The best subscription boxes for kids
Subscription boxes inspire and educate, not to mention providing some much-needed excitement to keep kids enthused over lockdown
These subscription boxes for kids will educate and inspire, kids and their grownups. Photo: Little Cooks
Another lockdown, a lot less positivity and patience for parents.
While homeschooling seems to be easier the second time around (hurrah!), we could all do with some fun ideas for ways to entertain us, in evenings and on weekends. Ideas that don't involve leaving the house...
Subscription boxes are brilliant: educational, interactive, interesting and a great chance to discover something new, like a book, a dish, or maybe even a passion. Check out our favourites below...
For scientists and nature lovers...
Photo: Letterbox Lab
Letterbox Lab: We all want our kids to love science, right? But we don't think we can handle another homemade slime experiment in the kitchen.
That's where Letterbox Lab comes in: fun and educational science experiments arriving right to your door. Your kids will be launching rockets, building robotic limbs, performing glow-in-the-dark chemical experiments - and everything will be included in the box (you might just need to add water). From six-year-old to future STEM pioneer... yes, please.
Starting at £11.25 per box
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Mud & Bloom
Mud & Bloom: Parents are despairing that kids are glued to screens, not wanting to play outside anymore. Mud & Bloom can help: this monthly box delivers seasonal nature crafts and gardening ideas to help give our vitamin-D and nature-play deprived youngsters some Forest-School inspired learning fun.
Many of the boxes require kids to go out and explore their local park to find everything they'll need, helping them reconnect - or begin to connect - with the great outdoors.
Starting at £13.95 a month
Click here to subscribe
Photo: The Curiosity Box
The Curiosity Box: Discover new scientific marvels on a monthly basis thanks to The Curiosity Box, a company that encourages kids to explore the natural world around them.
Each box is curriculum-related to ensure that your child is getting the head start they need. With weekly or monthly curriculum-linked options, this is the alternative to a tutor you didn't yet know existed. With themes ranging from fossils to magnets, there's no shortage of fun and invigorating activities to keep them occupied all month long.
Starting at £9.95 per box
Click here to subscribe
For encouraging a love of reading
Photo: Woke Babies
Woke Babies: It is vitally important that children see themselves represented in a range of literature - and it also expands kids' worldviews when they read about children with different experiences to theirs. Woke Babies is a monthly subscription box featuring books with black characters, and it's tailored by age - 0-3, 4-7 and 8-11. Each box has 2-3 books and activities, plus a Woke Babies T-shirt in your first box.
Subscriptions are £20 a month
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Book and Play
Book and Play: Suitable for babies or toddlers, Book and Play boxes feature an inclusive book and activity pack in each box, with a craft or toy plus stickers. We love that this business was born out of founder Tori Lancaster's lockdown 1 coping mechanism: buying and wrapping a new book each week, to read with her little one in the garden shed on 'Book Day'. Plus, one of our favourites, Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, is in one of the boxes...
Starting at £13
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Parrot Street
Parrot Street: Keen for your child to discover a love of books? Who isn't? Parrot Street can help - the monthly boxes include an off-the-beaten-track chapter book that works for boys or girls, as well as an accompanying activity pack. We love the book-club style questions that encourage critical analysis of each story. Designed for kids 5-11.
Starting at £39.95
Click here to subscribe
For cooking fun
Photo: Bakedin
Bakedin: We've all become home baking pros - or at least realised that it's a lot more fun to teach the kids fractions through baking than at a desk. Try Bakedin Baking Club's kits, where you'll be whipping up everything from raspberry Eton Mess cake to chocolate cheesecake brownies. There's also a Bread Baking Club... so you can expand beyond sourdough.
Boxes from £7.50 a month
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Little Cooks
Little Cooks Co: Little Cooks Co offers a range of nutritious recipes and organic ingredients, so chefs-in-training can make the most delicious meals at home, from bean burgers to blondies, chestnut roast to chocolate pancakes, with fab extras like seeds, so kids can see where their food comes from.
From £8.33 a box
Click here to subscribe
For learning about the world
Photo: Banjo Robinson
Banjo Robinson: If your child's ever wondered what it's like to be pen-pals with a globe-trotting cat, now's their chance to find out with this personalised letter writing scheme for 5-8-year-olds, especially when travelling abroad is not an option. Not only does it encourage reading and written correspondence (yay!), it's great for igniting a child's curiosity about the world at large. Banjo's letters come every fortnight, and parents can add their own encouraging P.S. to each letter. Plus, one of our favourite kid-lit authors, Anna Kemp (Dogs Don't Do Ballet, The Worst Princess), is part of the Banjo team.
From £15 for three letters
Click here to subscribe
For crafty kids
Photo: LOLA
LOLA (Lots of Lovely Art): While the kids are on a break from visiting London's Warhols and Van Goghs in person, they can still learn about the greats - and create some art in homage to their styles with the delightful LOLA subscription box, which includes all of the materials, instructions and tips necessary for a masterpiece.
Starting at £27 every two months
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Toucan Box
Toucan Box: For those with crafty kids, you won't want to miss out on these personalised, letterbox-sized subscription parcels that combine arts, crafts, and education for the ultimate hands-on learning experience.
Each Toucan Box pack comes complete with a teaching guide for parents to inspire and conduct mini-lessons. Previous Toucan boxes have included DIY bird feeders, materials to make your own contemporary art, and seeds for planting your own plants.
Starting at £12 per month
Click here to subscribe
Subscription boxes for babies
Photo: Whirli
Eco- and convenience-minded mums have loads of options when it comes to subscription services for kids - here are a few to check out.
Baby food delivery: Yes, you can now have baby purees and finger foods delivered to your door, daily or weekly.
Baby clothing rentals: Instead of buying new, you can now get subscription boxes of rented baby clothing from the likes of Little Loop, Bundlee and Belles and Babes, which also offers maternity clothing rentals.
Toy rentals: Avoid clutter, save cash and try out all the latest toys with toy rental schemes like Whirli, which lets kids play with toys each month before sending them back.
Culture Whisper is your curated guide to the best of London. We may earn a commission for items purchased through our retailer links.
While homeschooling seems to be easier the second time around (hurrah!), we could all do with some fun ideas for ways to entertain us, in evenings and on weekends. Ideas that don't involve leaving the house...
Subscription boxes are brilliant: educational, interactive, interesting and a great chance to discover something new, like a book, a dish, or maybe even a passion. Check out our favourites below...
For scientists and nature lovers...
Photo: Letterbox Lab
Letterbox Lab: We all want our kids to love science, right? But we don't think we can handle another homemade slime experiment in the kitchen.
That's where Letterbox Lab comes in: fun and educational science experiments arriving right to your door. Your kids will be launching rockets, building robotic limbs, performing glow-in-the-dark chemical experiments - and everything will be included in the box (you might just need to add water). From six-year-old to future STEM pioneer... yes, please.
Starting at £11.25 per box
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Mud & Bloom
Mud & Bloom: Parents are despairing that kids are glued to screens, not wanting to play outside anymore. Mud & Bloom can help: this monthly box delivers seasonal nature crafts and gardening ideas to help give our vitamin-D and nature-play deprived youngsters some Forest-School inspired learning fun.
Many of the boxes require kids to go out and explore their local park to find everything they'll need, helping them reconnect - or begin to connect - with the great outdoors.
Starting at £13.95 a month
Click here to subscribe
Photo: The Curiosity Box
The Curiosity Box: Discover new scientific marvels on a monthly basis thanks to The Curiosity Box, a company that encourages kids to explore the natural world around them.
Each box is curriculum-related to ensure that your child is getting the head start they need. With weekly or monthly curriculum-linked options, this is the alternative to a tutor you didn't yet know existed. With themes ranging from fossils to magnets, there's no shortage of fun and invigorating activities to keep them occupied all month long.
Starting at £9.95 per box
Click here to subscribe
For encouraging a love of reading
Photo: Woke Babies
Woke Babies: It is vitally important that children see themselves represented in a range of literature - and it also expands kids' worldviews when they read about children with different experiences to theirs. Woke Babies is a monthly subscription box featuring books with black characters, and it's tailored by age - 0-3, 4-7 and 8-11. Each box has 2-3 books and activities, plus a Woke Babies T-shirt in your first box.
Subscriptions are £20 a month
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Book and Play
Book and Play: Suitable for babies or toddlers, Book and Play boxes feature an inclusive book and activity pack in each box, with a craft or toy plus stickers. We love that this business was born out of founder Tori Lancaster's lockdown 1 coping mechanism: buying and wrapping a new book each week, to read with her little one in the garden shed on 'Book Day'. Plus, one of our favourites, Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, is in one of the boxes...
Starting at £13
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Parrot Street
Parrot Street: Keen for your child to discover a love of books? Who isn't? Parrot Street can help - the monthly boxes include an off-the-beaten-track chapter book that works for boys or girls, as well as an accompanying activity pack. We love the book-club style questions that encourage critical analysis of each story. Designed for kids 5-11.
Starting at £39.95
Click here to subscribe
For cooking fun
Photo: Bakedin
Bakedin: We've all become home baking pros - or at least realised that it's a lot more fun to teach the kids fractions through baking than at a desk. Try Bakedin Baking Club's kits, where you'll be whipping up everything from raspberry Eton Mess cake to chocolate cheesecake brownies. There's also a Bread Baking Club... so you can expand beyond sourdough.
Boxes from £7.50 a month
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Little Cooks
Little Cooks Co: Little Cooks Co offers a range of nutritious recipes and organic ingredients, so chefs-in-training can make the most delicious meals at home, from bean burgers to blondies, chestnut roast to chocolate pancakes, with fab extras like seeds, so kids can see where their food comes from.
From £8.33 a box
Click here to subscribe
For learning about the world
Photo: Banjo Robinson
Banjo Robinson: If your child's ever wondered what it's like to be pen-pals with a globe-trotting cat, now's their chance to find out with this personalised letter writing scheme for 5-8-year-olds, especially when travelling abroad is not an option. Not only does it encourage reading and written correspondence (yay!), it's great for igniting a child's curiosity about the world at large. Banjo's letters come every fortnight, and parents can add their own encouraging P.S. to each letter. Plus, one of our favourite kid-lit authors, Anna Kemp (Dogs Don't Do Ballet, The Worst Princess), is part of the Banjo team.
From £15 for three letters
Click here to subscribe
For crafty kids
Photo: LOLA
LOLA (Lots of Lovely Art): While the kids are on a break from visiting London's Warhols and Van Goghs in person, they can still learn about the greats - and create some art in homage to their styles with the delightful LOLA subscription box, which includes all of the materials, instructions and tips necessary for a masterpiece.
Starting at £27 every two months
Click here to subscribe
Photo: Toucan Box
Toucan Box: For those with crafty kids, you won't want to miss out on these personalised, letterbox-sized subscription parcels that combine arts, crafts, and education for the ultimate hands-on learning experience.
Each Toucan Box pack comes complete with a teaching guide for parents to inspire and conduct mini-lessons. Previous Toucan boxes have included DIY bird feeders, materials to make your own contemporary art, and seeds for planting your own plants.
Starting at £12 per month
Click here to subscribe
Subscription boxes for babies
Photo: Whirli
Baby food delivery: Yes, you can now have baby purees and finger foods delivered to your door, daily or weekly.
Baby clothing rentals: Instead of buying new, you can now get subscription boxes of rented baby clothing from the likes of Little Loop, Bundlee and Belles and Babes, which also offers maternity clothing rentals.
Toy rentals: Avoid clutter, save cash and try out all the latest toys with toy rental schemes like Whirli, which lets kids play with toys each month before sending them back.
Culture Whisper is your curated guide to the best of London. We may earn a commission for items purchased through our retailer links.
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