Subscription Box Showdown: How KiwiCo, Green Kid Crafts and Kids Art Box Stack Up
Parents love subscription boxes for good reason - there's nothing quite like the excitement of a package arriving with everything you need for a creative afternoon with your kids
But with options ranging from $24 to $48 per month, choosing the right subscription deserves careful consideration. Let's look at how the leading creative subscription boxes compare, and explore how digital solutions like GlueStick can enhance or extend your subscription box experience.
KiwiCo - Easy STEAM projects for kids in a box
KiwiCo leads the market with age-specific crates that blend hands-on projects with STEAM education. Kits targeting 0-16 year-old children range from $24-$30 a month, including shipping. Kits can be purchased individually, or families can join a Club with random kits arriving monthly.
Image credit: Kiwico.com
Practical Considerations:
Set Up and Clean Up: All materials are included in a curated box. Set-up and clean-up are minimal.
Time Commitment: KiwiCo says activities can take up to several hours to complete. This vague answer can be frustrating for some families looking to fill a specific time slot. Most independent reviews suggest each project takes 30-60 minutes for most children.
Storage: A common complaint from KiwiCo parents is that storing all the completed projects and extra pieces gets overwhelming.
Parental involvement: Parental supervision varies by crate and your child. Most reviewers say children need limited support to complete the kits.
Safety: KiwiCo says their products are “rigorously tested” and pass safety standards, but details on what those standards include are sparse. The DIY tutorials on their website do not call out safety warnings for burn risks like hot glue guns or choking risks like marbles.
Educational Value:
Over 45,000 five-star reviews demonstrate that these kits are typically high-quality and well-loved.
Each box focuses on a specific STEAM learning theme with a detailed learning guide.
Some parents report that the wide age range of each kit leaves some children feeling frustrated while others are bored.
Limited Arts curriculum for kids under 9
Structured Content vs Creative Freedom
Individual Kits may be ordered based on interest. For example, Kiwico’s website filters kits for aspiring marine biologists, mechanical engineers, or other potential professions.
Club subscriptions are limited to the curated content. Most KiwiCo kits are highly structured and provide little opportunity for creative freedom.
Success is measured by a child’s ability to match the example. Most kits will not work if steps aren’t followed exactly.
Because of the highly-specialized nature, children may struggle to apply concepts learned in kits to other materials or situations.
Environmental Impact
Individual kits are made from all-new materials.
Packaging includes “eco-friendly” boxes, which are sometimes used in the project.
Materials are widely criticized for being “cheap,” and breaking frequently.
Monthly shipping required for most plans.
Sustainability is not a core focus of KiwiCo.
Green Kid Crafts - Sustainable STEAM in a box
Green Kid Crafts are environmental science and art kits made with sustainable materials. Kits targeting 5-12 year-old children range from $34-$40 a month, including shipping. Like KiwiCo, kits can be purchased individually, or families can purchase a subscription and receive random kits monthly.
Image Credit: GreenKidCrafts.com
Practical Considerations:
Set Up and Clean Up: All materials are included in a curated box. Set-up and clean-up are minimal.
Time Commitment: No specific time commitment listed. Independent reviewers note 4-6 activities per box (compared to KiwiCo's 1-3 activities).
Storage: Similar storage concerns to other subscription boxes, though fewer large completed projects to store.
Parental involvement: Parental supervision varies by crate and your child. Most reviewers imply these kits may be more family-oriented than competitors.
Safety: Green Kid Crafts received two Mom Approved and Child Tested awards for safety and fun.
Educational Value:
Each box is focused on a specific STEAM learning theme. Detailed learning guides are included.
These kits blend science with art projects that reinforce the lesson learned and keep kids engaged.
As a smaller player in the market, reviews of Green Kid Crafts are harder to come by. That said, we didn’t find a single negative review of the product in all of our searches, and trust us, we looked.
Structured Content vs Creative Freedom
Like other subscription kits, exploration is limited to the curated content. Curriculum is structured, but the emphasis on comprehensive STEAM activities leads to more creative expression compared to KiwiCo’s offerings.
Individual Kits may be ordered based on interest.
Because of the focus on environmental science, lessons learned here are more easily applied across children’s daily lives than some other kits we’ve seen.
Environmental Impact
Sustainability is the key differentiator for Green Kids Crafts. Here are 10 ways Green Kids Crafts are truly “green.”
That said, the kits are still using all new materials, and the environmental concerns about shipping something every month still stand.
Kids Art Box: Art Exploration for Young Artists
Kids Art Boxes focus on open-ended art and science experiences. They have two product offerings: the Create Together box that encourages process art for kids 3-7 and the My Artist Box for kids 6+, which teaches children about a specific artist of the month. Both kits provide brand name art supplies and instructions. Individual kits are available for $48, or monthly subscriptions begin at $38.
Image Credit: KidsArtBox.com
Practical Considerations:
Set Up and Clean Up: Most materials are included in a curated box. The Create Together box includes “Visual Recipe cards” to inspire additional projects with supplies likely in your home. These projects include a lot of process art with messy materials, so clean-up is more challenging than other kits.
Time Commitment: Each kit contains 3 -5 activities, giving them a similar time commitment as other subscriptions. Because these boxes focus on teaching artistic techniques though, reuse may be higher than with other kits.
Storage: These kits include brand new, name brand, often full-sized craft supplies, which will need a home once the kit is completed.
Parental involvement: These boxes are designed for one child to do with a parent.
Safety: There are no safety awards or considerations posted about this product.
Educational Value:
These boxes focus on artistic development, with some fun science on the side.
Each kit includes artist biography, educational pamphlets, and an artist diorama to explore.
These kits are targeted at a very wide age range, which may challenge or bore children on the edges
Links to video tutorials are included with each box
Structured Content vs Creative Freedom
These kits include full-size, name brand art materials that can be reused and repurposed for other creative explorations inspired by the box.
If children don’t like their first attempt, there may be enough materials in some boxes to try again. This is unique among most subscription boxes.
Instructions for using similar techniques are provided, but cildren have much more freedom to apply them in their own ways than other kits.
Environmental Impact
No information about how Kids Art Box thinks about sustainability is publicly available at the time of writing this review.
Like all kits, monthly shipping and packaging is a significant concern for environmentally-focused parents.
Finding the Right Creative Solution for Your Family
Each subscription box offers unique benefits. KiwiCo excels at STEM education, Green Kid Crafts brings environmental awareness to the forefront, and Kids Art Box delivers quality art supplies with technique-focused learning. However, many families find themselves facing common challenges with physical subscription boxes:
Projects get completed quickly, leaving kids asking "What's next?"
Monthly costs add up, especially for multiple children
Storage space fills up with finished projects and leftover, wasted materials
Highly structured curriculum may not match family schedules or interests
How GlueStick Complements Traditional Subscription Boxes
While subscription boxes may provide excellent structured projects and quality materials, GlueStick offers a sustainable way to keep creativity flowing between deliveries:
Extend Your Box's Value
GlueStick can help you use leftover subscription box materials in new ways with our MakerBot AI-generated project ideas
Kids can reinforce monthly box concepts by exploring our themed content map, making projects accessible even to users who can’t yet read.
Document and share creative achievements in the GlueStick Art Gallery
Practical Benefits
$10/month serves the whole family. No need for expensive duplicate subscriptions to avoid sibling squabbles.
Families can start projects anytime, anywhere, with our app.
You’re in control of the quality - when additional supplies are needed, you can purchases the supplies that fit your family’s budget
Creative Freedom
GlueStick’s approach blends structured guidance with open exploration
We encourage daily exploration by helping kids see the potential of all the materials around them.
Environmental Impact
No shipping or packing material waste
Encourage kids to reduce, reuse, and recycle
The perfect solution for your family may be to blend both approaches: subscription boxes for special projects and new materials, plus GlueStick for unlimited daily creativity. At a fraction of the cost of traditional subscriptions, GlueStick helps families make the most of both their subscription box materials and everyday items while developing sustainable creative habits.
Is your family ready to start making easy kids’ crafts and STEAM projects?
Don’t wait for another subscription box to arrive! GlueStick is revolutionizing how families approach creative projects, and we want you to experience it firsthand. Join our beta program today and get:
Unlimited access to our growing library of high-quality tutorials
AI-generated project ideas to inspire creative play
Safe social sharing in our Art Gallery
Multiple child profiles under one account
No credit card required
Start creating with GlueStick today - because creativity shouldn't be limited to once-a-month deliveries.
