KiwiCo Tinker Crate Sketch Machine

Tinker crate is one of my son’s favorite activities, besides being glued to his computer screen for hours. I’m giving up on controlling the latter, especially when I didn’t book any summer camps for him and the child is truly bored. In my defense, we are about to take a month long trip to Europe, so he will be kept away from technology of any kind.

Another thing that keeps him away from technology is KiwiCo Tinker crates. He truly looks forward to each one and wants to work on the projects as soon as the box arrives, which is every month. This break from video games is great and this is why I don’t mind one bit to spend $19.99 for those crates every month.

My son is 8 and is very much into all technology and building, so Tinker crate is the best choice for him. Most projects come with some electricity current involved and that’s pure heaven for him. I am not any good at those things, so it’s really good that he never needs any help with his projects. All I do is enjoy watching him so absorbed and get things done without constantly having to separate his and his sister’s fights.

Tinker crate is always heavily leaning towards STEM, so every project teaches something useful. Everything that is needed comes in the crate, with the exception of maybe paper towels, sticky tape, and scissors. And the best part is that I don’t have to think about anything, because I am not one of those moms who have time to spend their days coming up with crafting ideas and running around getting supplies.

When I see the directions for each project, my head starts spinning right away, but my son thrives and understands everything somehow. And that alone is amazing, because he won’t follow directions or stay focused if something doesn’t interest him. Every single Tinker crate so far captured his attention 100%.

Martin is not big on arts, so after he finished building his sketch machine, he didn’t spend too much time actually sketching. His thrill is building it, but I’ll take that too. We don’t throw away Tinker projects, so the drawing part might come at a later time, who knows.

Another great thing about Tinker crate is that Tinker Zine is included every month and it’s always full of useful information and great ideas for little extra projects. Martin doesn’t always do all the projects, but sometimes he gets into them.

This time the magazine provides some good reading materials about art machines, starting with Jacquard looms and ending with 3D printers and laser cutters. There is also an article about algorithms, which is right up his alley, since love for computers is in his blood. The magazine also provides some algorithms or recipes to try on his new sketch machine. Finally, each Tinker Zine suggests books to read about subjects related to the project. Martin usually skips this section, but this time it suggested Programming with Scratch, which he’s been doing for a good while. This made him feel good about himself.

Unlike his sister, who once in a while doesn’t finish her Doodle crate projects, Martin is diligent with his and always works until completion. There were times when he made mistakes and had to redo parts of it, but he did so patiently and without losing his temper. This he definitely gets from his dad, because when something doesn’t go my way right from the start, I’m ready to throw it into a wall and be done.

Long story short, we love Tinker crates in this house and will be looking forward to getting our next one after we come back from our vacation. I know Martin definitely will!