Finding that perfect present is not always easy, particularly when it comes to children. You want something that keeps their attention for more than one afternoon after all.
The great news, however, is that there are an increasing number of subscription boxes for kids that are fun and educational.
Plus, a monthly subscription means that it’s the present that just keeps on giving. From little passports and picture books subscriptions to monthly boxes helping children to cook and bake or create art projects, subscription boxes really make a great gift.
We’ve created a list of the best subscription boxes available in the UK, perfect for younger kids and older kids. Just in time for Christmas!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.
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Deliberate Travel
Deliberate Travel is a small, independent company that create wonderful workbooks to for children. Their aim is to inspire kids to learn more about the world, to get them questioning and to encourage active learning. Their workbooks are fun, colourful and packed full of quirky facts, interesting tidbits and beautiful illustrations.
They have recently launched their subscription service Just the Ticket: The First Adventure that takes kids on a year-long virtual journey around the world. This is a great subscription option for older children who are curious about the world. In the first month you will received a Travel Pack filled with everything you need (plus a few fun bonuses). You then receive a monthly postcard every, which gives you access to a workbook / activity booklet about that country that you can print at home.
*please note that if you live outside of the UK then the 12 postcards will arrive with the Travel Pack, UK subscribers will received monthly postcards through the post. You will require access to a printer in order to print the workbooks.
What: A virtual round-the-world adventure for young explorers
Age Range: Deliberate Travel workbooks are aimed at children aged 6-12
Price: 3 months (£24.99), 6 months (£34.99) o r 12 months (£49.99). The 12 month Just the ticket subscription is available for non-UK customers for £49.99
Website: www.deliberatetravel.com
Mud & Bloom
Mud & Bloom is a monthly subscription box for children aged 3- to 8-years-old. The boxes aim to encourage children to get outside in nature. Each box contains four seasonal growing and craft activities plus nature news and games to teach kids about seasons, plants, rainfall, insects, birds and soil.
What’s lovely about Mud & Bloom boxes is that the crafts require kids to do some work, picking up materials on their walks and then using their imagination. It’s a great way to nurture an interest in the Great Outdoors from an early age.
The boxes have been developed by qualified teachers and support the national curriculum with influence from Forest School, Steiner and Montessori education.
What: A monthly subscription box; you can cancel or skip at any time. Single child and sibling boxes available.
Age Range: Aimed at children aged 3 – 8 but is also enjoyable for older kids
Price: £13.95 monthly, UK only. Free shipping
Website: www.mudandbloom.com
Banjo Robinson
Banjo Robinson is one of our top picks. This wonderful letter subscription service is a brilliant way to encourage kids to be curious about the world.
Twice a month Banjo Robinson – traveling cat and Global Explorer – sends letters from wherever he is in the world. From Nepal and New Zealand to Chile and Japan, he visits a new country twice a month and writes to his pals. The letters also come with stickers, writing paper for children to reply to Banjo, a recipe and more. The starter pack that you received in the first month also comes with a large world map so that kids can follow Banjo’s adventures.
What’s particularly lovely about this subscription service is that you can add a paragraph to the end of the next letter that Banjo sends via an online form, answering any questions children might have or asking them about school.
What: Twice monthly real letters from a travelling cat
Age Range: Banjo is aimed at children between the ages of 5-8
Price: 3 letters £9.99, 12 letters (6 months) £34.99, 24 letters (12 months) £59.99; Banjo sends letters to the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Website: www.banjorobinson.com
Toucan Box
Toucan Boxes are filled with fun activities, craft kits, science experiments and more all designed to cultivates a child’s natural curiosity to learn.
Although the craft box might look all fun and games they have been designed according to STEAM principles, using Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths as key touchpoints.
One month you might be building a flat-pack rocket and aliens out of clay and the next creating a beehive or learning about Kadinsky’s art. Every box has a different theme including boxes themed around the holidays. The boxes arrive personalised with the child’s name and come with two craft projects, the latest issue of ToucanBox Magazine, easy-to-follow instructions and a sticker sheet.
What: Monthly craft subscription box
Age Range: Toucan boxes are aimed at children from 3 to 8.
Price: 3 months £39, 6 months £72, annual subscription £131; mainland UK only
Website: www.toucanbox.com
Little Cooks Co
To get kids confident and excited in the kitchen look no further than Little Cooks Co. This monthly cooking subscription box aims to encourage families to spend time together cooking and to remind them that healthy food doesn’t have to be boring!
Each box comes with collectable recipe cards that include a healthy baking or cooking recipes. Previous recipes have included apple flapjacks and shepherds pie. You’ll find all the dry ingredients you need for that month’s healthy bake in the box as well.
With your first box comes a record book so that your little cook can track their baking journey and each month they receive a sticker to add to their book. The boxes also include additional fun activities that teach children to grow their own food, learn about sustainability and mindfulness.
A range of subscription plans are available from one-month to one-year. For every box sold they donate to Magic Breakfast – a UK charity that helps children living in food poverty
What: Monthly baking and cooking kits for young kids
Age Range: Little Cooks is aimed at children aged 3 – 10 years old
Price: Monthly £12.99 / box, 3 months £12.00 / box, 6 months £10.00 / box, Annual subscription £8.33 / box
Website: www.littlecooksco.co.uk
Rainy Day Box
Rainy Day Box create fun themed activity boxes filled with crafts, stickers and games. You’ll often find cookie mix in there too. Themes are often seasonal or based around holidays.
Join their Letterbox Club and you’ll receive a monthly box through the door. Each box contains three fun activities, an additional recycling task, a reward chart with stickers, glue, paintbrush and an easy-to-follow instruction sheet. All guaranteed to keep the kids entertained – whether it’s raining outside or not!
Subscriptions are six- or 12-months.
What: Monthly craft boxes
Age Range: Rainy Day boxes are aimed at children aged 3 – 8
Price: £7.95 / month for a 6 month subscription, £7.25 / month for a 12 month subscription. Delivery to UK and Northern Ireland
Website: www.rainydaybox.co.uk
Wonderbooks
My kids have received book subscriptions for several years now and love having new books arrive on the doormat every month. This children’s books subscription service is a little different, however.
Run by Save The Children, Wonderbooks doesn’t deliver mainstream publications. Rather, these are real-life stories told by children around the around the world that are then written and illustrated by the charity’s Global Creative Team.
Wonderbooks addresses a broad range of topics in a child-friendly way. Themes include conflict, life as a refugee, and education for girls. Each book comes with a a Grown-Up’s Guide to the stories, helping you have great conversations about the topics covered in each story. It’s a great gift for young readers.
Proceeds from the sale of these books raises funds to help Save the Children keep the world’s most vulnerable children safe, healthy and learning.
Three, six and 12-month subscriptions are available.
What: A book subscription service
Age Range: Wonderbooks are aimed at early readers, aged 4- to 8-years-old.
Price: £9 for 6 books, UK delivery only
Website: www.wonderbooks.org.uk
Avocado Kids
Food has always played a big part in our travels which is why I’m particularly fond of Avocado Kids. This cooking subscription box has only recently launched and aims to empower kids to be more confident in the kitchen.
Join the superhero Avocado as he journeys around the world meeting other superfoods and learning about their traditions, foods and world cultures.
Every box includes four recipe cards, shopping lists, a boarding pass with a Spotify cooking playlist and creative activities. The founder Gabby is also keen that Avocado Kids encourages families to spend time together in the kitchen – cooking and eating. This is why each box includes dinner talk conversation starters too.
You’ll also discover a world map to track your Avocado superhero’s journey around the world and, if you subscribe for 6- or 12-months, you get an apron that just happens to double-up as a cape.
What: A monthly creative cooking subscription box
Age Range: Avocado Kids is aimed at children aged 4-12.
Price: £19.99 monthly subscription, £107.94 6 month subscription, £191.88 12 month subscription
Website: www.avocadokids.com
Little Crumbs
Little Crumbs is a cooking subscription box for children that shares creative ways onto enjoy the thing that we all love best, sweet treats! Perfect for afternoon tea.
Each box comes with all the pre-measured dry ingredients you need to make the recipe of the month plus a recipe card with illustrated instructions. You’ll also receive an illustrated short story and a craft activity. The recipes are easy for kids to create and even easier for them to eat!
Subscriptions are for 1-, 3-, 6- or 12-months. They also offer sibling boxes with double the ingredients and cavities so there’s no squabbling over gingerbread men. Little Crumbs also produce themed holiday boxes
What: Monthly baking box for kids that include a family craft.
Age Range: Little Crumbs is aged at children aged 3-10
Price: £13.50 monthly subscription, £39.00 for a 3 month subscription, £75 for a 6 month subscription, £132 for a 12 month subscription.
Website: www.littlecrumbs.co.uk
Mysteries in Time
Imagine a time machine landing on your doorstep every month, this is what you get when you subscribe to Mysteries in Time. This monthly educational subscription for children looks to teach kids about history in a fun and engaging way.
Aimed at 7-11 year olds, every time machine package is based on a moment in history – from Ancient Egypt and the Elizabethan Era to Evacuees in WWII and the Aztec Empire – and is filled with fun activities.
Kids can travel through history with their guide Max and Katie. Each month they have to help them solve mystery using the illustrated adventure story that comes in the time machine.
Every month comes with a story, an easy-to-follow history booklet, world puzzles and other activities, a themed bookmark, stickers and colouring-in pages. You’ll also receive a world map and timeline in your first box. You can choose to upgrade to the Bumper Box which comes with an additional history-related gift and craft inspired by history.
What: A monthly history-themed subscription box
Age Range: Mysteries in Time is aimed at children aged 7-11
Price: The classic pack starts at £6.95 a month, the bumper box starts at £13.95 a month. 1, 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions available. UK and Worldwide delivery.
Website: www.mysteriesintime.co.uk
