we found out that it "gel" better when we left it over night...

The slim we made were a tad too watery though it did achieve the slimy effect. So if you are using the same kit as I am, you may wanna add on more of the gravity goo powder!

Saturday Science - Bob the Blob and Salt

Following the earlier post on making water disappear and having made Bob the Blob (yes, we named it!), I researched a bit more and found out that salt actually breaks up the molecular structure. So, hence, we decided to have a go at it and added some salt to Bob.

It certainly was a great way for the little ones to hone observation skills and patience!

This was about 2 - 3 mins after we added and we swirled the salt in. Bob's structure was broken down slowly.

And finally, this is how it looks like 5 mins later - liquid.

It was a simple and definitely easy experiment. Dumpling got to:

- Predict

- Observe 

- Compare and Contrast (I got her to draw both versions of Bob out in her journal)

- Practise her writing skills 

- Understand the various states of "matter"

Dumpling took it a step further when she got a tad sad and asked me if she can reverse the process. So that in itself, led to various few discussions and other experiments where we discussed reversible and irreversible changes. :) Stay tuned! 

This is part of a Saturday Science Series which I capture down the science moments that I do with Dumpling. Moving on, I will try to post these on every 2nd and last Saturday of the month! :D

Saturday Science - making water disappear!

Dumpling was intrigued with one of the questions on the side panel of the Science bag - how to make water disappear? She asked me about it and we immediately dove into the handbook.

A quick read through, it seemed like an easy experiment so once again, Dumpling pretty much did most of the things on her own. ;)

The gathering list:
- 1cup of water
- 1 container (we used plastic in case of breakage)
- 1 scoop of Water Gel (Polymer) powder

First we measure the amount of powder

Then added to a container

And voila, the water disappeared! (I apologise in advance for the shaky video. Was distracted asking her on her observation :p)

So what happens here? The powder is a high absorbent powder which can hold up to 300 times its own weight with tap water. It is a crossed linked polymer which contains sodium atoms and absorbs by Osmosis. (I did not go through this in that much details with Dumpling of course but she understands that the properties of the powder changes the form of the water.)

We also titled the container upside down to test if there was any "leakage" but nope! None at all. 

Now, do you know that this powder is the same type which manufacturers use in diapers? :)

(Note: Polymer is non toxic but can irritate the eye and nasal path so as always, in all experiments, proceed with care)

Saturday Science - colours of the rainbow!

Ever since we bought this Science kit, Dumpling has been asking to do experiments everyday!

(Source: Science bob store)

A quick flip through the guide shows that there are some experiments which she can manage almost entirely on her own and so, we started with something simple - color mixing. To be frank, I thought that it is a very simple experiment and that she would be done in 5 minutes?

But goodness, no! What seems fairly quick for me was an entirely a different experience for her. I had thought that she would be done once she got the secondary colours but Dumpling went on and on repeating the exercise and adding more of the colours where it later went on to become a colour saturation exercise. Lol.

Part 1: Colour tablets and test tubes

Understanding the concept of dissolving and we discussing about the release of bubbles when I asked her to observe what's happening (she asked about carbonated drinks at this stage too, specifically the dad's Coke! And what happens to all the gas which the dad takes in. 'Ahem... The gas has to exit somehow right', I replied.

 HONEY, YOU READING THIS? :P)

X marks the spot - seeing how the 2 colours overlap to form a secondary colour without the actual mixing

Part 2: putting it into the colour "wells" where she also had a chance to work with using a pipette. This is when she started going a bit crazy as she likes to work on these like "an adult, a real scientist mama" :p

The secondary colours were done

Then she asked me about hues and so, I asked her to think about it and how she can try out and observed. She then experimented by dripping it slowly (good for fine motor skills and control) as she noted the change. Then she added a bit more and this went on for quite a good while...

'So what happens if I mix all the colours in', she asked. I told her to find out for herself... And she did. She produced a really dirty gray which was close to black :)

Not bad to keep the little one engaged for about 20-25 mins. :)

Till next week... Mama Sue signing off!

Advent Activities - On Board the Polar Express!

Dumpling and I do a mixture of both religious and non religious activities so besides the biblical stories/readings, we also read other classics such as Polar Express. :) 

I have been waiting for a new pack on this title having used others from other homeschoolers in the US for the past 2 years. So much so that when this pack came out, I shared the link at the start of Nov!!! :p 

We basically borrowed the title from the National Library Board (tip: reserve in advance as a lot of these Christmas titles are taken up very quickly during this period) and we bought the DVD too. 

Synopsis:

A Caldecott medalist winner, The Polar Express is about the story of a boy who has lost the belief in Christmas and in Santa. It also tells of his wonderful adventure on board the Polar Express to the North Pole to see Santa and his elves. :) Since its release, more than six and a half million copies have been sold, and every December it faithfully reappears on national bestseller lists.






For the extension into our homeschool activities, I printed the activity pack here. The pack has a good mix of simpler activities for younger tots (e.g pre-writing exercise, colouring, size sequencing) as well as activities for older children as seen below (e.g. time telling and copy work) 

We had a go on tracing (and then proceeded to spell them out phonetically) on another sheet provided behind this as part of the pack... 

We did word hunt game (Dumpling really enjoys this game) 

And there were other fun activities such as simple 1-on-1 correspondence using hot chocolate cup and marshmallows (perfect for introducing this to the younger kiddos - you can even use real marshmallows!) and this other spatial awareness game below 

As an extension, Dumpling and I also built a vocabulary list on some of the key words which were punched out on the ticket by the conductor - "Lead", "Believe", "Learn", etc. Though not biblical, this story is quite a joy for the little one. 

I will be sharing some other literature based activities which we are doing in the weeks to come. :) 

Here's some additional links to share:
- The official site 
- Games and Activities
- Free activity pack by Homeschool Share (some great pages for the older children, we attempted some pages before)
- Free activity pack by 3 Dinosaurs (good range of tot activities with pages on beginning sounds, tracing, math puzzles, etc.) 
- Free Polar Express train ticket template
- Lastly, if you do not have the book or you wish for a read aloud video as you guide your child through the book, you can view a clip of Lou Diamond Phillips here. Activity pages are also available on the same page! Enjoy!!!!

This activity is part of an Advent Activities series where we aim to share on a daily basis the various activities we are doing as we lead into Christmas!

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If you have any posts where you can share on the spirit of giving (gifts), joy of sharing (resources/tips/ideas) or the importance of loving (musing/parenting thoughts/values, etc), please do link up!