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There’s a lot of pressure for moms and dads to show off their parenting skills with activities that keep kids entertained, engaged, and maybe even educated on a regular basis. Monthly subscription boxes are a great way to help your kids hone their favorite hobby or explore new passions. There are boxes for everything from bubbling science experiments to top secret missions; here are 27 creative subscription boxes to keep kids busy all year long.
For the Bookworm
Reading Bug Box
Based on your child’s age, the staff from The Reading Bug, an independent children’s bookstore, will select three books and ship them straight to your door each month. You’ll no longer have to read the same old boring bedtime story night after night. The subscription box offers books suitable for kids ages 0-13.
Bookroo
Geared toward a younger audience (ages 0-6), each Bookroo box contains either three board books or two picture books in each monthly box. This subscription box will help develop an early love for reading.
Amazon Prime Book Box
Prime Book Box is available every one, two, or three months, and you’ll receive either four board or two hardcover books appropriate for kids ages 0-12. The selection is based on highly rated books and editor picks, and you can preview your box and swap out titles before it ships.
Little Passports
Want your kid to travel the world without breaking the bank? With a Little Passports subscription, kids can explore one state, country, or world theme at a time. Subscribers of the popular “World Edition” receive a blue suitcase, passport, and wall-sized world map, along with various stickers and activities. Subsequent boxes will feature souvenirs, activities, stickers, and photos for a new country each month.
For the Adventurer
Mission Unboxable
Mission Unboxable allows your child to create a new identity and complete covert operations as a super secret agent. They’ll be challenged to complete missions without using technology, forcing them to use their imaginations and think outside the box. Each box includes real spy gadgets and spy gear. Think disguise kits, fingerprint analysis, decoders, and more. Choose from one-time mailing and monthly subscription options.
Animal Trackers
Take your kids on the African safari of a lifetime without ever leaving your house. The adventure begins with an Animal Trackers Club Safari Lunchbox, which is great for storage. Then each month, your child will track a different animal using a learning activity and art project. Additional goodies each month include an animal foam mask, play figure, magnet, information card, and photo. Your animal lover will be waiting at the mailbox each month for this one.
For the Animal Lover
The Baby Guy Box
Curated by The Baby Guy, Jamie Grayson, this subscription is a monthly box centered around a different theme, like mealtime, breastfeeding, or potty training. For example, the June box is a “Snack ‘n’ Play,” including stickers, a snack stacker, a wooden animal toy, and a fun book.
For Your Littlest
Little Pnuts
Many subscription services are curated with older kids in mind, but Little Pnuts offers quarterly boxes for three age groups: infant (0-12 months), toddler (1-3 years) and preschool (3-6 years). Each box includes beautiful, heirloom-quality toys carefully selected to enhance gross and fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination and to help develop focus and concentration.
Lovevery Baby Play Kits
This subscription service will send you expert-approved developmental activities and experiences that grow with your baby. Every other month, you’ll get a box is designed specifically for their age (ranging from 0-12 months) that will help them play and work on their motor, sensory, and problem-solving skills.
Little Loving Hands
Entertain your child and do a good deed in the process. What could be better? Each month, Little Loving Hands delivers a craft project to your door. After the craft is complete, you send it as a donation to those in need, using the included prepaid return envelope. Your child will learn compassion while you teach them the importance of who, why, and how they are helping. Each month a different organization is featured.
For the Future Philanthropist
Kidstir
Kidstir helps every child build their own cookbook and spark a love of good food. In your first box, you’ll receive a cookbook binder to collect all of the recipes. Each month you’ll receive three step-by-step recipes covering all food groups, along with two kid-sized cooking tools, a printed shopping list, games, and puzzles. This box is a great way to explore, cook, and have fun together as a family.
For the Next Top Chef
Veggie Buds Club
It’s never too early to inspire a love of healthy eating. Each month, Veggie Buds Club sends a themed box focused on making a specific veggie fun, including kid-friendly recipes, simple growing activities, arts and crafts, and a collectible toy.
American Gluten-Free
Kids with food allergies don’t have to be left out. American Gluten-Free offers a box of kid-friendly snacks that are gluten-, dairy-, and peanut-free. For kids that often feel left out due to their medical condition, parents can rest easy knowing that their little ones are both safe and happy.
Pipsticks
Is your child sticker-obsessed? Instead of constantly listening to them beg for new stickers at the store, Pipsticks delivers 15+ sheets of stickers to your mailbox each month. They also include one postcard and four sheets of craft paper, so hopefully, you won’t find stickers stuck to your walls.
For the Sticker-Obsessed
Pley
Pley delivers the coolest toys without the expense, clutter, and waste of brand-new ones. Your child can choose from a library of over 500 toys. You can enjoy them as long as you want, or even purchase them if your child falls in love. When they grow bored, just return them to receive your next toy. Pley takes care of cleaning and sanitizing them for you and doesn’t charge for normal wear and tear. They also donate a toy to an orphan when you join.
For the Kid Who Has Everything
Slime
Who needs toys when you can have… slime? Each month, this box will deliver two different premium slimes, a couple of themed items, and some candy. Let the squishing begin.
KIDBOX
Take a style quiz for your child (covers ages 0-14), and each month, you’ll get a curated box of fashionable clothes from well-known brands. Keep what you want and return what you don’t — shopping for kids clothes has never been easier. And for every box that is purchased, an outfit is donated to a child in need.
For the Fashionista
Stitch Fix Kids
Just like the adult box, with Stitch Fix Kids, you’ll get 8-12 items each month picked by a stylist based on your budget and your kids’ style and size. If you want to keep any of the items (they can include leggings, outwear, denim, dresses, and more), they generally range from $10-35 each, and you get a 25 percent discount if you like everything and want to keep the whole box. Easier than a trip to the mall!
GIRLS CAN! CRATE
Each month, this empowering crate celebrates the life of an inspirational female leader in history and helps cultivate true girl power. It includes an activity book with her story; props for playing; and hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) activities.
For Encouraging STEAM Learning
Amazon STEM Toy Club
With STEM Club, kids ages 3-13 can get a box of handpicked STEM toys — such as chemistry kits, robots, and engineer kits — to encourage educational play. You can choose boxes to ship every one, two, or three months.
Spangler Science Club
If there’s one thing kids love, it’s being hands-on. That’s how they learn best. The Spangler Science Club sends multiple hands-on science experiments to your front door related to a monthly theme like kitchen chemistry, science magic or bubbling potions. With easy to follow, step-by-step instructions, this is the perfect subscription box for sparking a love of science in children grades kindergarten through six.
Groovy Lab in a Box
In partnership with Popular Mechanics, each Groovy Lab in a Box guides kids through the scientific inquiry and engineering design process. Each box includes all the supplies needed to complete activities, experiments, and design challenges outlined in a custom, subject-specific lab notebook. STEMists can learn everything from building a circuit to designing a greenhouse.
Bitsbox
Bitsbox is a unique subscription box that teaches kids to code. Whether we like it or not, technology is just a part of life these days, and kids can learn to code as soon as they can learn to read and write. Each month, your child can pick from dozens of coding projects ranging from simple to advanced. They start with the code from the book, then make changes on their own to customize it. When they’re done, they can share their app with their friends on any mobile device. Bitsbox is best-suited for kids ages 6-12 years old.
Green Kid Crafts
Green Kid Crafts feature 5-8 individually packaged projects for kids ranging from ages 3-10. Each monthly box is designed by both kids and experts and focuses on a different theme like geography, ocean science, or space. The best part is that all of the projects are made from quality eco-friendly materials.
KiwiCo
The folks at KiwiCo offer curated boxes for every age group. The Koala Crate features play-and-learn activities for ages 3-4, and the Kiwi Crate for ages 5-8 focuses on science and art. Older kids ages 9-16 can choose from the Doodle Crate, which focuses on art and design techniques, or the Tinker Crate focused on science and engineering. No matter the crate you choose, the KiwiCo family of brands inspires kids to see themselves as scientists, artists, creators, and makers.
For a Little Bit of Everything
Surprise Ride
Featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, Surprise Ride is the perfect subscription box for kids with a variety of interests, rather than a specific hobby. Each monthly box, designed for ages 6-11, includes two activities, a book, a snack, fun extras, and easy-to-follow instructions. All of the activities are a surprise and centered around a different theme each month, like art, geography, food, and more.
Bluum
One of the more well-known names in the world of kids subscription services, Bluum is your one-stop shop for everything pregnancy, baby, and toddler. Since every child is different, each box is completely customizable. You can build your own box from Bluum’s lineup of best-reviewed products.
