There is a new subscription box in town! Presenting the iNbox, a monthly educational subscription box that has been developed by early childhood experts to allow children to learn and have fun at the same time.
I admit that there are times when the kids are raring to do something and I am tired or just lacking in inspiration to pull something together for them. It is then that such boxes, full of ideas for activities and helpfully pre-packed with materials, come in very handy. Each iNbox is built around a theme, and comes with a book and 4 to 5 activities which will definitely keep you and the little ones busy. Yes, you too, and not just the kids, as the activities are designed to be enjoyed between parent and child, providing opportunities for learning and family bonding.
Our box of surprises!
All the goodies inside.
Theme for the month: Wild Safari.
I was pleasantly surprised by how many things there were in the box:
- Book — The Brave Rangers
- Boardgame — Jumbled in the Jungle
- Craft Activity with Paint — My Safari Animals
- Craft Activity to Build a Vehicle — My Safari Jeep
- Activity Book — Keep Learning About Animals
My kids being my kids, went for the book first. The book, The Brave Rangers is a simple story about Flinto the octopus and his friends, and how they helped save a baby elephant and other baby animals from poachers. Frankly I thought it was a bit odd for an octopus to be running around on land, and while the story was decent enough, it was not special. Then again, I am really fussy about the type of books I buy for the kids to read. The book did at least make good reading practice for Noey — I made him read it to Meips — and set the stage for the animal theme.
Noey patiently reading the story to Meips. Doesn’t happen often enough!
After reading, the kids pounced on the craft activities and we started with My Safari Animals, which included a pack of punch-out animals to paint with fingerpaints. This was definitely an activity that both kids could get into, and they did! I liked that the cardboard animals were made of good quality cardboard and that more than enough paint was provided for the kids to go wild. Meips really slapped it on, and she was very pleased with the outcome! There was also an art bib provided, which I thought was very helpful.
One of the animals to punch out and paint. And they stand too!
Little artists hard at work.
Meips’ multicoloured big cat (Leopard? Cheetah? Puma?) in progress.
Tah-dah! Some of out happy animals. You can tell which child did which, can’t you?
As Meips ran off to do something else, Noey and I worked on the other craft activity, My Safari Jeep, which involved building a jeep out of cardboard parts. We found the instructions relatively easy to follow and Noey was mostly able to do it himself. When he was done, he was very pleased that it could roll pretty well.
Safari jeep which Meips decided to “decorate” with a pen…
Jumbled in the Jungle is an easy matching game that both children enjoyed. Just throw the dice and move your token on the game board to collect heads and tails of animals. The first to form four complete animals wins. It takes only about 15 minutes to complete so it’s great for kids who don’t have a long attention span.
The other item in the box which Noey liked was the activity book Keep Learning Animals. Packed with little bite-sized facts, it was perfect for this little boy who just loves collecting information. There were also pages provided for drawing activities for each animal, which were quite interesting as they sought to explain additional facts for the drawing. For example, in relation to the African Elephant, the drawing activity read “Elephants sometimes greet each other by touching each other’s trunks. It looks like they are holding hands! Can you draw two elephants saying hello?“. Noey enjoyed reading these, though he thought some of the drawing activities were a bit difficult. He enjoyed the dot-to-dot puzzle at the end and finished it in a flash.
Can you see the animal emerging? Do you know what it is?
If you’d like to try the iNbox yourself, you might be pleased to know that they are currently running a launch promotion on their subscription plans. For a limited time up to 31 March 2014, you can get an iNbox for as low as $21.40 per box if you sign up for their 12-month subscription plan. The great thing about the subscription plans is that they all come with a 30-day money back guarantee! So you are free to try your first iNbox, and if for some reason you don’t find it suitable, you can get your money back in the first 30 days. Sounds like risk-free proposition to me!
To order your own iNbox, do check out their website at myinbox.sg. Have fun!
*We received a complimentary iNbox from Smart Alley for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own.
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