Do doubt crafting is a fun and entertaining activity for kids, enriching their lives in many ways but it also requires a lot of advanced planning. Searching for craft ideas, making lists of necessary materials, shopping for them may take more time than the craft itself and this can be frustrating for moms. Did you know that you can delegate the prep work so you can focus only on what is important: crafting with your children? Blossom Box Kids is a monthly subscription service that delivers a box full of simple, yet inspired crafts to your doorstep each month. Created by two Minnesotan moms Nikki Anderson and Bethany Wilde, Blossom Box Kids is still a young business but already appreciated by many moms around the nation.
Stef: What inspired you to create Blossom Box Kids?
Nikki: The idea for Blossom Box Kids came to me when I was looking up craft ideas for my daughter, Perla. She’s 4 years old and loves to do crafts, so when my son Finn takes his nap it’s something we do almost everyday. I was searching websites for craft ideas and before I knew it I had been on the internet for almost 45min, cutting into precious time that I could have been spending with my daughter. That’s when the idea for creating a craft subscription box came to me. I also see how excited my daughter gets when she recieves her monthly magazine subscription in the mail and thought a themed box full of fun crafts, recipes, and ideas would be something that she would really love; especially since we’re homeschooling. I think the idea of having a specific theme to explore and expand upon every month is a lot of fun for kids and great for parents or caregivers to be able to have a launching point with the box and take it even further with books, additional activities, and conversations with their children.
Stef: What makes Blossom Box Kids special ?
Nikki: I actually thought I was coming up with an original idea with Blossom Box Kids, but it turns out that there are other craft subscription boxes out there. What makes us special is that we’re trying to be as eco-friendly as possible. That’s something that Bethany (my best friend and co-creator of Blossom Box Kids) and I always discuss before purchasing supplies and deciding on crafts.
We also include crafts that have open-ended aspects so the children are using their imagination to create instead of just following instructions and having expectations of how their end-result “should” look. If we ever include something that is more closed-ended it will usually be the “bonus item” in the box. For instance in our first box “Color Exploration” we had a rainbow weaving activity that involved weaving rainbow ombre yarn around craft sticks to make a cute little fabric square that showed how color gradually changes from one shade to the next and was great for practicing fine-motor skills so even though the activity didn’t allow a lot of room for creative expression, we still wanted to include it in the box.
Another thing that makes us a little bit different is that we don’t use cartoon characters, plastic figurines, or anything else to lure children into wanting our product. We’re just aiming to provide simple, thoughtful activities that have a beautiful simplicity to them. There is a lot of stimulation for children (and adults) in the world and it’s easy for our lives to get very busy with T.V., internet, smart phones, aisles and aisles of plastic battery-operated toys to choose from, school, activities, playdates, birthday parties, etc. Our box is an invitation to slow it all down a little and just enjoy the process of creating and connecting with your child. Don’t rush, don’t have any expectations of how it should be done, just have fun and enjoy exploring.
Related: The Art Kit – a monthly subscription for kids
Stef: Nowadays moms have access to tons of craft ideas for their kids and they can put together craft kits on their own. Why should they choose your service?
Nikki: There are a couple reasons why our service is pretty awesome. The first and most important thing is time. Searching for craft ideas, then having to run to the store, and sort out all of the materials takes a lot of time! There are a million fun craft ideas for kids online, but weeding through them and then finding and purchasing the materials is very time consuming, we’re providing people with 3-4 activities with the materials already included, plus additional ideas that involve using common household items or objects found in nature so in total it’s about 6-7 activities to try each month. If you’re like me and do a craft almost everyday you still might end up spending time on other crafts, but we’ll provided you with a great start and a fun topic to expand upon.
Another thing is money. If you just need materials for one craft you’ll usually end up having to buy a lot more than what you need and end up with a lot of left over. We order in bulk so we usually get really good deals on our craft supplies, then we can portion them out so you get exactly what you need for that particular craft! Everytime I go into a craft store I usually end up spending WAY more than I intended; I think $19.95 plus shipping for 3-4 crafts, a recipe, and a newsletter with additional ideas is a great price.
Stef: What can kids expect when they receive their monthly box?
Nikki: They can expect a box full of fun yet simple activities cohesive with a monthly theme that often coordinates with the seasons. Each box contains:
3 open-ended activities
1 healthy recipe
1 bonus item (different every month- sometimes an additional craft, or an add on to another activity)
1 newsletter with fun information relating to the topic, and additional activity ideas using common household items and/or objects found in nature.
Stef: Do your children help you in the process of creating the boxes? That is testing the activities or deciding what crafts to choose?
Nikki: My daughter, Perla, is an expert craft tester. 🙂 She loves talking about how Blossom Box Kids is HER business and we do every craft together before we ship the boxes out. My son Finn (who is 2 1/2) does some of the activities too; he especially likes any sort of painting or cutting activity. Bethany does the same with her son, Simon. It really has been so much fun creating this business with my kids and my best friend. A lot of love really does go into every box!
Stef: What’s one thing about your business that you are most proud of?
Nikki: I think I’m most proud that we’re providing a different option than what is currently available and that what we’re doing aligns with my values. It’s very important to me that I provide an example to my children that the accumulation of “things” doesn’t provide happiness and that experiences are what adds the richness to life. Being in the present moment and taking time out just to have a deeper connection with my children is what’s of the utmost importance in my life. Offering a box full of simple crafts for parents to enjoy doing with their children is something that I feel great about providing especially when buying more and more toys just isn’t resonating with them anymore.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, Blossom Box Kids went out of business at the end of 2015.