Tinkerer STEAM Box Review
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At the start of the half term holidays Little Man was sent a Tinkerer STEAM Box to review and he couldn’t have been more excited. Anything STEAM or STEM goes down so well in our house and even us parents love it – fun activities that are educational too, blending Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Maths! It’s a real win-win!
Little Man couldn’t wait to open his Tinkerer box and see what was inside. He was itching to get started from the moment it arrived at the door – and it did not disappoint!
What is Tinkerer?
Created by two engineers, the Tinkerer subscription box was produced to help inspire children to learn and grow. Tinkerer believe in creative confidence and immersive learning: two qualities that prepare kids to think big and learn for life.
The Tinkerer boxes are full of creative, hands-on projects that inspire children’s curiosity. The STEAM projects challenge children, helping them to develop self-confidence, and they provide a variety of experiences that keep children engaged. Through their boxes Tinkerer are directly helping to nurture the next generation of innovators, creators, and leaders.
The Tinkerer STEAM boxes
The Tinkerer STEAM monthly subscription boxes come in three different ranges that you can switch between at any time. The Wonder range is aimed at preschool children who learn through play. It’s for budding innovators aged 3-5 and includes 3-5 projects each month. The Odyssey range features multi-sensory science and arts for young scientists aged 6-8 and includes 1-3 projects each month. And the Explore range is a full on STEM Laboratory for tinkerers aged 9-12 with one quality project included each month.
Each of the boxes have a lot of things in common. They feature a fun, educational theme each month and they are full of quality materials and creative ideas. There’s always a magazine that lets you discover the science behind each project as well as featuring brain-challenging games and activities too. There’s also good quality instruction booklet with illustration based step by step instructions that kids can follow independently.
Across the boxes there are over 1000 projects designed in-house by the Tinkerer team to inspire and teach children whilst keeping them engaged and helping them to grow.
Tinkerer Automaton Explorer Box
Little Man was sent the Automaton box from the Tinkerer Explorer range. This box is aimed at age 9-12 and as Little Man has just turned 12 it was the perfect box for him.
The Automaton box gives you everything you need to build a repeating marble run and includes full instructions and a science magazine too. When we first opened the box we were impressed with the lack of plastic used – as much as possible is made from paper or wood making the boxes environmentally friendly but also the creating finished projects that are lovely to look at too!
The Explore boxes are designed so that children can work independently, following the instructions and working through the project by themselves. Little Man got stuck straight in, building the marble run by himself. I sat with him to watch and chat whilst he was building and it actually made for quality time together. I could almost see the cogs working as he read the instructions and worked out what he needed to do.
There was only one part of the kit that Little Man needed help with and that was cutting the straw that came in the box. This was more a confidence thing than him not being able to do it – he just really didn’t want to get it wrong! Aside from that he did the whole project independently, and loved it!
Whilst working through the project, Little Man could understand and follow the instructions really well. I was impressed with how simple and clear they were despite the build being quite scientific and intricate in places.
Little Man loved building the marble run and although he did it all in one sitting, over the course of an afternoon, it could easily be spread out over a weekend or as an after school activity. He was just keen to get it built so that he could then play with it!
The finished marble run is well made, solid and built to last. It’s an educational toy that Little Man will love having on the side in his room, being able to play with it for years to come.
The Tinkerer STEAM box also includes an Explore magazine in the same Automaton theme. The magazine compliments the project kit completely, teaching Little Man all about automatons, what they are made of, when they were first built and the wide variety of uses that they have.
The magazine features so many facts, pictures, games, activities and even book suggestions of more to read if you’ve enjoyed learning about automatons. The magazine gives hours of additional entertainment, keeping children engaged long after they have finished building the marble run.
Little Man absolutely loved building the marble run and learning about automatons – a term he hadn’t come across before despite being familiar with marble runs! The Tinkerer Explore Box has kept Little Man entertained for so much of half term with building the marble run, reading the magazine, completing the extra activities and even Googling things he’s learnt about in the box. It’s a box that just keeps on giving and I have loved how engaged he has been throughout. It’s lovely to see learning being such a fun experience and I know he’d love to work through more Tinkerer boxes in the future.
The Tinkerer Subscription
The Tinkerer STEAM boxes are available as a subscription. They cost a maximum of £26 per box with the price reducing to as little as £19.99 per box depending on the length of the subscription and whether you choose to automatically renew or not.
The Tinkerer subscription is a fantastic idea to give children something fun, engaging and educational to do at home. Catering to children from three to twelve, it has boxes suited to all ages and abilities with the opportunity to switch between ranges at any point.
We’ve loved our experience of Tinkerer and it will definitely be one of top choices when it comes to gift ideas going forward. We know lots of children who would love to get a Tinkerer box through the door each month!
You can find out more about Tinkerer and subscribe over on their website.
