Kiwico Review 3: Panda Crate, Sense with Me with Book Bundle Book Colors
February 6, 2024
My son was born prematurely. He was born at 26 weeks and 6 days (3 months and 1 day early). If this box is for a baby 5-6 months, that means it should work for Aryi 8-9 months, in theory. He was in an incubator for the first 2 months. This means no toys. We started introducing him to the toys in this kit when he was moved to a crib at about 2 months. I feel that all of this makes our experience with development and play particularly unique.
Wonder Magazine and Instruction cards
Every kit at first came with these instruction cards and Wonder Magazine. This has since been changed to a little flashcard booklet with all of the information. The cards came just as loose cards. This is a problem, so I am glad they changed it. I punched holes in the cards and added a ring to them to keep them all neat and together. There is a card for each item included in the kit. There are also cards with other activities you can do with your baby that can be done for free with items around your house or that involve cheap products you can pick up from the dollar store. These cards and magazine are amazing tools for learning how to engage with your baby. This addition of wonder discusses what your baby is working on sensory development. I did not count this in the price comparison, because really, what do you compare this with.
Kiwico: $0.00
Amazon Dupe: N/A
Crinkle Tag Toy
Aryi loved this teether. Crinkles and black and white is super fun for babies. This also has a tether, which is great for a teething (or just mouthing baby). This used to be our go to toy for diaper changes. There is a hook on our wall near the diaper changing station. I would hang this there and Aryi would play with it during the diaper change. Babies hate diaper changes. There is cold air on them, you are wiping them with wet wipes, and pulling on and off their clothes. It is just not fun, so anything to make it easier. Aryi no longer cares about his diaper changes and he will just talk to me. Quality is fine. The dupe is more expensive as is every dupe for this box except 1 that is only a few cents cheaper than the Kiwico item.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $9.99
Teething Ring
This was my least favorite item in the crate. Yes, it is cute and of fine quality. However, the functionality of a teether like this is not there. It is super hard to get this into your mouth with the perpendicular circle thing going on. It would be way more functional if the rings were not stuck in place, like they are in this dupe I found.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $9.99
Transfer Discs
These discs are great. They are like any other transfer discs you could get. The quality is nice, but we do have one from Lovevery as well and of course it is better quality. Aryi loved playing with this toy in his early stages. It was fun for him to just hold and flap his arms around. Then he started to pass it between hands. I would hand it to him and he would hand it back. Now, this is just a teether or something we can put in a little treasure basket.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $11.99
Knot Ball
This is the one toy that I would say has a real quality issue in the crate. It came apart and ended up unfolding into just this long snake of a pillow tube. Not so fun. I had to tie it back up again, but it still comes out of its knot all the time. Aryi did not really use this a ton when he was in tis age. He uses it more now just as a ball to toss and roll. I couldn’t really find an exact dupe, the one I found is closer to like a pillow. It is probably still fun, and more ball-like.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $9.49
Soft Rattle Blocks
I love these blocks. They are great first blocks being big and soft. They also have shapes on them and different colors which gives you an opportunity to learn these things during play. This is still played with at 21 months. I don’t really like the dupe I found, but it was one of the cheaper dupe options. They are hideous and almost 3 times the price.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $14.99
Poppy’s Colorful World
This little book is so much fun. All you need is water. Extra fun if you throw in a paint brush. When you paint the book with water, colors appear. When it dries, the colors go away. This is endless fun. The amazon dupe is about a dollar cheaper, but, once the water dries, the color does not go away. This actually makes it cheaper per use to have the poppy book.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $5.49
Colors
Aryi likes this book. I don’t really like it. It does its job in teaching you colors, but it is kind of really ugly. The dupe is literally the same book, but it would cost more to buy it separately on Amazon.
Kiwico: $6.41
Amazon Dupe: $8.99
Worth it?
Amazon Dupes total out to be $70.93 + tax.
The Panda crate can come in a few buying options. I paid for 12 crates for 2 years (crates come every 2 months) at $538.20 + tax. This also included the option to get an extra book in each crate.
$538.20 for 12 crates is $44.85 + tas per crate
This crate included 7 items. That means each Item is worth roughly $6.41 + tax.
Objectively this is worth it price wise, it is cheaper to get this crate then all of the dupes on Amazon. All of these toys were great fun.
My favorites were the crinkle teething toy, the blocks, and the watercolor book. These toys are wonderful and we have gotten so much use from them.
I could do without the teething circle since the function really is not there and the transfer disc, but that is just because I have the better quality Lovevery one.
Kiwico: $44.85 + tax
Amazon Dupe: $70.93 + tax
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