Special thanks to The Happy Trunk for providing a sample for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In my house, we have fallen hard for subscription boxes. In particular, we are drawn to boxes that offer ready made activities and crafts for young kids. My girls love to do cool projects, and I love for them to get to do cool projects, but if you leave it up to me to plan those projects, I’ll be overwhelmed and on the verge of tears within about 10 minutes.

Y’all, I just don’t craft. But why should my lack of skills in this area come at a cost to my kids, especially if awesome options like The Happy Trunk exist?

When my oldest opened up The Happy Trunk, she immediately wanted to start doing projects, and I was so excited for her that I completely forgot to take a picture of the items in the box in their original state. Oops!

But let me show you some of the completed work we have done with the August box, which was focused on Hot and Cold. The Happy Trunk projects are STEAM focused, meaning that they combine elements of science, technology and math, expressed through engineering and art.

The first project was really an experiment to conduct with a spoon that is sensitive to heat. This was the most basic project in the kit (I mean…it’s just a spoon) but it was actually the most popular with my girls. They have played with it daily. It came with a card for experiment ideas. I would have liked to have seen the science of why the spoon changes colored explained, though.

The second project was also a big hit: making chalkboard coasters. The kit came with the paint, a paint brush, a paint cup, chalk and 2 cardboard circles to paint. This was VERY fun for my kids and they felt great making something that they would actually use. This is also a great chance to talk about condensation, though again, I think this is an area that could have been a bit more fleshed out in the materials.

The third project was to make a koozie. I had to first explain what a koozie was, truth be told! I sort of think koozies are pointless, but if you are going to have one, have one of the cute fabric ones. Darah thought it was awesome to be able to accessorize your drink, so she got right to work.

Unfortunately, the koozie kit we got had faulty velcro (two of the same side). I contacted Happy Trunk and they put a replacement project in the mail for me immediately, which I thought was great customer service.

We haven’t yet completed the final project, which is all about making ice creations with color. I thought this project had the most extensive list of possibilities. When we are ready to take the project on, we have several different things we can do, so that makes this particular craft more than a “one and done” which I really love.

Was the kit perfect? No, but I thought the flaw in our kit was handled really well. And I think the price point for the Happy Trunk is a positive, with the boxes running $17.95 each if you subscribe for a year ($19.95 each if you go month to month…shipping is free).

I also like that Happy Trunk has two age ranges, and therefore recognize that a an 9-year-old is going to need something different than a 3-year-old. You can select boxes for 3-7 or for 8-11. I thought this box, which is in the 3-7 range, was spot on for my kids.

I’d love to hear if you have tried Happy Trunk and what you thought of it. If you haven’t tried it yet and you’d love to have some craft projects that also throw in some math and science, give Happy Trunk a try!