KiwiCo Review: Atlas Crate for 6-11 Year Olds – France (Deluxe Box)

So many ways for kids to explore France and French culture!

What is in the France crate?

There are all kinds of fun activities to do in the France Crate including making a Tour de France cyclist, making your own ‘stained glass’ facade of Notre Dame, cooking, activities to try, and learning a little about France!

You begin by opening your travel mail from Milo and Anya to find out about their latest travel adventures! Miss 6 enjoys seeing them posing for selfies in the photos of France.

There is a passport sticker to add to our Adventure Passport and various cards about France to add to it as well. These range from a country map and cultural information, to activity cards with things to do. You can learn about famous places in France, learn about Impressionist art, have a go at mime, play the game escargot, and bake Gougères.

We did all of the activities in the box and had a lot of fun with them! Miss 6 especially loved doing mime work! We also added to the activities with additional resources from various sources. We used a variety of resources from Twinkl, including content on France, Paris, learning a little French, the Tour de France, and Monet. From our local library, some of our favourites were: “Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You Been? I’ve Been to Paris and Guess What I’ve Seen…“, “Katie Meets The Impressionists“, “The Magical Garden of Claude Monet“. We enjoyed learning more about the Impressionists – like Monet, Renoir, and Degas. We also liked having a go at making our own impressionist paintings while talking about using art to express or inspire emotions.

Our Deluxe Box Book was “The Way to the Orsay Museum” by Hyo-Mi Park. It’s a lovely picture book about a mother and daughter travelling through Paris and the sights / landmarks they see on their way to view Monet’s painting at the Orsay. We liked that the Mother discussed Impressionism and conveying meaning through encouraging the viewer to reflect on their feelings and responses. We also liked the Afterword with its information on France.

How to make your own Tour de France cyclist

We did a little extra reading about the Tour de France using Twinkl resources and had fun making our own cyclist. Miss 6 found it a little tricky holding and pulling the ends of the string to make the cyclist’s legs move so I tied a wee knot. We worked out it could hang easily from a door knob or picture hook and then she can concentrate on just moving the string.

How to make your own ‘stained glass’ window

Notre Dame in Paris is such a stunning cathedral. We enjoyed researching it and after seeing it depicted in numerous books, Miss 6 was keen to make her own. The craft involves lining up a special piece of ‘plastic’ with the cardboard frame and then using the particular paint provided to create your own ‘stained glass rose window’. I found that using blutak to ‘clamp’ the sides in several places helped to secure it for the painting and drying process (we did two layers of paint). Once it’s dry, you move the painting to the back (it will still be slightly sticky to the touch when dry), remove the backing paper to reveal the layer of double sided tape, and secure the two pieces together. You now have a beautiful piece of artwork to display!

HOW DO I ORDER ATLAS CRATE?

This is not a paid review. I spent a lot of time searching the internet to find out more information about the Kiwi Crate and Atlas Crate boxes before deciding to try them and found the blog posts / photos that people shared were really useful!

If you would like to try Atlas Crate (or one of their other lines), you can receive 50% off your first box by clicking here.

What I like about the Atlas Crate kits is that they provide a colourful and imaginative way of exploring the world through hands-on activities. I like that they use a mix of STEM and art to explore different concepts and ideas. Their products are also very well made, with clear instructions, and kids feel a real sense of pride in what they accomplish with each box.

There’s no obligation to sign-up in an on-going capacity so it’s easy to tie them in with birthdays / Christmas; the boxes are quite compact so they also store easily in a cupboard for bringing them out on a rainy day. Other families will choose to sign up for a longer period (like a 3, 6, or 12 month cycle).

WHAT IS IN AN ATLAS CRATE?

Each Atlas Crate comes with a special airmail envelope from Anya the Cricket and Milo the Sandpiper revealing where they’ve been on their latest adventure. There is a special passport sticker for your child’s Atlas Adventure Book plus seven new pages to add about a new country (highlighting geography, customs, landmarks, history, and foods).

There are supplies for two activities (which might be a mix of art, STEM, and games) as well as suggestions for more DIY activities to try at home – from things to make, to things to bake!

If you choose the Deluxe option, then you will also receive a book that helps you explore that month’s destination. This upgrade is an additional USD$9.95 (approx. $15 NZD) and can impact shipping costs as well. Since we’re homeschooling, I decided that we’d try the Deluxe option for 6 months to see how useful we find it.