Stef03 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 For those who have kids that like to Tinker: I've recently discovered Tinker Crate, it looks awesome! They're monthly STEM projects (includes all materials) & a magazine too. Looking at their YouTube page you can see full tutorials to some of their projects like a Trebuchet & an Electric Motor (links below). It's recommended for ages 9+ but I'm sure that plenty of younger kids on here would love them too. The cost seems very reasonable, $19.99 per month or it goes down to around $16 per month if you subscribe for a year (delivery is included in their prices). I couldn't find any valid discount codes but they currently offer $10 if you're referred (so you can try the first box at half price), our link is: http://tinker.kiwicrate.com/Refer?i=DamianA(this gives my son $10 off too), their normal link is: http://tinker.kiwicrate.com but that doesn't give any discounts. My son's decided to use his bday & xmas money on a subscription so I can give you more details when he starts receiving his crates if anyone's interested in more info. I'm looking forward to adding these projects to our curriculum. Also, if your kid is into this kind of stuff I highly recommend checking out Curiosity Hacked (aka Hacker Scouts) groups. EDIT: we've received a couple crates already so I've done a review on post #24. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Several of us on here subscribe to them. DS loves his. We haven't had a bad kit yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Several of us on here subscribe to them. DS loves his. We haven't had a bad kit yet. That's awesome to hear! Do you think the projects could be pulled apart and built again by a sibling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Not really. I think some pieces would break on a few things. The trebuchet- once you tied those thing strings good and tight to use, it would be difficult to untie( Kwim). Now the polymer/putty one would be easy to reproduce. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 What other type of projects besides the trebuchet and the electric motor are in the boxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Not really. I think some pieces would break on a few things. The trebuchet- once you tied those thing strings good and tight to use, it would be difficult to untie( Kwim). Now the polymer/putty one would be easy to reproduce. Yeah that makes sense, I'm hoping my DD will get some use out of them too but I guess that will depend from kit to kit. What other type of projects besides the trebuchet and the electric motor are in the boxes? Kiwi Crates have been around for a while but their Tinker version seems to be rather new. So far I've found crate details on the trebuchet, electric motor and it looks like the newest one was a Zoetrope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 hmmmm ... my STEM-y guy didn't enjoy these very much (9 yo), we got the electric motor and the polymer ones and then discontinued. Not sure why. He has done and liked Little Professor robotics, and some other kits, and is pretty handy generally; these just didn't engage him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Is there an Australia option? The postage cost monthly would probably kill it. Something like this would be cool for Ds. He learns a lot from dh but dh isn't that available most of the time and I'm terrible at stuff like this!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 This is what I am wondering about for DS. He loves to build and is an engineer type and loves his robotics also, but when things veer off into the crafty realm, he is just "No". So that's why I was wondering if these were more STEM-y projects or crafty stuff. hmmmm ... my STEM-y guy didn't enjoy these very much (9 yo), we got the electric motor and the polymer ones and then discontinued. Not sure why. He has done and liked Little Professor robotics, and some other kits, and is pretty handy generally; these just didn't engage him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Is there an Australia option? The postage cost monthly would probably kill it. Something like this would be cool for Ds. He learns a lot from dh but dh isn't that available most of the time and I'm terrible at stuff like this!!! Sadly it seems to be US only, though it seems like these type of membership boxes are gaining popularity so there'll probably be a company doing this in Australia soon too. hmmmm ... my STEM-y guy didn't enjoy these very much (9 yo), we got the electric motor and the polymer ones and then discontinued. Not sure why. He has done and liked Little Professor robotics, and some other kits, and is pretty handy generally; these just didn't engage him. This is what I am wondering about for DS. He loves to build and is an engineer type and loves his robotics also, but when things veer off into the crafty realm, he is just "No". So that's why I was wondering if these were more STEM-y projects or crafty stuff. It looks like the Tinker Crates are more STEM-y oriented, as they also have the Doodle Crate which is the crafts oriented one. The videos they've posted on Youtube don't make their Tinker projects look crafty (no glue & cutting involved, that would drive my DS nuts lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 This is what I am wondering about for DS. He loves to build and is an engineer type and loves his robotics also, but when things veer off into the crafty realm, he is just "No". So that's why I was wondering if these were more STEM-y projects or crafty stuff. Well, with A. I think there are two things going on. 1. He rarely does activities in the expected way. He is a total re-purposer. For instance, recently a great-aunt worked on building adorable little "habitats" with A. and N. and two homeschooled girls we know, and the basic plan was to put a layer of clay into the bottom of a plastic bowl and use found natural objects to create a habitat; the assumption was that it would be a woodland or grassy scene, since that's the nature we have here. A. built two. The first was a pond, attached to a little chunk of land, for which he spent a good deal of time on the engineering problem of attaching the two together and getting the inside of his pond to behave. The second was desert, which involved him connecting a series of bowls together upside down using only available materials and getting a single layer of clay to drape over the whole thing without sagging annoyingly at the junctions. The other children's habitats were charming woodland scenes. So: how often does your child naturally use projects in the same way other children naturally do? 2. A. has done some robotics building, has (thanks to his father's childhood Lego-mania) an extensive collection of Lego gear/machine parts, and also has access to our shop where he occasionally spends an afternoon hammering something together. So I think that the TinkerCrate stuff was a little boring for him. Also, the projects are small ... I'm pretty sure that a trebuchet capable of launching stuffed animals would go over well. Or an electromagnetic motor that got up some touchable momentum. HTH. ETA: he also detests crafts. ETA #2: BOTH children had a good time with the Thanksgiving and Hannukah-themed Crates we did. Go figure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 We launched mini pumpkins with ours. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 These just feel a little simple, especially for a mechanically-minded 9 year old. In looking at some of the examples, I see that we have done most of them already. It probably depends on your kids, but I tend to think a well-crafted Pinterest board and a few Amazon orders could more than replicate these boxes. The zoetrope is a fun idea, though... Off to pin one! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staceyshoe Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 hmmmm ... my STEM-y guy didn't enjoy these very much (9 yo), we got the electric motor and the polymer ones and then discontinued. Not sure why. He has done and liked Little Professor robotics, and some other kits, and is pretty handy generally; these just didn't engage him. I've been looking for resources to start a homeschooler extracurricular STEM club, so *anyone* with suggestions---feel free to message me! :) I tried to Google "little professor robotics" but didn't find relevant hits. Can you provide a link? TIA! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Well, with A. I think there are two things going on. 1. He rarely does activities in the expected way. He is a total re-purposer. For instance, recently a great-aunt worked on building adorable little "habitats" with A. and N. and two homeschooled girls we know, and the basic plan was to put a layer of clay into the bottom of a plastic bowl and use found natural objects to create a habitat; the assumption was that it would be a woodland or grassy scene, since that's the nature we have here. A. built two. The first was a pond, attached to a little chunk of land, for which he spent a good deal of time on the engineering problem of attaching the two together and getting the inside of his pond to behave. The second was desert, which involved him connecting a series of bowls together upside down using only available materials and getting a single layer of clay to drape over the whole thing without sagging annoyingly at the junctions. The other children's habitats were charming woodland scenes. So: how often does your child naturally use projects in the same way other children naturally do? 2. A. has done some robotics building, has (thanks to his father's childhood Lego-mania) an extensive collection of Lego gear/machine parts, and also has access to our shop where he occasionally spends an afternoon hammering something together. So I think that the TinkerCrate stuff was a little boring for him. Also, the projects are small ... I'm pretty sure that a trebuchet capable of launching stuffed animals would go over well. Or an electromagnetic motor that got up some touchable momentum. HTH. ETA: he also detests crafts. ETA #2: BOTH children had a good time with the Thanksgiving and Hannukah-themed Crates we did. Go figure. I now have a name for what my kids do. They are repurposed. At Sunday school shile the other kids neatly make the crafts mine produce dolphins from the paper off cuts... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I stumbled across this the other day, and wondered if it was worth it. I think I'll keep thinking about it... On the other hand, that STEAM group you posted sounds amazing. I'm half tempted to start one in my area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I tried to Google "little professor robotics" but didn't find relevant hits. Can you provide a link? TIA! It's from the "Academy of Science for Kids" company, and can be found here. The price has gone up since we got it. The project was quite complex, and the robotic arm tricky to maneuver; but A. was very enthused by the project and the kit provided a great structure for tackling these projects -- beginning with taking an inventory of the parts! DH (a scientist) and I were thrilled to see a science kit directly teaching organization. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 It probably depends on your kids, but I tend to think a well-crafted Pinterest board and a few Amazon orders could more than replicate these boxes. The zoetrope is a fun idea, though... Off to pin one! You're totally right, and I do pin great ideas I come across. The problem is that I never get around to doing them :lol: as it usually involves going to several shops for just 1 project or paying expensive shipping online. At around $16/mth including delivery, it doesn't sound too bad & I know I'll actually get it done :P Guess we'll see how DS finds the boxes when they start arriving. I've been looking for resources to start a homeschooler extracurricular STEM club, so *anyone* with suggestions---feel free to message me! :) On the other hand, that STEAM group you posted sounds amazing. I'm half tempted to start one in my area! I highly recommend registering as an official Curiosity Hacked guild, it's easy as you just need a volunteer & a location. Along other things it will give you liability insurance... and with soldering etc involved, it's better to plan for the "what ifs". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 You're totally right, and I do pin great ideas I come across. The problem is that I never get around to doing them :lol: as it usually involves going to several shops for just 1 project or paying expensive shipping online. At around $16/mth including delivery, it doesn't sound too bad & I know I'll actually get it done :p Guess we'll see how DS finds the boxes when they start arriving. I highly recommend registering as an official Curiosity Hacked guild, it's easy as you just need a volunteer & a location. Along other things it will give you liability insurance... and with soldering etc involved, it's better to plan for the "what ifs". So I can't get the people to get back to me. :glare: I will keep trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 So I can't get the people to get back to me. :glare: I will keep trying. You mean ppl from Curiosity Hacked? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 You mean ppl from Curiosity Hacked? yes. we emailed initially, but when it came to setting up a time to skype the communications stalled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 hmmmm ... my STEM-y guy didn't enjoy these very much (9 yo), we got the electric motor and the polymer ones and then discontinued. Not sure why. He has done and liked Little Professor robotics, and some other kits, and is pretty handy generally; these just didn't engage him. We've done two out of a three month subscription. IMO, they aren't worth the cost. My ds#1 is the main audience, but usually the others engage with the projects as well. I wish I could have cancelled after the zoetrope. There just isn't enough to justify the cost for us. Perhaps I'm a cheapskate... Everything seems very cheaply made and the projects are hard to store. (If they just fit back into the box they came from, that would be worth something.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 We've done two out of a three month subscription. IMO, they aren't worth the cost. My ds#1 is the main audience, but usually the others engage with the projects as well. I wish I could have cancelled after the zoetrope. There just isn't enough to justify the cost for us. Perhaps I'm a cheapskate... Everything seems very cheaply made and the projects are hard to store. (If they just fit back into the box they came from, that would be worth something.) Thank you for the review. I will stop considering this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 I can give my opinion on the crates now, we love them!! I'm surprised by the negative review above to be honest, I keep seeing positive reviews on various homeschool Facebook groups. The materials seem well made to us (I love that the crates include all the materials you'll need), the instructions were nice and clear. My son could build the projects by himself successfully. My favorite part of the crates is the magazine included, it gives explanations as well as ideas for other projects (this keeps my kid busy for a while longer). I also find their customer service team very efficient. I contacted them on several occasions and they always replied within 24hrs and were very accommodating. For example, my son really wanted the Motor crate, this is an old crate so technically he wasn't going to be receiving it, however, customer service were happy to send it to him instead of the current crate. :D I also went through the cancellation process with their Kiwi Crate and it went through smoothly with no issues and no explanation was requested (we had ordered a Kiwi Crate to try with our youngest with the $10 off, the crate/project was fine but we didn't plan on continuing since we have plenty of craft kits for her already). So yeah, from what I've seen so far, I highly recommend Tinker Crates. For those who are hesitating: you can always give one box a try using the ref link and only pay $10 for it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 We've only received the zoetrope so far, and it was a big hit. It inspired my son to make a stop motion animation movie and submit both projects to DIY.org to go towards his animator skill. The zoetrope was super easy to put together and I'll put it on a shelf so it doesn't get mangled. I never would have gotten the parts to build one myself, and I think the quality is excellent for the price. I can see continuing with this for many months. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef03 Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 We've only received the zoetrope so far, and it was a big hit. It inspired my son to make a stop motion animation movie and submit both projects to DIY.org to go towards his animator skill. The zoetrope was super easy to put together and I'll put it on a shelf so it doesn't get mangled. I never would have gotten the parts to build one myself, and I think the quality is excellent for the price. I can see continuing with this for many months. Same here! My son has been really into stop motion since then and he's also been submitting his movies on DIY.org for the Animator patch :D He also used the Motor crate project towards the Physicist patch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Well, obviously, your mileage may vary. I picked up one of these catapults for about the same or a little less as one of the Tinker crates cost. There is absolutely no comparison to the mileage my family has gotten out of the zoetrope or last month's project compared to the catapult. The material was better in the Leonardo daVinci kit. The 'experiment' value (changing variables as far as tension, what item they are throwing, measuring distance thrown, and determining if they could actually hit a fixed target, etc.), and the kit leading to the kid wanting to research further (in this case, into history & real life catapults) were miles apart. In fact, the other day, DH helped the boys make a catapult out of pencils & matchboxes based on directions in a history book because the boys wanted to compare it with the daVinci one. (As they predicted, the homemade one from the history book was a complete flop.) For me, for that type of money, I'm looking for either lots of projects or that materials & interest standing up to multiple uses over time. In OUR house, that hasn't been the case yet. One more Crate is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (since I couldn't find a way to cancel our remaining subscription on the website). But this type of discussion is great - because other people can see if their kid would love this type of thing. It is like curriculum materials - what works for one family might be the complete wrong fit for another. What you guys hate might just be what we'd love & vice versa. I remember buying Megawords after years of reading glowing reviews & researching it. I just KNEW it would be what we needed and would be a great fit for my dd#1. What a mistake (for us)! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Well, obviously, your mileage may vary. I picked up one of these catapults for about the same or a little less as one of the Tinker crates cost. There is absolutely no comparison to the mileage my family has gotten out of the zoetrope or last month's project compared to the catapult. The material was better in the Leonardo daVinci kit. The 'experiment' value (changing variables as far as tension, what item they are throwing, measuring distance thrown, and determining if they could actually hit a fixed target, etc.), and the kit leading to the kid wanting to research further (in this case, into history & real life catapults) were miles apart. In fact, the other day, DH helped the boys make a catapult out of pencils & matchboxes based on directions in a history book because the boys wanted to compare it with the daVinci one. (As they predicted, the homemade one from the history book was a complete flop.) For me, for that type of money, I'm looking for either lots of projects or that materials & interest standing up to multiple uses over time. In OUR house, that hasn't been the case yet. One more Crate is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (since I couldn't find a way to cancel our remaining subscription on the website). But this type of discussion is great - because other people can see if their kid would love this type of thing. It is like curriculum materials - what works for one family might be the complete wrong fit for another. What you guys hate might just be what we'd love & vice versa. I remember buying Megawords after years of reading glowing reviews & researching it. I just KNEW it would be what we needed and would be a great fit for my dd#1. What a mistake (for us)! If you had fun making catapults, you might like the DIY miniature crossbow on youtube made from hair clips etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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