I love subscription boxes especially those made for kids that help me homeschool our preschooler, Ziggy. We’ve tried one other subscription box before and liked it a lot. So when I heard that there’s a new one that just came out in the market recently we were eager to try it as well. It’s called Crated Memories.
CRATED MEMORIES is a STORY-CENTRIC activity kit full of fun, educational, interactive and GADGET-FREE activities that you can do with your family. The activities are aimed to be completed by parents+kids to build memories TOGETHER, hence the name Crated Memories. The activities are developed and curated by early childhood educators and revolves around the story and things found inside the Book of the Month, tested by parents and delivered to your doorstep. The activities are recommended for kids 3-7 years of age.
The person behind Crated Memories is Richelle Abilay, who is a mom herself and refers to herself as Mommy Che. She shared with me, in her own words, how Crated Memories came to be.
As parents, we know how technology are changing us and our kid’s habits. While we grow up with no cellphones, they grow together with these gadgets. That’s probably why they can operate any gadget at an early age using just their instincts while our 65+ y/o moms just can’t figure it out. It plays a BIG part in their childhood like how piko, tumbang preso and other outdoor games have played in ours.It’s ironic how technology connects us but as the same time disconnects us. When we were kids, the last thing we’d want is to be INSIDE the house away from our friends. We can spend a whole day outside, right? Nowadays, most kids just want to be inside the house, playing with their Ipads or phones. It’s not that I hate technology, it’s about having a better alternative which we can use whenever we want to nourish and create more childhood memories with them. I don’t want them to remember me thru FB, IG or other social media. I want to be remembered as someone who taught them to ride a bike, did painting with them, played crazy outdoor games that they enjoyed, or read them stories every night. This is the goal of the product. We want to give every busy parents an opportunity to spend MORE QUALITY TIME thru our books and activities. At the end of the day, when they are all grown up, we want to say to ourselves “I’m glad I did it with them” than “I wish I did”.
Crated Memories launched their first box last October and we were lucky enough to have been given one to try. Here’s what we found inside.
Ziggy and I were pleasantly surprised to see the amount of stuff in the box! There really was a lot! Ziggy was so excited that he immediately wanted to try out the activities.
As with all Crated Memories boxes, this one is centered on a story, which in this case was From Manila with Love: A Balikbayan Story by Amy Luna Capelle with illustrations by Auri Asuncion Yambao. The box included eight (8) different activities that you can do with your child. Each one has its own guide with instructions plus its own set of materials.
Here are the different materials found in the box.
Here’s what the book is all about:
What does it mean to “come home” for the first time? From Manila With Love tells the story of a young girl who accompanies her Filipina mother to Manila for the first time. Readers will delight in her delightful, unexpected discoveries–from arriving in a sticky-hot airport to meeting relatives face-to-face to sitting down to a splendid table of native dishes and–best of all, meeting the grandmother who has loved her through years of letter-writing and sending pasalubongs. Here is a story that tenderly captures the incomparable joy of the balikbayan experience. Told in rhyming verse accompanied by picturesque illustrations, this book will surely resonate with all Filipino children, wherever they may be in the world.
We really like this book. It’s a great book to teach your kids about the Filipino heritage and culture. I’ll be writing a review of this book in the future. So, watch out for that.
Anyway, out of the 8 activities in the box, we have tried 3 so far.
Riding a Jeep
Riding a jeepney is definitely a must-have Filipino experience. Our Ziggy hasn’t had a chance to do it though so I was excited to let him role play it for now with participation of his big sister, Ziya, baby Zander (who was crying in this photo because we was getting sleepy already, poor baby!) and Lola Jenny.
As you can see, we just used our chairs for them to sit on. Ziggy used a plastic basin as the steering wheel and acted as the jeepney driver. The rest of them were passengers. Crated Memories provided several placards that stated several destinations with their corresponding jeepney fare. Of course, there was also play money so they can pretend to pay and give change.
Landforms in Luzon
This activity teaches kids about one of the country’s main islands, Luzon, tied up with a geography lesson about landforms.
There was a Philippine map provided in the box plus 3 small tubs of different colored clay that can be used to make the landforms.
Money Market
This activity combines lessons on math, social studies and language. It teaches kids about the value of money, as well as determining the amount to pay based on price and reading prices.
Ziggy pretended to be the seller in the market, selling fruits and vegetables and art materials. He learned how to arrange his wares and to put prices on them. Ziya pretended to be the customer. Everything here is included in the box.
Ziggy learned how to invite customers to look at his products so that they will be encouraged to buy them. He also got to practice accepting payment and giving change. This is something I had to help him with since he’s only still just learning simple addition and subtraction.
Overall, I think this box is great! First of all, I’m a big reading advocate and so I’m a fan of anything that involves books. Plus, this one doesn’t have a shortage of fun activities that kids can learn from. As a homeschooler, I’m constantly looking for activities that will help me make Ziggy understand the lessons I teach him. Crated Memories is definitely something that can help me with that. I’m actually already planning to play the Money Market with him again when the time comes that I already have to teach him about counting money.
Further, I love that the box contains activities that really involve experiential learning as opposed to just answering workbooks or worksheets. Ziggy is a kinesthetic learner which means he learns best while doing. So, doing the activities is really helpful to him. I love how Crated Memories is able to give him a break from using gadgets. While he has learned a lot too by us letting him use gadgets for watching videos, we believe it’s important to have a gadget detox as well.
Lastly, I really love Crated Memories because it helps encourage families to actually do the activities together. As you can see from the activities we’ve tried so far, most of them involved the participation of other family members as well. It’s such a great bonding experience. For all those reasons, I believe all families should try using Crated Memories.
If you’re interested to try it out, Crated Memories gives 10% discount for first time subscribers. The retail price is Php 899 (FREE shipping within Metro Manila).
For more information, follow Crated Memories on Instagram and FB page, message them at 09228308517 or drop them a mail at [email protected]