Willow and Wild box

Willow and Wild box

Recently we received our first Willow and Wild box. We were eagerly awaiting our box arrival after having seen so many amazing post about the fun packed contents.

The box, contents and our first impressions

The kids were extremely excited to open up the box, even if it meant delaying bedtime! The tag line on the box reads 'Nature Inspired fun and learning' and I can see why. The box is full of activities around nature. The box we received has a lovely focus on bees. In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about bees and decreasing numbers, which is concerning for all, so I was elated to find a lot of bee related activities. My 7 year old has definitely welcomed the contents (he's expressed his concern about decreasing bees- especially after our Knowsley Safari park visit, where we were told life would last approx 4 years if bees became extinct!)

First impressions, very happy to see so much in this box, it is literally bursting with activities! 

Grow Peas 

Amongst all the other fun filled contents, one that has been so much fun for the kids (compost and kids...need I say more!) is sowing the pea seeds. If you have no idea what to do with seeds that are provided in this box, you needn't worry. There are clear instructions of where to sow, how long before moving plants (if they are in planters and need to be moved to garden) and what to expect. It's great to see such contents as I can easily link this back to our science sessions, with the added bonus that it isn't textbook pictures but real life plants! As an added fun activity, 7 year old will record growing patterns and eventually we should have our own peas!

Other activities 

The peas activity is just one of many included. The box has bee card making, watercoloring, making pipe cleaner bee, bee bookmarks, bee dot to dot, bee identification sheet, bee happy plant sheet and many more. Looking at that list it's obvious there is so much included, but there are more....the children are looking forward to when they can pick their peas and make 'pea and potato cakes' and 'pea pesto pasta' (both recipe cards included in box!)

7 year old has enjoyed the activities such as pattern matching and dot to dot, younger sibling has enjoyed the colouring activities, and they've both enjoyed playing with compost! The fact filled cards have bee a huge hit, 7 year old has carefully read about bee friendly flowers (we will be shopping for some!) and has found the bee identification card very interesting, adding how he had no idea about the different bees!

What do we think?

I love it when we find a resource that helps me teach and arm my children with knowledge about the world we live in. It is so important, and it's great to see boxes such as Willow and Wild, providing hours of fun but teaching important lessons in one. 

I've been able to link the activities to our schooling too, which has been a great hit. Sowing/planting has really helped show the science we've talked about and will continue to provide the practical side for our plant lessons. Bee identification has allowed us to revisit classification, and on top of all that there are lots of art opportunities and literacy (after all 7 year old is doing the reading!),

There are so many activates that we haven't started yet (such as making wildflower seed balls), and that's because the box is full of fun filled activities that I don't need to worry (or sigh) that all the activities have been completed in the blink of an eye! I have so many things to look forward to doing with the children this week (making bee card, bookmark and more), I'm really impressed with the contents. 

The best thing about Willow and Wild, is firstly, one box has been enough for both my children (7 and 3), secondly, we haven't zoomed through everything included in a day and thirdly, everything is in the box! Ok, so on a slightly embarrassing note, there are times when we come across activities but mum doesn't have what is needed, and the activity ends up on pause until I can buy the items.....which sometimes means kids don't want to undertake the experiment or art project any longer....with Willow and Wild box everything is included, which is good for mum (no guilt on my part!) and we can dive in straight away...win win!!

Finally, I always like it when the contents are of good quality, and I can assure you these are. The fact filled cards are fab and I can see those lasting (even with a slightly rough 3 year old!). The papers, cards and all other contents are of a high quality, which is always a nice thing to see! 

So from myself and the children, this box gets 3 thumbs up....but don't take my word for it, hop along to their website and take a look for yourself. There are lots of options to choose from (bumper box, letterbox box, sibling boxes and so on)...sometimes (well most times!) you've got to try before you decide!

Willow and Wild