55 Subscription Kits to Entertain and Educate Stir-Crazy Kids
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Schools are closed. Our kids can't hang out with friends. There are few outdoor adventures that feel entirely safe right now, and there's only so much screen time that parents can handle. So what's a family to do when the jigsaw puzzles are done, the board games grow tired, and eyes are glazed over from gaming? Cheapism compiled what we think is a pretty comprehensive list of quality subscription kits. With an age range from infants to older teens, and an interest focus that ranges from the very specific to the very broad, here are nearly five dozen subscription boxes to choose from that will help antsy and angsty kids and teens get a break from the monotony.
Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.
For Science & STEM Enthusiasts
If you've got an experiment-loving future scientist, coder, engineer, or mathematician on your hands, there's sure to be a box here that will get your kiddo psyched for some hands-on learning in the science, technology, engineering, and math arenas.
Space & Beyond Box
For all ages
Price: $45-$50/quarter
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From the folks behind Astronomy magazine comes the Space & Beyond Box, which launched in late 2019. The box ships quarterly and includes 5-7 astronomy-related items. Past themes have included a focus on the night sky and lunar exploration.
Little Dreamers Club
For ages 3-8
Price: Varies, but around $30 per box
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Though not every box from Little Dreamers Club is science-themed, the majority are, with themes such as dinosaurs, the solar system, robots, undersea adventures, and more. Boxes are grouped into two age categories: 3-5 and 6-8.
Amazon STEM Club
For ages 8-13
Price: First box $18; $20 per box after that
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From retail giant Amazon comes this monthly box that features STEM toys chosen by Amazon's toy experts. The included products help support the development of "essential skills like logic, creativity, and problem-solving." You can choose to have a box delivered every one, two, or three months.
STEM Discovery Boxes
For ages 7-teen
Price: First box is $25; $30 per box after that; savings for longer subscriptions
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Covering subjects such as chemistry, physics, electronics, hydraulics, engineering, and more, each STEM Discovery Box contains three projects. Younger kids might need an adult to help them with these.
MEL Science
For ages 9-14
Price: Starting at $20/month for MEL Chemistry Lite and $26/month for Mel Chemistry
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Each monthly box from Mel Science contains up to three hands-on chemistry experiments that can be conducted at home. Past experiments have included turning a cool liquid into hot ice, growing copper coral on an iron kit, and creating a galaxy-light night sky within a bottle. The "lite" subscription option includes just one experiment per month.
Club SciKids Labs
For ages 7 and up
Price: $35/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Club SciKids Labs' Welcome Box includes a lab notebook, activity manual, safety glasses, magnifying glass, pipettes, forceps, and experiments and projects. Each box after that has "skillfully curated" tech and science activities with included supplies.
Spangler Science Club
For ages 5-12
Price: $20/month for STEM Lab; $30 for STEM Deluxe; savings for longer subscriptions
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The Spangler Science Club offers two subscription options. STEM Lab includes up to five experiments per month and each experiment requires minimal adult assistance. The Deluxe option features up to 10 experiments, and each is designed for a child to do with an adult partner.
Groovy Lab in a Box
For ages 8+
Price: $30/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Groovy Lab offers engineering-focused monthly boxes. Each month your child will receive an Engineering Design Challenge with a lab notebook and all the materials needed to complete the challenge. You can also purchase single boxes.
Green Kid Crafts
For ages 2-10
Price: Starts at $25/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Green Kid Crafts offers "junior" and "discovery" box subscriptions for ages 2-4 and 5-10, respectively. Each box includes up to six science and art kits, a 12-page activity magazine, and achievement badges. You can get two boxes for siblings for plans starting at $45 per month.
Bitsbox
For ages 6-12
Price: $17, $25, and $38/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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If you've got an aspiring coder on your hands, Bitsbox offers three plans to choose from. The Basic Bitbox includes a dozen app projects plus a binder for organization; the Deluxe Bitbox includes all of that plus "extra projects and fun goodies;" the Digital Bitbox is a PDF download of the app projects.
Messy Play Kits
For ages 3-8
Price: $40/month
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Each Messy Play Kit features science projects, art activities, and sensory experiences based around a theme. For the same price, the company also offers Sensory Bins, which offer "themed materials and props" for developmental play that supports fine motor and cognition skills and much more.
For Arts- and Crafts-Loving Kids
If you've got a young artist at home and want to encourage his or her talents, the boxes from these four companies cover a wide range of ages, skill levels, and materials.
SketchBox
For ages 13 and up
Price: Basic boxes are $25/month; Premium $35, plus shipping for both
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Though not technically just for kids, this is a great box for an older artist who takes his or her artistic talents seriously. Each box comes with a group of curated art supplies, a piece of art created with the included supplies, and access to an educational video about how to use them.
We Craft Box
For ages 3-9
Price: $30/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Each of We Craft's themed boxes come with all the materials needed to complete the craft (except for water and scissors), easy-to-follow instructions with photos, and a "unique story" about the projects to "inspire and get the creative juices flowing."
Craft & Boogie
For ages 3-8
Price: $25 first kit; after that kits are $30/month
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Craft & Boogie offers a number of different kits with varying themes such as superhero, happy camper, airplanes, and more, including holiday-themed boxes. Through a donation program, the company also provides its kits to kids in need.
Paletteful Packs
For ages 7+
Price: $31/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Paletteful Packs offers a Young Artist monthly subscription in addition to subscriptions for adult beginner and experienced artists. Each box includes "a selection of art supplies curated specifically for young artists" designed to expand creativity.
For Babies, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Looking for developmentally appropriate toys and activities for children between the ages of infant to 5? These six subscriptions include all types of products that will encourage learning, reading, creativity, and the value of play in your baby, toddler, or preschooler.
Sago Mini Box
For ages 3-5
Price: $19/month + $3 shipping; savings for longer subscription
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Each Sago Mini Box includes "make-and-play activities and surprises designed to teach modern skills to preschoolers," plus a collectible figurine. The company also offers more than 35 digital apps with themes like school, trains, zoo, trucks & diggers, and more.
Little Pnuts
For ages 0-5 years
Price: $25/month
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Though paid monthly, the Little Pnuts subscription is delivered quarterly and filled with three to five toys in each delivery designed to teach wee ones about creativity and learning. The box is curated in three age-appropriate categories: 0-12 months, 12-36 months, and 3-5 years.
Lovevery
For 0-24 months
Price: From $36/month
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Lovevery offers 10 Montessori-inspired, multi-item play kits for babies and toddlers at different developmental stages. The company also offers non-subscription items like block sets, play gyms, and other products.
Bluum
For ages 0-5
Price: $34/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Bluum offers boxes for children from birth through preschool, with books, utensils, essentials, and award-winning toys from brands like Melissas & Doug, Hape, and Green Toys tucked inside.
Hoppi Box
For ages 0-3 years
Price: $75/quarter; savings for longer subscription
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Hoppi Box sends boxes quarterly, with four to five "high quality, age-appropriate" toys included from featured partners like Hape, Tegu, Moulin Roty, and Indestructibles.
The Preschool Box
For ages 3-6 years
Price: $33/month + shipping; savings for longer subscriptions and multiple boxes
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The Preschool Box contains 16+ activities in every shipment. Each guarantees a book, craft materials, and activities that help teach reading and math skills.
For Bookworms
Does your child often have his or her nose buried in a book? Can you never keep enough reading material on hand? If you've got a reading fanatic on your hands, there are book clubs for pretty much every age, including the six listed here.
Reading Bug Box
For up to 13 years
Price: Starting at $18 and $27/month
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The Reading Bug Box offers four boxes that cater to different age levels. Each themed box contains multiple books selected by experts, as well as a monthly note and gifts and extras that relate to the theme.
Bookroo
For ages 0-10
Price: $20 or $24/month + shipping; savings for longer subscriptions
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Bookroo offers three subscriptions that differ by age range: board books for kids 0-3, picture books for 2-6, and chapter books for ages 7-10. The boxes include three board books or two picture and chapter books.
Amazon Prime Book Box
For ages 0-12
Price: First box $17; renews at $20/box
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Each of the four age-appropriate subscription levels — 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 — include either four board books or two hardcover books, and can be delivered every one, two, or three months.
Literati Book Club
For ages 0-12
Price: $10/month + cost of books you choose to keep
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The Literati Book Club operates a bit differently than others. For a fee of $10 per month, the club will send you five books tailored to your child's age, and you keep only the books your kiddo is interested in. The service lets you skip months and you can cancel at any time.
Owlcrate Jr.
For ages 8-12
Price: From $30/month + shipping; savings for longer subscriptions
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Owlcrate Jr. offers subscription options for kids of all genders ages 8-12. Each box contains 4-6 goodies in addition to one new-release hardcover Young Adult novel. Kids get an exclusive letter from the author, at least one “usable item or activity to encourage creativity, imagination, and exploration,” plus a collectible sticker.
KidArtLit
For ages 3-8
Price: $40/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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KidArtLit is somewhat unique in that it offers both one hardcover picture book in each box and an art kit with enough supplies for two people. Other goodies include a note from the author and illustrated guides to walk you through the art project. KidArtLit also has a digital membership option for $15/month.
For Adventure, Animal, & Nature Lovers
If your son or daughter can't get enough of catching bugs, watching nature documentaries, or otherwise engaging with the natural world and animal kingdom, one of these four subscription services might work for your family.
Animal Trackers Club
For ages 3-6
Price: $14/month + shipping; savings for longer subscriptions
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Animal Trackers Club is designed for preschoolers and beginning readers and gives kids an opportunity to "track" a new animal through hands-on instructional materials, which includes track cards and fact sheets, learning activities and art projects, play figures and masks, and more.
Think Outside Boxes
For ages 4-14
Price: $40/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Think Outside Boxes are for outdoors-loving kids who want to learn more about the natural world around them as well as tackle challenges. Each box contains three to five pieces of outdoor gear, resource cards, a 24+ page educational booklet, and hands-on activities and challenges. Kids under the age of 9 will likely need parent guidance and participation for this subscription.
The Creature Crew
For ages 5+
Price: $25/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Each Creature Crew box contains a color-coded habitat map, creature collectibles, animal cards that can be organized by habitat with divider cards, stickers, hands-on projects, recipes, and more. Parents who pay for a 12-month subscription upfront will get a binder that helps keep everything organized. For $7 more, siblings can get a second copy of most of the items, too.
Little Passports
For ages 3-9+
Price: From $16/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Little Passports offers five different subscription boxes filled with activities and toys that vary by subject — exploration, science, geography — and age appropriateness, as well as one-time Adventure Packs that also cover a wide range of topics.
For Future Chefs
Whether your kiddo loves to cook or bake or you're looking for fun and educational projects you can do together, this list of five subscription services will send you recipes and other items to ensure a fun and creative cooking experience.
Kidstir
For ages 5 and up
Price: $25/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Each monthly kit that comes from Kidstir includes recipes, activities, and cooking tools "that create opportunities for kids to spend time with their parents and siblings while developing lifelong cooking skills and learning to love fresh and wholesome food."
America's Test Kitchen Young Chef's Club
For ages 5 and up
Price: $25/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Each box from this America's Test Kitchen-affiliated subscription service includes recipe cards, hands-on experiment cards, kitchen technique cards, a recipe challenge, an achievement button, cooking tool or ingredient, and more.
Baketivity
For ages 4-10
Price: $33/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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If your little chef is more into baking than cooking, this box will let them create cookies, cakes, and more to their heart's content. Boxes include recipes, activity booklets, baking kits, and more. Kits are also available as a one-time purchase, and kits feature recipes like funfetti muffins, emoji booksies, cake pops, and more.
Raddish Kids
For ages 4-14+
Price: $24/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Raddish Kids calls itself a "cooking club, culinary lesson, and mealtime solution all-in-one." Each kit features a theme, and a shopping list is emailed prior to delivery. Each box will include three illustrated recipe cards, three culinary skill cards, one creative kitchen project, and kid-friendly tools and collectibles.
Foodstirs
For 6+
Price: $26/kit; savings for 3-month subscription
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If you like to get in the kitchen with your child, this every-other-month kit is a great one for parents and kiddos to do together. The kits include everything you'll need to "bake and decorate our treats, aside from standard kitchen materials and perishable ingredients such as milk or eggs." Also included is a recipe card (with nutritional info) and a step-by-step baking guide.
For Empowering Girls & Kids of Color
If you're looking for subscription boxes that are more representative of what your family looks like, or you want something specifically curated for young women and girls, these five boxes are just that, and they're designed to empower and inspire.
Girls Can! Crate
For ages 5-10
Price: $33/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Designed specifically for girls to bring awareness that they can "be and do anything." Each kit includes the story of an inspiring female role model told in a 20-page booklet with games and experiments; two to three hands-on science, engineering, or art activities; and items like stickers. props, and more. The company also offers "a smaller dose" of these same items, called a mini-mailer, for about $18/month, and a digital version for $7/month.
iBbeautiful
For ages 7 and up
Price: $26/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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This company offers two boxes, one for tween girls aged 7-12 and another for teens 13+. Each box contains four to six fun, useful items curated around an empowering theme. Product examples include nail art, accessories, lifestyle items, fun school supplies, and body, skin, and hair care products. iBbeautiful also offers one-time-purchase specialty boxes.
Just Like Me Box
For ages 0-12
Price: $28/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Just Like Me Box offers subscriptions curated for three different age groups — 0-3, 4-8 and 9-12 — and each box contains two to three curated children's books featuring characters of color "that promote self-love, self- discovery and a love for reading." Boxes also include educational tools and a fun gift.
Brown Toy Box
For ages 4-12
Price: $35/month; savings for 3-month subscription
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Aimed at "inspiring and equipping young black innovators," the Brown Toy Box contains culturally representative books, STEAM-focused projects, activities, and products, and more for three different age groups.
Black Butterfly and Dragonfly Boxes
For ages 4-19
Price: $35/month
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The company behind these boxes — available for boys and girls in three different age groups — says its mission is "to empower, uplift, and encourage young people of color by providing items that help address underrepresentation, uncover black history, and spark inspiration." Boxes include a book, at least one product from a black-owned business, and other items that address underrepresentation, uncover black history, and provide inspiration. The company also offers $20 mini-boxes.
For Special Interests
Some kids' interests don't fit into a nice, neat category. For them, here are six options, ranging from stickers and slime to Lego and Disney.
Pipsticks
For all ages
Price: $18/month
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If you've got a kid who's nuts about stickers, this is the club for them. The company offers two subscription options: Pro Club and Kid's Club (and notes the switch from the latter to the former usually happens around age 10-13). Each box includes 15 sheets of fun stickers and other entertaining goodies. Each also offers a "petite" alternative for $12 a month, with just seven sticker sheets plus the extras.
Slime Box Club
For all ages
Price: From $20/month; savings for longer subscriptions
Buy It
Some kids are crazy for stickers; for others it's slime — and yes, there's a subscription box for that, too. Each kit contains three slime containers with different themes and scents with fun extras like glitter, fishbowl beads, foam beads, and mixing tools plus candy and other goodies.
R&T Crew
For ages 6+
Price: $40/box; savings for longer subscription
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If your son or daughter is into cars in a big way, this kit, sent every other month, is sure to get them revved up. Each box has a theme and includes at least five accessories, a STEAM-inspired activity, plus an issue R&T Crew magazine.
Mission Unboxable
For ages 5-10
Price: $15/month (minimum 3-months required); savings for longer subscriptions
Buy It
The Mission Unboxable subscription features "Top Secret Missions" designed for kids who fancy themselves "super spies, secret agents and mini-FBI investigators" — or just a kid who loves a good challenge. Each box includes a formal assignment letter, the materials needed to complete a task, and their first box will include a briefcase, spy gear, and disguises.
Brick Loot
For ages 6+
Price: $27/month; savings for longer subscriptions
Buy It
You didn't think there wouldn't be a Lego subscription box, right? For Lego masters both young and old comes Brick Loot, a monthly kit that includes themed boxes that contain all things Lego- and brick-related, including minifigures, building kits, LED light kits, and more.
Mickey Monthly Box
For all ages
Price: $14-$30/box
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And, yes, of course there are Disney-themed boxes as well. The Mickey Monthly offers four types of boxes — original, theme park, pin, and snack — with lots of ways to customize your box by size, gender, and age. The site even offers a quiz to help you choose the box that's best for you.
For Special Needs Kids
These subscription boxes are for parents with kids at home who are on the spectrum and/or having sensory processing disorders — but they're also good for kids who just like fidget toys and other fun things they can fiddle with to keep their hands busy and their minds calm.
Sensory TheraPlay Box
For ages 5-9
Price: $40/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Each box from Sensory TheraPlay includes an assortment of five to seven sensory toys — items like putty, aromatherapy dough, textured tactile toys and fidgets, craft activities, light-up toys, stress balls, and more. Craft items are designed to help children with their fine motor skills.
Sensory Box
For 16+
Price: $79/quarter; $298/year
Buy It
From the same company that creates the Sensory TheraPlay boxes comes this quarterly subscription for teens. Each box contains an assortment of items designed to help people with sensory processing disorders relax and self-regulate.
Spectrum Surprise
For all ages
Price: $37/month + shipping; savings for longer subscriptions
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Designed for autistic children, this box includes 5-6 toys and tools to improve sensory integration and facilitate communication and regulation, plus an autism awareness item and a laminated visual aid.
For a Surprise Every Time
Boxes stuffed with only books, art supplies or anything else that fits neatly into a category are fun, but getting something a little different each month is also pretty cool. If you have a kid or teen at home who thrives on variety, consider one of these five subscriptions.
KiwiCo
For ages 0 to 16+
Price: Around $15-$20 per month
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KiwiCo offers monthly and bi-monthly educational and developmental subscription boxes grouped by the age of the recipient, plus some specialty crates. Subject matter includes science, STEM, and engineering, geography and culture, arts and crafts, and more.
Cooper Kits
For ages 5+
Price: $65/box; savings for longer subscriptions
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This quarterly box is designed for dads and kids to do together. Each kit includes six to nine activities, including five creative and building projects, an illustrated guide booklet, a bedtime storybook, a themed dinner menu, collectible medallion, and more.
Surprise Ride
For ages 5+
Price: $25/month
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From the folks behind Fat Brain Toys comes this box, which covers a wide variety of areas each month, from art and science to food and geography. Each themed box contains all the supplies needed to complete one activity, a book, other fun goodies, and a booklet with lessons on the month's theme.
Wonder Crate
For ages 5-11
Price: $30/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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Wonder Crate offers five box subscriptions based on age — 5-7 or 8-11 — and focus, with options for artists, activists, innovators, etc.. Crates contain hands-on activities and a biography, and the first kit includes a metal lunch box. Subscribers also receive a monthly email with additional resources.
MyEduCrate
For ages 6-11
Price: $40/month; savings for longer subscriptions
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MyEduCrate aims to entertain your kids while also educating them in a variety of subjects. Each crate is created by certified teachers and comes with educational items that support a theme as well as lesson plans. Items can include toys, books, art and school supplies, and more.
