Flintobox Kids Activity Box Review

    As a working mom, I have always been looking for better ways to engage my 4 year old son, Pari.

A bundle of energy, Pari is always on to something whether it be playing with his set of Marvel superhero toys, identifying different species of dinosaurs or catching up with latest videos on his favorite YouTube channels etc.

In whatever time I get to be with my little son, I find it tough to to keep him engaged meaningfully, and off the TV and mobile phone.

One day, my brother and I were discussing the different activity boxes for kits. He talked about how these activities are both educative and fun at the same time, and how they help to make kids like Pari learn new things while having fun.

I was excited about the whole idea and wanted to try out one.  

Following through with that discussion, I decided to find out more about activity boxes for kids in general and the companies selling them.

A quick Google search opened up a whole new world of the best activity boxes for kids in India. From Flintobox to Magic Crate, there were several companies delivering monthly subscription activity boxes, and I didn’t know which to pick.

Finally, I made my son decide.  

I had Pari pick a chit from a bowl and decide what kit he got to play with first. Turned out it was Flintobox, and I was happy and excited to give it a go.

For those of you who don’t know much about Flintobox, they are a chennai-based startup delivering subscription boxes for kids. From infants to toddlers to kids to pre-adults, they have something for kids of different age groups.

Each month, a activity box packed with goodies is delivered right at your doorstep.  And each of this box has a different theme, so your kid could be doing a mini science experiment one month and playing with air balloons the next.

That’s an exciting idea, indeed.

So does Flintobox deliver the goods? Pun intended.

Is it value for money?

In this Flintobox review, I am going to give you a detailed account of my experience.  

Flintobox Review

What is Flintobox?

As was mentioned earlier, Flintobox is a kid subscription box with kits and activities designed to provide kids a totally new and fun way of learning things and help them develop some basic skills.

Designed by pediatric experts, each box consists of special activities aimed at making learning fun for kids, while also helping them improve different key areas related to their overall development such as creativity, cognitive thinking, sensory ability and motor skills etc.

Each month follows a new theme, and that means your kid will receive boxes with different themes each month until the subscription is over.

With a growing customer base and positive word of mouth, Flintobox is clearly right up there among the leading subscription activity boxes for kids in India. 

What does a Subscription get you?

Well, you get a lot. And, when I say a lot, I mean it.

You get one carefully curated box each month until your subscription is active, along with a number of worksheets and activities that are sent through a series of weekly emails. 

If that is not going to be enough to keep your little kid busy and entertained throughout the month, you can as well look into downloading the Flintobox mobile app from Play Store or Apple Store for there is a host of other ways to humor them: story books, illustrations, and games etc.

Let me go through each one of them.

Boxes

From infants to toddlers to kids to pre-adults, they have something for kids of different age groups.

Each Flintobox is designed to help your child develop a variety of skills that include

• Coordination skills
• Fine Motor skills
• Sensory skills (vision,hearing, taste,smell, touch, vestibular, and proprioception)
• Cognitive skills
• Logical Reasoning skills
• Creativity skills
• Imagination skills
• Communication skills
• Social skills
• Academic skills

                                            Flintobox Plus                  
                <p>A Flintobox subscription also gets you access to Flintobox Plus, which is basically a good collection of activities to get your kids creative juices flowing and keep them engaged meaningfully.

As part of Flintobox plus, every month you get a bunch of 5 DIY activity videos and 10 worksheets that are available for downloads.

Flintobox staff, calling themselves the ‘Activity Ninja’, send out an email every week or so with a bunch of interesting activities and worksheets that are meant to take your kids creativity to the next level.

This is a great bonus and comes in real handy especially if your kid is someone who would breeze through their activities and worksheets.
Mobile App
A nice bonus, Flintobox mobile app is a saviour for those parents who wonder how to keep their kids busy should they get through all the activities inside the Flintobox in one go.

Available for free, the mobile app has in store a lot of stories rendered in English, Hindi and Tamil as well as useful videos demonstrating interesting activities and DIY experiments.

Some of the goodies that you might find useful are the read-along texts and the beautifully illustrated stories centering around Flinto, the octopus, and his friends.

Also worth mentioning is the way in which words are clearly pronounced in those videos.

Cost and Cancellation Policy

    I got a 3 month subscription during a 50% sale and it cost me about Rs. 2100/-. And that comes to approximately 700/- per month (per box), which I found more than reasonable so to speak.

Click the link below to find out more about the latest deals on their site.

Latest Deals on Flintobox.com


Latest Deals on Flintobox.com

Truth be told, Flintobox has an easy and hassle free cancellation policy in place. Initially, I was a bit circumspect about whether my son would take a liking to playing with something like a Flintobox. What if I pay for a subscription and he doesn’t find the box interesting? Is that money put in drain?

But the flexibility of the cancellation policy allowed me to get it anyway. The policy states that you can cancel your subscription at any point when it is active, and they will issue a refund to you for the rest of the term. And that means if you find out that your kid is not liking Flintobox too much in the first month, you can file a cancellation request with them before the second subscription box gets sent, and they will cancel your subscription and give you a refund for the other 2 months of subscription. No questions asked.

Personally, I didn’t have to file for a cancellation and so I can neither vouch for it nor comment about how easy/troublesome it is to cancel a subscription. But the terms of the cancellation policy sounded fair enough to me, and egged me on to go ahead and buy my son a 3 month subscription without any doubt whatsoever.

The Contents

Month 1: Theme- Color Scientist

My first month Flintobox subscription started with a Color Scientist box, which my kid and I found very interesting. 

Here is what we found in the box.

Activity 01- Magical Kaleidoscope

Goal
Contents
Areas Worked
Parental Involvement
Child Engagement
Result
Goal

Put together a kaleidoscope using the materials and identify different alphabets, patterns, animals, symbols, buildings from the book. 
Contents
A kit of materials to make a kaleidoscope and a book with instructions on how to go about building one in addition to special patterns, alphabets and shapes. The materials given included a simple template as well as 3 mirrors made from acrylic and 8 glue dots. 

 
Areas Worked

• Academic
• Logical Reasoning
• Sensory

Parental Involvement

This did require a few minutes of my time, as I demonstrated how to affix mirrors properly by sticking glue on the template, and made him understand how to identify different things using the kaleidoscope. Once he got the handle of the task, he was very much on his own. 
Child Engagement
He was engaged all thru. Not only was he excited to see how a kaleidoscope works, but he also kept quizzing me on the different colors that he could see.
Result
Pari had a lot of fun putting it all together, learning what a kaleidoscope is and how it works. He identified different things and viewed several color patterns by rotating the kaleidoscope. 
Impression: Making a kaleidoscope was easier than we thought and a great first activity.  

P.S: At this age, the real workings of the kaleidoscope might be a little too hard for him to grasp. When he grows up and gets to learn about it in detail, he will surely realize he is no stranger to one.

Activity 02- Candy Rush

Goal
Contents
Areas Worked
Parental Involvement
Child Engagement
Result
Goal

Move from start to finish by coordinating the colors indicated by the spinner with that of the candy.
Contents
Board game; a spinner, a holder and a glue dot to bind them together; and a couple of pawns.
Areas Worked

• Coordination 
• Social
• Communication

Parental Involvement
Very minimal. All that I needed to do was to give him a little briefing on what that spinner was for, and how to play the game.
Child Engagement
He was pretty engaged through the game. He was busy identifying all the colors on the spinner wheel and matching them with that of the candy on the board. He got it wrong a few times but was quick to correct his mistakes. It took him a little while to get the basics, but once he got there, he was away.

 
Result

He learned how to coordinate colors between the spinner and candy and made his moves carefully on the board accordingly, moving from start to finish. He lost the first game yet sportively pulled me into another one because he was hungry for a win. Or, maybe he decided that he would not let me go until he got one win under his belt. 
Impression: Much like any dice based game such as ludo or snake and ladder, this is a very easy to understand activity for any toddler. Even though it’s not conceptually new, it is a constructive way for you and your kid to spend time playing a board game. 

A colorful spinner wheel takes the places of a dice, making the kid to color coordinate properly to be able to hop their way from start to finish. 

Activity 03- My Color Lab

Goal
Contents
Areas Worked
Parental Involvement
Child Engagement
Result
Goal

Get your kid to become more familiar and hands-on with colors by making them form new colors by mixing two colors learn about different colors and recall their names.
Contents
3 Test tubes, 1 Test tube stand, 1 beaker, 1 dropper and a straw spatula. Also included are 6 paint boxes, a color mixer chart, a mat and a cute little apron.
Areas Worked

• Cognitive
• Coordination
• Creativity 

Parental Involvement
Again, another task with less parental involvement. I got the contents out from the kit pack and gave him a little brief on how to do this activity. And, off he went.
Child Engagement
Between arranging the apparatus and recognizing the different colors on the color mixer chart, he had many things to do. There was hardly any dull moment for him, and he was very much engaged from start to finish. 

 
Result

The kid enjoyed learning this activity and even more so doing it. He took time to get to terms with the apparatus provided and what he was supposed to do with each one. But he got it, eventually. 

Referring to the color mixer chart, he was quick to identify the two colors that were needed to form the third one. And, he had real fun observing the change in color every time he dabbed in a couple of drops of the second color to the test tube. 

Though he doesn’t know what a lab looks like and what it takes to be a scientist, but he for sure enjoyed discovering new colors and learnt validating the results against the colors shown on the mixer chart.
Impression: This is one of his favorite activities of this box. He keeps coming back to this one in particular. No doubt he enjoyed it thoroughly.

Activity 04- Spray Painting

Goal
Contents
Areas Worked
Parental Involvement
Child Engagement
Result
Goal

Create a colorful canvas using spray painting in a kid-friendly way.
Contents
2 white charts, 2 stencils, a mini brush, and a palette to mix colors. The mat and apron from the previous task will be quite useful too.
Areas Worked

• Sensory
• Fine motor
• Creativity

Parental Involvement
I had to spend a while to tell him what to do with the brush, even though he had mastered how mixing two colors formed a new one. 
Child Engagement
He was quite keen at the beginning to see how different this one was from the other activities that he completed before. He raised many questions when I briefed him, such as ‘what stencils are meant for?’, ‘why are we painting with a toothbrush?’ etc.  

When I answered those questions and got around to explaining how to perform this activity, he sprung with excitement and started doing the activity without any dip in energy all the way through.
Result
After learning how to create new colors, this spray painting activity allowed him to take his newly acquired skills to the next level. 

He made a few colors of his choice without referring to any guide, demonstrating that he was ready to experiment with the setup. He properly placed the stencils on the white chart given, applied some paint on to the brush, and sprayed it all over the area by rubbing the bristles. 

He learned a totally new way to paint, where the brush doesn’t have any contact with the chart. And, we found it very interesting.
Impression: He learned a totally new way to paint, where the brush doesn’t have any contact with the chart. And, we found it very interesting.

Activity 05- ‘The Colorful Ghost‘ Story

Featuring several animals including Flint the octopus, the story was fun to read. Like any kid story, it has a fairly simple plot but I really like the way it is crisply written and beautifully illustrated with good graphical detail.  

What started as a ghost tale had a plot twist at the end, and that’s what it is all about. To introduce different colors to the kids in a fun and engaging way. Em, any takeaways? 

Sure, the kid had its first encounter with a much rarely-talked about animal, Chameleon and its color changing abilities. The bottom line is, he was able to appreciate the different colors of each animal featured in the story.

My Flintobox Experience

I’d say Flintobox has been a satisfactory experience for me so far. The way the activities are designed, keeping in view the different developmental areas of a kid in this age group, has been nothing short of amazing. But more than that it is the fun and engagement factor that works for me. 

Letting your kids learn things on their own while having fun is a great proposition for parents and that is exactly what hits it home for Flintobox. I have not bought any subscription of other leading kid subscription boxes in India, so I cannot comment on how Flintobox is better than say magic crate etc.  

But there are a few things that I like and don’t like about Flintobox.  Here they are.

Pros

Learning is Fun

Flintobox has brought a whole new dimension to kids’ learning. Each activity is aptly designed to help kids to learn things in a fun and creative way, allowing them to gain new experiences while playing. 
A Systematic Way at That
Flintobox has a systematic approach to helping kids learn new concepts and develop in a wholesome manner. As was mentioned earlier, each activity is designed to have a positive impact on one or more specific skills/developmental areas. And this sits well with all the scientific studies which claim that a good part of brain development in kids happens before they attain seven years. 
Less Screen Time
Some of the activities keep the kid very much engaged and make them pay attention to the tasks they are supposed to do. This is invaluable in an era where screen-times are scaringly high and the attention span of kids is divided between different gadgets in our homes.  After my kid’s screen time got to an alarming level, I had to set strict rules for my boy and limit how much technology he uses on a day to day basis. 

Flintobox has surely helped in a way to take his attention off TV, phones and other gadgets.  He finds each activity to engaging and likes to get busy playing every now and then. Even though there is no guarantee that he will be playing with Flintobox all the time, he is more likely to do so because each box has at least one activity having all the right elements to keep kids busy and thinking.  And that means the odds of my kid asking for a phone is quite low.
Good Quality Overall
Flintobox team puts a lot of thought and effort into design and development of each box, and it shows in the quality of the materials, packaging etc. Each box has a guide/planner that helps you sort things out easily for the upcoming weeks. There is an assessment sheet available that tells you what good each activity does to your kid, what you should measure and how to do it. 
Better Value than Most Toys
Flintobox might look a bit expensive at the outset. But I think it is without doubt better value than most of the toys we get them, especially super hero figurines, and other film and TV merchandise. I reckon, a Flintobox subscription is a lot cheaper when you throw in the best selling Hot wheel car set, the barbie play set that they generally go gaga over. 

Unlike toys, Flintobox can be reused however you want. If your kid is up for some Flinto fun, you can always let him go back to his favorite activity and have some fun with it. In that sense, it is a gift that gives back.

Cons

                                            Not a Seamless Experience                   
                <p style="text-align: justify;">At times, when I get stuck and try to seek more information on how to complete something, I find it a bit uncomfortable hopping between the instructions in the activity kit, their website, the emails they send me, and the mobile app. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Flintobox team would surely do better to unify the experience for parents. A mobile app with a dedicated section that curates everything that you need to know/do to be able to help your kid complete a activity would be extremely useful.</p>
                                            Only a few activities                   
                Some parents think that each box has just a few activities which kids go through quickly. But this was not a real concern for me. 
        <h3>What Other Parents think about Flintobox?</h3>      
    Liz from HonestLiz.com said spending for a 6 month Flintobox subscription was worth it. She was happy she got to make her kid explore a different way of learning through Flintobox. 

Shubpreet, who blogs at raisingkarma.in, has had a good experience too. Her daughter is kind of crazy about cars and other automobiles and enjoyed playing with her Automobile themed Flintobox.

Jaspreet, a mom blogger, entertained the idea of introducing Flintobox to her kid and is very glad she did that. Read up on her experience with Flintobox here.

Wrapping Up

Is Flintobox worth it?

Yes. It sure is. Flintobox lets your kid explore the ‘play’ aspect of learning.

It is natural that the novelty of playing with the Flintobox may wear off over time for your kid, but the whole experience of going through different activities aimed at fostering certain skills and developmental areas is invaluable.

That’s what makes Flintobox and other activity boxes available in India a good option to take on.

At the time of subscription, I was a bit anxious about how useful a flintobox would be for my kid. Now I am not. 

After having completed a full term of subscription I can confidently say that it is really worth buying a Flintobox subscription for the creative and fun activities and hands-on learning that your kid will receive.

Give it a go and get ready for some interesting weeks full of playful, fun, engaging, and entertaining time with your little one. Well, don’t mind the mess that comes with it all.