The morning after Saira came back from her cousin’s ‘space party’ she decided to go ahead and open the space activity theme box she had received. We sat down together to complete a few activities from Xplorabox.
Xplorabox is a Noida based company that designs activity boxes for kids. These are based on different themes: Doctor Fun, Ocean Explorer, and Space Adventure etc.
The first activity we completed together was the Beautiful Earth. For this we had to divide two pieces of clay and flatten it. We then placed it on the thermocol globe to create the oceans. The green clay is provided to create the continents. Saira and me used the stencil to carve out each one of them.
This was an engaging activity for Saira as she enjoyed putting the globe together. The clay used in the box is meant to be ‘non-toxic’, but leaves a bit of colour on your hands. Perhaps the same material used to make Play-doh would work better?
The next activity was the UFO kit. For this, you have to peel off stickers and put the foam on the cardboard to create the UFO and aliens. We also created a telescope together using the materials provided.
Xplorabox has some engaging content, but the company needs to upgrade the quality of their offerings. It’s the little details that need attention. For example, the wrapper around the telescope doesn’t fit very neatly, exclaimed my daughter while making the product. The telescope however, did work fine. Again, the stickers provided to paste on the UFO didn’t sit as neatly on the cardboard, which my daughter brought to my attention!
In my view, the company could perhaps create smaller instruction booklets to ensure less wastage of paper. Right now each activity comes in separate cloth bags. If this can be minimised, it might be useful.
We haven’t played all the games yet, and haven’t browsed through the knowledge flashcards together, but both seem entertaining.
In all, the content in the box can keep a child busy for an hour or so. With parental guidance, kids can pick up some interesting trivia about space.
To learn more about Xplorabox, check out www.xplorabox.com
