Ivy Kids is a blog sponsor and we were sent this kit to review and use with our family.

One of the things that makes so many picture books memorable for our children, aside from the constant reading, is the addition of hands-on activities that tie in with the books. Even now they are older, they’ve never really grown out of that – and truthfully, I love it as well.

Except for the planning out and gather process, if we’re being completely honest.  That I can often do without!

Finding materials and ideas to go-along with books can take a lot of time out of the day. (Getting distracted on Pinterest with the additional things found might be another rabbit hole for another day, but that can make it truly overwhelming too.) I love real books and bringing them to life through hands-on activities though, so when Ivy Kids asked if we would be interested in using one of their monthly educational boxes to go along with A House for Hermit Crab – well, YES!

You all – I am IN LOVE!!! I wish these would have been around earlier when our kids were younger. Kaleb and I have had much fun together working on activities and learning about hermit crabs, and I’d love to share some of the fun with you too.

A Bit About Ivy Kids Kits

Each month, Ivy Kids puts together an educational box that includes a broad range of activities to go along with a specific book. They offer a wide range of literature-based kits, and activities range from simply fun (like painting) to educational games. Each box includes a copy of the focus book as well, so you can add it to your shelf immediately when you are finished with your learning!

The box is packed with all the supplies you will need (including the book!) so you do not have to gather anything – simply open the box and start! Boxes are targeted toward children ages 3 to 8: Little Ivy (3-5) and Junior Ivy (5-8) and many activities can be adapted for kids, making it great for siblings to work on together. The box lid contains a list of all activities, so you have a quick reference guide of what the theme looks like.

a quick peek inside our box

Activities are all grouped in ziplock bags, complete with instructions for each activity or game. At times there are pieces that are used for more than one activity, but it’s all clearly laid out for you as you go through the projects. Kits are personalized to your child and with your child’s name on the activities. We kept the instructions in the bags along with the supplies so we didn’t get anything confused. Sibling add-on kits are also available for each kit.

Activities in Our Box

While each kit includes activities specifically tailored to the theme book, we received A House for Hermit Crab. Can you believe we never, in all the many year and children, never read the book together before? While there were many activities included in our box, we have a few to highlight for you (see the full list of activities here).

We chose to do a few activities each day and spread them out over the course of two weeks. During that time we read the book together a few times as well and used the included bookmark to go over comprehension questions.

One of our favorite go-alongs in A House for Hermit Crab box was the pretend hermit crab that grows. Kaleb LOVED creating a habitat for his crab (and I enjoyed that we didn’t have a real one in the house!). His habitat has been sitting on his desk along with a  collection of shells as well.

Zachary wanted to join in with us as well, especially when it came time to paint. The suncatchers went along with the different creatures in the book and have been hanging in our schoolroom window ever since!

We observed a hermit crab shell, measuring and describing, writing a short summary about our findings after drawing a picture.

Kaleb’s hermit crab design…

Sorting shells by type – can you identify a bivalve or gastropod?

The photo fact cards that explain about a hermit crab are wonderful resources!

And plenty of painting and craft activities to go along!

These are just a sampling of the many activities, games, and resources included in Ivy Kid’s kit for A House for Hermit Crab. Be sure to visit their website to see the full list of activities.

We are definitely looking forward to working through another Ivy Kids kit (currently Make Way for Ducklings) and sharing that with you soon! If you’d like to try Ivy Kids Kits with your children, be sure to use the coupon code below!

Subscriptions to Ivy Kids are available for one, three, or six months and add-on sibling kits are available for an additional $5. Try out any one of their past kits, but remember supplies are limited. Subscriptions are the best way to get the newest literature kit! Use the code IVY20 to save 20% off your first kit with any renewing subscription.

Recommended for grades preK – 3. Parent supervision is needed, but no prep-time is required. Our honest opinion has been given in this review and we wholeheartedly recommend Ivy Kids to other families.