Review: Weekend Box

A few weeks back we were sent a Weekend Box to review, but having had a few busy weeks we only recently managed to try it out. The Weekend box is a set of 4 activities you can do with your children aged 3-8, although it is not necessarily limited to doing them at the weekend! You can have fun when you want!

The creator of the box, Andy Stephenson states:

‘I decided to set up Weekend Box after getting frustrated when I was buying gifts for my niece and nephew who are 5: I wanted to buy something educational yet fun, something that stimulated creativity and not something plasticky made in a factory in China; I couldn’t find anything so I quit my job and started developing!’

What I like about the box is that there are 4 seperate activities which focus on different life skills. The activities in the Weekend Box are one from each of the following categories:

• Something to Cook – Our activity in this box was Potato Boats
• Something to Make –  DIY 3D Glasses this time
  
• Something to Explore – Time to have fun with Sand art
• S0mething Green – Think of the birds with a lolly stick bird feeder)

 

What is also great about the box is that everything is colour coded. Each activity has it’s own colour and the cards with the instructions on, along with the packets are the same colour so you can easily unpack the items without worrying which is which. It is ideal for kids who may not be able to read just yet to get out what they need by visually identifying the colours corresponding to their activity.

As Bee is still abit young for this, we waited until she was asleep and then got started. Munchkin decided she wanted to make the bird feeder first. The instructions were relatively easy to follow and Munchkin had fun making it. Although Munchkin knows her numbers, this activity can help with counting as you have to count out 9 sticks initially and put them together.

 

The only real downside I found to this activity was the glue. As it is in a little sachet it was quite messy to get out and basically got everywhere; would be ideal if it was in a small bottle with a nozzle to direct it where we want it to go. Munchkin at 7 years old found it quite difficult to handle so younger children may find it worse to use. Also the string given with the activity was really small and by the time we knotted it and glued it on there wasn’t much left to hang it with.

We had the same problem with the sand art. I tried to pinch a small hole in the glue sachet so that the she could put the glue onto the picture but it just came out in big blobs and spread out everywhere. In the end we just threw it away as the glue was getting everywhere. I should have put the glue in a container and got her to use a brush as that would have solved the problem! We ended up using the sand on a different picture.

Munchkin loved making her 3D glasses which were quite simple for her to make.  But we have yet to make the potato boats as she is a fussy eater!

The Weekend Box is a clever idea and if you are like me and aren’t particularly crafty then this could be ideal and fun for all the family, even our cat wanted to join in with the activities!

It encourages the children as you get stickers to put on the card once each activity is completed. Furthermore once you reach the bottom of the box there is a picture to colour in!

Weekend Box is sent out fortnightly and only costs £7.50. You can also purchase it as a gift as a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription. If any of my readers would like to like to try out their very own Weekend Box you can receive your first box for free (including free delivery) by using the code  FOZIA8 at www.weekendboxclub.com

 

Disclaimer: I was sent a Weekend Box for free for the purposes of review. However all thoughts and opinions are my own and truthful.